Submission Guidelines

The Forestry Source is a monthly publication that provides SAF members and other natural resource professionals with news of SAF activities and policies, as well as other developments within the forestry profession. The Forestry Source is a grassroots vehicle for dialogue and discussion among forest resource professionals, national leaders, SAF chapters, state societies, and working groups. As such, it contains statements from a variety of spokespersons and, as space permits, letters to the editor. The opinions expressed in articles, commentaries, and opinion-editorials do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of SAF.

The Source seeks original articles with practical application to the field of forestry. We welcome the submission of feature and special interest articles, letters to the editor, commentaries, and more. While most articles are written by SAF members, membership is not required to be published. Submission of an article does not guarantee publication. Acceptance for publication is based on editorial criteria. All accepted articles are subject to editing for style, clarity, language, and length. Once the article has been accepted, you will be asked to sign a copyright assignment form that grants SAF copyright to the article. See Article Guidelines for specific publication requirements.

Article Guidelines

Featured Article

Featured articles are original content pertaining to research, practice, and current events in the field of forestry and natural resource that is of primary relevance or practical application to The Forestry Source readership. They should be no more than 3,000 words and six figures, images, and/or tables.

Letter to the Editor

Letters should refer to articles published in the past three months and are published as space permits. Prior to publication, cited individuals are offered the opportunity to review and respond to letters pertaining to them or their work; if they choose, they can respond to those letters that contain errors of fact or interpretation. Word limit is 250.

Commentary

Readers are welcome to submit commentaries (opinion-editorials) for possible publication. Commentaries should focus on specific issues or concerns relevant to the forestry profession. Word limit is 500.

Science and Technology

These are short articles on innovations and activities in forest science and research and their implications for the forestry profession. Word limit is 1,000.

Society Affairs

Society Affairs serves a venue for SAF state societies, divisions, and chapters that wish to share news about outstanding activities and programs. Word limit is 500.

Branching Out

This section includes information about the activities of organizations and companies affiliated with forestry and natural resources. Word limit is 500.

Boots on the Ground
This column seeks articles from active field foresters about their current projects, challenges, and experiences. We are seeking articles of approximately 1,500 words (no more than 2,000) about, by, and for, foresters in the field. Up to four photos from the field are encouraged.

People in the News

This section recognizes SAF members who have received forestry-related awards or recognition, job promotions, or other special achievements. Please include a headshot in in image file format. Word limit is 250.

In Memoriam

This section features obituaries for those individuals who have contributed to forestry throughout their lifetime. Please include a headshot in an image file format. Word limit is 130.

AI Policy

The Forestry Source does not publish AI-generated written content. However, we recognize that the integration of AI tools is widespread across many platforms. The use of AI in developing an article for the Source is only acceptable as a tool for research. Any article submitted to the Source may not be primarily or partially generated by any generative AI programs.

When submitting an article for consideration, please confirm in your submission email that the written work was not generated by Artificial Intelligence in any capacity. We will ask you to confirm this before any article may be considered. You do not need to disclose use of AI as a research tool.

Examples of unacceptable use:

1. Prompting AI to generate an article and using some or all of that material in your submitted piece.

2. Uploading a partial or full article draft to an AI program and prompting it to make edits to the piece.

Examples of acceptable use:

1. Checking spelling or grammar via a “spellcheck” program.

2. Performing background research for an article.

3. Using AI tools as a resource for defining or identifying individual words for use (i.e. functioning as a thesaurus or dictionary tool).

Evaluation and Acceptance

You will receive an acknowledgment of receipt by e-mail. Submission of an article does not guarantee publication. Articles are reviewed by the editorial team, and most articles will require revisions. The comprehensive editorial reviews will focus on key areas:

• Organization: Is the article well-organized? Are subheadings used to label sections?

• Clarity: Does the article title clearly introduce the topic, and does the author present the content in a clear and readable manner?

• Supported by Evidence: Does the author provide appropriate citations for statements and claims? Opinion articles will need to acknowledge that the content is the opinion of the author.

• Results and Research Design: When applicable, are the research design and statistical analyses appropriate? Are the figures/tables clear and appropriate?

When an article is accepted by the Editor, you will be notified. All accepted articles are subject to editing for style, clarity, language, and length.

Article Format

Author Information: Include author(s’) full name(s), degrees, titles, affiliation/employer, phone number, employer’s city and state, and a two-sentence biography for each author. Headshots are welcome.

• Title: Article title should be less than 10 words.

• Abstract: Include a two to three sentence “abstract” to summarize the article and highlight its benefits to the reader.

• Main Document: Required in Microsoft Word, Times New Roman, double spaced, and 12-point font. Headings and subheadings required for the major divisions of your article. Use parenthetical citations within text; use endnotes rather than footnotes. Please include page numbers in the bottom right-hand corner.

• Tables, figures, and images: Please provide as separate image files, such as jpeg, tif, or eps, that are not embedded in the main Word document. Figures should have a resolution of 300 DPI or higher.

• References appearing in the text need to appear in the citation list at the end of the article per Chicago Manual of Style. List all references alphabetically at the end of the paper and cite them parenthetically in the text by the author-date system per Chicago Manual of Style, e.g. (Smith 2018).

Artwork

Photographs or illustrations to accompany articles are strongly encouraged. Captions for all should be numbered consecutively; captions should also note relevance to text. All artwork should have a credit identifying photographer, artist, and/or source. Images should have a resolution of 300 DPI or higher.

Copyright Transfer

The Society of American Foresters retains the copyright on all original published manuscripts, except those in the public domain. Upon acceptance, you will be asked to sign a copyright assignment form that grants the Society copyright to the article. If you have questions or concerns about copyright transfer, please contact the managing editor.

Contact

Submissions and questions may be received at [email protected] or you may contact the Director of Publications, Morgan Fincham.