Roger Johnson¹, Peter Ridland², and Murray Fletcher³

¹ The Regional Institute, www.regional.org.au Email rjohnson@regional.org.au
² Institute for Horticultural Development, Agriculture Victoria. www.nre.vic.gov.au Email Peter.Ridland@nre.vic.gov.au
³ Agricultural Scientific Collections Unit, Orange Agricultural Institute www.agric.nsw.gov.au/Hort/ Email murray.fletcher@agric.nsw.gov.au

Abstract
A simplified web and CD based format for the Entomology workshop and conference proceedings’ is described. By simplifying the format (no fancy fonts such as italics for large portions of text) it is possible to maintain the original style of the printed proceedings while allowing easy incorporation into modern web-based format. Left aligned text is easier to read on-screen and a single font type (Times New Roman, 11 point, black at single line spacing) for the whole proceedings provides clarity of presentation. A standard referencing system by numbers in order of citation is adopted. To improve visual presentation we suggest alternative font sizes for the title (14 point bold), address (9 point) and caption (10 point). Headings may have two levels (bold and italic) and are not capitalised nor prescribed. The abstract should contain the key results and quote actual figures (e.g. author standard font 11 point, presenting author in bold).

Key Words
No more than six key word items in order of decreasing relevance that are not in the title or Abstract.

Introduction

The Entomology Society is moving to web and CD publication of its proceedings (1). Members and the public now have full access to the latest advances in entomology via the Internet in an open, HTML format. Consistent standards and guidelines for formatting Word documents can enable automation of the publishing process (2,3) and improved presentation of the Web publication. We propose a format that harmonises the old and the new. In this way, modern media features can be blended in a format that maintains largely the original style of the printed proceedings but allows easy incorporation into modern web based format (4,5).

Methods

Second level headings should be in Italics

Sub headings are important to distinguish from main headings and normal text (e.g. 6). Normal text is Times New Roman, 11 point, black with the title larger (14 point, bold) and address smaller (9 point). The data and references cited in this example paper bear no relation to the text and are purely to illustrate the recommended format (7). Citations are by numbers and listed in abbreviated format in order of citation – not necessarily alphabetical order (8,9). Some foreign publications may need more information such as country. Of course, there are many other ways to present agronomic data. The examples here are just a guide.

Units

Units to be metric as used in the Australian Journals. For example, grain yield was 5.4 t/ha and its water use efficiency was 10.4 kg/ha/mm.

Results

Ensuring continuity in the publication of the proceedings is a challenge given the biennial nature of the conference and organising committee (Table 1). This template will help future conference organisers maintain key features of previous proceedings (10) while allowing flexibility to incorporate new publishing technology.

Table 1. Effect of tillage treatment on soil bulk density, water content and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks). Natural log transformed data, ln(x+1), are in parentheses.

Tables and figures should be left aligned for consistency (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The spatial distribution of Mallee Eucalyptus species open-scrub in Australia showing the predominant areas (■) that coincide with largely alkaline soils that now comprise significant cropping areas. The shaded area (░) shows where mallee vegetation is significant but not predominant. Map from Hill (12) that was modified from Specht (13).

Conclusion

The key feature of our proposed standardised format is that the whole text is left aligned including title, author names and addresses and headings. First order headings are bold and second order headings are italic. The referencing style reverts back to the old printed standard. The section headings are not mandatary and authors still have great flexibility in reporting their work.

References

(1) Johnson, R.C. 2001. Proc. 10th Aust. Agron. Conf., Hobart www.regional.org.au/au/asa/2001/5/a/johnson.htm
(2) O’Connell, M.G., Whitfield, D.M., Connor, D.J. and O’Leary, G.J. 2001. Proc. 10th Aust. Agron. Conf., Hobart, http://www.regional.org.au/au/asa/2001/1/a/oconnell.htm.
(3) Burnett, V.F., Coventry, D.R. and Newton, P.J. 1997. Aust. J. Exp. Agric., 37: 191-198.
(4) Unkovich, M.J., and Pate, J.S. 2000. Field Crops Res., (In press).
(5) Northcote, K.H. 1979. A Factual Key for the Recognition of Australian Soils. Rellim Technical Publications, Adelaide.
(6) Cressie, N.A.C. 1993. Spatial Statistics. J. Wiley, New York.
(7) Martin, R.J. and Grace, P.J. 1998. Assessment of long-term agronomic experiments in Australia. GRDC and LWRRDC, Canberra.
(8) Adcock, D. and McNeill, A. 2003. Proc. 11th Aust. Agron. Conf., Geelong, (These proceedings).
(9) Chrapko, D. 1998. Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Adapted from Agdex570 3 March 1993. http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca/agdex/500/7000003.html.
(10) Moore, M. 1998. PhD Thesis, Cranfield University, Silsoe, UK.
(11) Hill, K.D. 1989. In: Mediterranean Landscapes in Australia – Mallee Ecosystems and their Management. Eds J.C. Noble and R.A. Bradstock, p93-108. CSIRO, Melbourne.
(12) Specht, R.L. 1981. In: Ecological Biogeography of Australia. Ed. A. Keast, Vol. 1, p163-297. W. Junk, The Hague.