PE&RS Highlight Article Guidelines

Highlight Articles are semi-technical or non-technical and meant to extend the impact of PE&RS to a broader range of readers beyond the traditional ones. We aim to have one Highlight Article published in each issue of PE&RS. A Highlight Article should address topics of broad interests with massive impact to the geospatial community at large and accommodate the interests of readers with a diverse level of geospatial knowledge. Highlight Articles may present:

  • recent or historical developments in government, industry or academia;
  • new or unusual approaches to common problems and non-traditional applications;
  • topics of common concerns or interests, including education, training, practice, and collaboration.

Highlight Articles cannot be commercial or self-marketing; however, vendors may encourage their employees and/or customers to write articles demonstrating case studies where technology has been used. ASPRS Individual Members, Sustaining Members, and Fellows have priority in publishing Highlight Articles. Time critical topics or events will also be handled in an expedited manner.  

Though subject to professional editing, Highlight Articles will not be peer-reviewed and therefore should not contain lengthy lists of references or complex equations. High quality photos and graphics are encouraged.

Publishing in PE&RS can readily enhance a writer’s professional recognition and career advancement. It indicates that the author’s organization or employer understands the value of the dissemination of information that will enhance the usefulness of geospatial technologies. Contributing a Highlight Article to PE&RS also gives companies, agencies, and individuals an opportunity to demonstrate their experience and expertise in matters involving geospatial information technologies.

Highlight Article Preparation and Submission

Submit a proposal. Interested authors should send a short (~150 words) proposal to the PE&RS Highlight Editor for review. The proposal should include the title, the authors and their affiliations, the intended audience, summary of the work, its impact and significance, and a brief description of supporting graphics. Proposals will typically be acknowledged within 3-5 business days.

Submit the manuscript. Once the proposal has been approved, authors must submit the full manuscript electronically in Microsoft Word format to the Highlight Editor following the guidelines outlined below. With your submission please also include your address, contact information, and a brief biographical paragraph that specifies the way you prefer your byline to appear, your title, your affiliation, and any relevant experience. Upon receiving the manuscript, the Highlight Editor will notify the corresponding author of its receipt. Each submitted Highlight Article will be reviewed by the Highlight Editor with help from the Editorial Board to determine whether it is suitable for publication. All articles accepted for publication are subject to copy editing for clarity and for conformity with the PE&RS style guidelines. Authors will be expected to review the final galley proofs before publication.

Publication Duration

Getting an article from idea to publication varies. The typical lead time between the final submission and publication is one to three months.

Format Guidelines
Manuscripts submitted must be prepared as outlined below. Manuscripts that do not conform to the guidelines will be returned for format revisions before they will be considered.

1) Typing: All pages must be numbered at the bottom of the page and double-spaced. An 11 or 12-point font such as Times New Roman or Arial is preferred. Authors should use 8.5 by 11-inch or A4 International (210- by 297-mm) paper size with 30-mm (1.25 inch) margins all around.

2) Length: Highlight Articles can vary from 650 words up to 2,500 words with additional images, graphs, tables, diagrams, or other appropriate illustrations.

3)Title: Authors should strive for titles no longer than eight words.

4) Figures and tables: All figures and tables must be cited in the text. Authors should note that figures and tables will usually be reduced in size to optimize use of space and should be designed accordingly. For purposes of initial review, figures and tables can be embedded in the manuscript. However, it should be noted that accepted articles will require that all figures be submitted as separate high-resolution (300 dpi) png, pdf, jpeg, or tif graphic files. Illustrations should be 300 dpi eps, pdf, or tiff images. If the manuscript contains copyrighted imagery, a copyright statement must be included in the caption (e.g. ©SPOT Image Copyright [year] CNES).

5) Color illustrations: A few color illustrations may be included, at no cost, as long as they add value to the article. The Highlight Editor will contact the corresponding author if there are any questions regarding color illustrations.

6) Metric system: The metric system (SI Units) will be employed throughout a manuscript except in cases where the English System has special merit stemming from accepted conventional usage (e.g. 9- by 9-inch photograph, 6-inch focal length). Authors should refer to “Usage of the International System of Units,” Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing [itals]1978 44 (7): 923-938.

7) Equations: Keep equations to a minimum. Authors who believe that equations are necessary should express equations as simply as possible. They should include only those equations required by an average reader to understand the technical arguments in the manuscript. Manuscripts that appear to have excessive mathematical notation may be returned to the author for revision. Whenever possible authors are encouraged to use the Insert and Symbol capabilities of Microsoft Word to build simple equations. If that is not possible, the author must indicate, in the letter of transmittal, which software was used to create the equations. Microsoft Equation, Microsoft Equation Editor or MathType format should be used only if absolutely necessary. Equations must be numbered but unlike tables, figures, color images and line drawings, should be embedded in the text file.   

8) References: A complete and accurate reference list of works cited in the text is essential. Cite references to published literature in the text in alphabetical order by authors’ last names and date. For example, Jones (1979), Jones and Smith (1979), or (Jones 1979; Jones and Smith 1979) depending on sentence construction. If there are more than two authors, they should be cited as Jones et. al. (1979) or (Jones et. al. 1979). Personal communications and unpublished data or reports should not be included in the reference list but should be shown parenthetically in the text (Jones unpublished data 1979). For more specifics on references please refer to the Reference Section of the Instructions for Authors of Peer-reviewed Articles.

9) Journal cover. Authors of a Highlight Article often purchase the cover of PE&RS for the month their article is published. This cover can demonstrate some aspect of the article. Please note that purchasing a cover for a particular issue of PE&RS does not guarantee publication of a Highlight Article. The article must meet the publication criteria outlined above. For more information about purchasing the cover please contact: PE&RS Advertising, Bill Spilman, Phone: 877-878-3260, Email: bill@innovativemediasolutions.com.

We look forward to your submissions. If you have further questions about these guidelines or wish to submit an article proposal, please contact:

PE&RS Highlight Editor:

Prof. Jie Shan
Purdue University
550 Stadium Mall Drive
West Lafayette IN 47907
Email: jshan@purdue.edu
Tel.: (765) 494-2168