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30 January 2004

Editorial: How You can Contribute to the E-Bulletin

by Forrest M. Mims III

Do you know of a tip or technique that other amateur scientists might find useful? Perhaps it's a method or process that you have used for years that the rest of us would like to know about.

Are you doing an original science investigation or study? Have you reached a point where it's time to publish your results?

Have you ever taken a vacation or trip in which science was the key objective? Possibly other amateur scientists would like to read a report of your adventures.

Do you have a particularly good photograph that might interest your fellow amateur scientists and visitors to the SAS web site?

This list could go on and on, but you probably see my point. The E-Bulletin is looking for well-written reports, tips and articles and high-quality digital images.

Unfortunately we cannot pay you for your contributions. The good news is that we do not charge you to publish your contributions, which is standard policy at most journals of science.

What we can promise is that your contribution will be seen by many SAS members and visitors. You can list your contribution in your resume. You can build on your contribution by making more in the future. You might even be able to go further by also submitting your material to print science magazines and other web magazines.

Please send a brief e-mail about your proposed contribution to editor@sas.org. When you write your e-mail, please understand that it may be subject to several layers of spam filtering. Therefore, it is important to insert some meaningful, easily recognized text in the subject line. Subject lines like "hi," "hello," "idea," and so forth will not make it through the spam filter.

A subject line that will rise to the top will begin with SAS and have no punctuation marks or unusual characters. Want to send a photo of a rare flower? A good subject line might be "SAS Rare Flower."

Many e-mails to the E-Bulletin are signed only with a first name or unsigned. Because we receive so many e-mails, it is essential that you sign all of your e-mails with your first and last name. Otherwise we have to spend valuable time writing followup e-mails or researching the files to find out who you are. For the E-Bulletin to be a credible publication, we can't publish material that is identified only by an e-mail address or first name.

Articles submitted to the E-Bulletin should be checked carefully for grammar, spelling and style. If your style is informal, that's fine. If you prefer a more formal approach, that's also acceptable. Your style is your choice. No matter what style you use, remember that you are sharing your passion about science with fellow amateur scientists. Therefore, a first person approach always works best.

Be sure to organize your articles into specific sections. Ask a friend to read your article to offer suggestions about improving it. When appropriate, always acknowledge those who assisted you and relevant references.

Please remember that contributions to the E-Bulletin should be about subjects of high interest to amateur scientists. Articles about topics outside the fringes of what is generally considered science are best submitted to one of the many web sites that specialize in such subjects.

Our readers range from students doing science fair projects to armchair amateur scientists to citizen scientists doing serious research. The E-Bulletin does not include content that is unsuitable for our younger readers.

Thanks in advance to those of you who decide to submit something to the E-Bulletin. We will try to reply to your contribution within a week. While we will not be able to use everything that you submit, we will value your contribution and evaluate it carefully.