1. Decide if report content and scope is best suited for the national or regional report series. The national series is recommended in most cases.
2. Decide if the manuscript is better suited for the NRTR, NRR, or NRDS report series. Click here for help.
3. Select the format to use to publish the report (basic MS Word or the more polished Adobe InDesign format). Click here for help
4. Click here to download the appropriate document template and the mandatory NRPM Manuscript Submittal Form and Checklist (MSF). We suggest that you download fresh templates at least twice per year.
   • Why?
   1. The document templates provide software-specific manuscript format examples and user guidance in accordance with NRPM policy as outlined in the Instructions to Authors Manual Version 3.1. A vast majority of authors and editors do not need to download the manual.
   2. The MSF includes all of the instructions that you need to peer review and submit your report for final publication.
   3. While the basic report layout schemes have changed very little since 2006, the templates are typically updated and changed two to four times each and every year to address:
      • Software bug fixes/work-arounds (2-4 times per year).
      • Mandatory NPS publication policy changes (typically 2-3 times per year).
5. Prepare the manuscript using the style standards provided in the template.
6. Obtain initial peer reviews by at least two, and preferably three, qualified reviewers.
7. Contact the appropriate NPS office to find out who will be the official Peer Review Manager working with you to perform the final peer review of your report.
   1. If you are not sure who to contact, email the Fort Collins NRSS office for help.
   2. For reports generated by a park or through an I&M Network, contact:
      1. The appropriate I&M Network Program Manager or I&M Network Data Manger.
      2. If you are not sure which network, here is a map of the individual I&M Networks.
   3. If the report was generated by multiple I&M Networks, or through an NPS I&M Regional office, contact the appropriate I&M Regional Program Manager(s).
   4. For reports generated by or through one of the Natural Resource Stewardship and Science (NRSS) Divisions, contact the appropriate NRSS Division Chief (NPS Only).
8. Fill in the first section of the MSF form, and submit it and the draft manuscript to the Peer Review Manger to begin the final peer review of your report.
9. The Peer Review Manager works with the person submitting the report to edit and update the report to meet the Peer Review Manager's standards.
   1. The end product of the final peer review should be an absolute final draft of the report that is ready for immediate publication.
      • There should be no pending edits, and authors should be willing to live with all language, numeric values, and graphics presented in the report after this point.
   2. The Peer Review Manager also makes sure that the first and second sections of the MSF form are filled out correctly.
   3. Click here to see a list of NPS Peer Review Manager responsibilities.
10. After the peer review comments have been addressed, the person submitting the report sends the final draft of the peer-reviewed report (in either MS Word or Adobe PDF format), along with the MSF form, to the Fort Collins NRSS office for the final publication policy review.
    1. If the final draft was created using:
       1. MS Word - the actual MS Word file(s) that make up the final draft is preferred (vast majority of reports). This will save everyone involved time and effort during the final review. Publishing in MS Word can be tricky, and we often need to see the actual MS Word files to figure out what may be wrong, and the best/fastest way to fix things.
       2. Adobe InDesign - the PDF version is preferred. Adobe InDesign files are much more stable and predictable than MS Word files, and we almost never need to see the actual InDesign files to explain how to fix something.
    2. The final draft of the report and MSF can be sent to the Fort Collins office by:
       1. Using an online file sharing site (FTP, SharePoint, etc.). This is the preferred method, especially if the final draft of the report is more than 5 MB in size.
       2. Attached to an email.
          • There is a 20 MB file size limit for NPS employees and a 10 MB limit for everyone else.
          • Sending files by email sometimes requires multiple attempts.
11. The NRSS office reviews the final report for policy issues and software bugs, assigns new NRPM and TIC numbers to the report, handles all of the NPS-mandated records keeping tasks, and sends all pertinent information back to the person submitting the report to finish it and upload it to the IRMA online library (NPS Data Store) for online distribution digital archiving.
    1. Reviews the final draft for publication policy issues (official NPS disclaimer and copyright language, report series and NPS graphic identity standards, NPS-approved fonts, etc.)
       • Identifies and fixes any known software bugs that would cause MS Word files to export incorrectly to Adobe PDF format.
       • Looks for and notes any publication policy elements that still need to be fixed (both MS Word and PDF reports)(only policy issues - not main report language, graphics, etc.).
    2. Assigns the next available NRTR, NRR, or NRDS report number in that series to the new report.
    3. Creates a draft reference in the NPS Data Store.
    4. Obtains the NPS Technical Information Center (TIC) reference number for that report (a new NRTR, NRR, or NRDS report number is required to obtain a new TIC number, and the number that we give them is permanently archived in the TIC system).
    5. Saves the new NRTR, NRR, or NRDS report number; TIC number, and NPS Data Store URL information to the:
       • NRPM database, which is used to assign new report numbers, permanently record this information for all published reports, and to drive the public webpages that show all published NRTR, NRR, and NRDS reports.
       • The final MSF, and permanently archives it to multiple on and off-site locations (each archived MSF must be available upon request to NPS/DOI management, Congress, etc.).
    6. Sends all pertinent information back to the person submitting the report to finish and upload the final PDF to the NPS Data Store .
12. The person submitting the report incorporates any final review comments into the report, and works with the Fort Collins NRSS office to upload the final Adobe PDF version of the report to the NPS Data Store for permanent digital archiving, and submit it to the NPS Technical Information Center office for physical archiving.

Edits to a report are not allowed if the report has been published in the NRTR, NRR, or NRDS report series and has been made available to the public in any way (e.g., physical copies sent, digital copies distributed by email, report posted for download on any public-facing website,including the IRMA Data Store). Learn More »