INSTRUCTIONS FOR FINAL PREPARATION: AUTHOR'S GUIDE

Checklist (see detailed instructions below)

  1. [   ]   Let us know right away if you object to your paper appearing in the "Articles in Press" section.
  2. [   ]   Format article using JAIR style
  3. [   ]   Have your article proofread.
  4. [   ]   Create any optional online appendices
  5. [   ]   Contact editor, obtain final approval
  6. [   ]   Contact Steven Minton, Managing Editor, ([email protected]) for formatting check
  7. [   ]   Fill out copyright transfer, and send it.
  8. [   ]   Fill out source code release, and sent it (only necessary if you are releasing source code in an online appendix).
  9. [   ]   Contact Managing Editor ([email protected]) for page numbers, then send all the required files.
  10. [   ]   Forward announcement to any special mailing lists or newsgroups.

Detailed Instructions

Once a paper has been accepted for publication in JAIR, you should follow the procedure outlined below. The final version of your manuscript is due to us *within two months* of the acceptance date. If you require more than two months, please request an extension from the editor.

  1. Please let us know, as soon as possible with an email response to the editor and a CC to [email protected] if you object to your paper appearing in the "Articles in Press" section of the JAIR Contents page in its current, accepted form. Note that the page indicates that this is not the final form of the paper, but allows other authors to read this version and start citing it.
  2. Format your article according to the JAIR style, which is described in http://www.jair.org/format.pdf (or format.ps). We have directories of JAIR Latex style files and sample files (including Word, LaTeX, and LaTeX2e) available.(We request that you use LaTex if possible.) If you want to format your article in Word, you can contact the managing editor for sample articles written in Word by previous authors.

    Authors are responsible for correctly formatting their article. If you wish we can recommend professionals who will do this for you for a fee.
    Here are things to check, *before* you send us your article:

    • Capitalize section and subsection titles.
    • Make sure your abstract reads well. It will be used to advertise your paper.
    • We recommend you use small caps for system names. (In LaTex that's \sc)
    • Capitalize references to figures and tables, e.g. "In Figure 7..."
    • It's preferable to cite published papers, rather than tech reports.
    • Carefully read the section on citations in format.ps. Here are examples of BAD citations:
      • "See (Ginsberg, 1994) for an analysis..."
        [Uses citation as a noun]
      • "Drummond (Drummond, 1994) showed that..."
        [Should use citeyear i.e., Drummond (1994)]
      • "...the best method (see the ERT test (Davis, 1995))..."
        [double parens, should be
        "...best method (see the ERT test, Davis, 1995)..."]
    • In the authors' addresses, don't use commas at the end of the lines.
    • Do not start a section with a subsection. (E.g., Each section should start with some text, rather than immediately starting with a subsection.) Similarly, don't start a subsection with a sub-subsection.
    • Your paper should be formatted for 8.5 x 11 letter size paper, not A4 (common in Europe). If you are in Europe and use Latex, use "dvips -t" when you create your PostScript file to get the right size.
  3. Make any final changes and have your article proofread. For better or worse, we do not have a copyediting staff. (Note: Authors are notoriously bad proofreaders. Have the paper proofread by a skilled proofreader -- NOT one of the authors.)
  4. We also encourage you to make use of "online appendices" where appropriate. Online appendices can contain source code, data, even quicktime demonstrations -- anything that will make life easier (or more interesting) for your readers and researchers who follow in your footsteps.
  5. Send the paper to the editor in charge of your article. Also send a copy to [email protected].
  6. Once the editor approves the paper, he or she will tell you to send a copy of the PDF or PostScript file to the managing editor, Steven Minton, at [email protected]. Our production staff will check it over quickly, and if the formatting is acceptable, we will let you know the publication date and the page numbers for your article.
  7. Please print out, fill in, and sign the JAIR Transfer of Copyright form. Each author should sign a copy of the form.(If you have trouble printing the PostScript, we can send you an ascii version.) Email the signed form to [email protected], or mail it to: 
         Steven Minton, AI Access Foundation
     326 Loma Vista St.
     El Segundo, CA 90245   USA

    The copyright transfer is necessary because it's part of our agreement with AAAI Press. Once you transfer the copyright, AI Access Foundation grants the rights to publish the hardcopy version to AAAI Press. But because AI Access Foundation wants to promote the widest possible distribution of your article, we are happy to grant you back any other rights you want to the article or the contents. In particular, the electronic version is freely available for distribution -- that's part of our mission.

  8. If there are online appendices containing source code, please sign the source code release form and send it along with the Transfer of Copyright. The release form is intended to reduce the liability of AI Access Foundation and JAIR's distributors.
  9. Once the managing editor, Steven Minton ([email protected]) approves the formatting and sends you the publication date and page numbers, he will send you instructions for uploading the information required for publication. Also use the upload form to transmit your final files. (If you have any problems, e-mail them to [email protected]). We would appreciate it if you use the following naming scheme for your files. Assuming the first author's last name is "Jones" and the current year is 1999, you should send us:
    • jones99a.pdf, a PDF version of your paper.
    • jones99a.ps, a PostScript version of your paper (Note: a PostScript version is optional, but encouraged.)
    • jones99a.tar, a tar file containing all the source files (latex files, figures, word file, whatever) which we will archive.
    • [optional] jones99a-appendix1.txt (or .pdf, .lisp, or .whatever), an online appendix. If there are two or more, name them jones99a-appendix2.txt and so on.
    Note: in the unlikely case that the first author has a previously published a JAIR article earlier in the year called jones99a, use jones99b this time.
  10. After we receive the final version and release the article, we will post an announcement on our mailing list. If you know of any other mailing lists or venues where it would be appropriate to post an announcement for your paperd, we encourage you to forward our announcement.

Congratulations!