Contacts

Project Reporting System

Communication Planning

Technical Report Guide for Authors

CRC Reef Research Centre has an obligation to disseminate research information widely to its stakeholder groups. While technical reports are produced from most final reports submitted to CRC Reef Research Centre, they may not be appropriate to inform all interested parties about your research outcomes.

You should have a clear, written communication and extension plan for your project which identifies appropriate methods to ensure broad awareness and uptake of your research findings. A technical report is not appropriate for every audience. Workshops, seminars, CD ROMs, databases, fact sheets, books and/or scientific papers should be used in addition to the technical report to disseminate research findings as broadly as possible.

Since 2002, CRC Reef has a policy of publishing all technical reports electronically unless prior arrangement has been made to print them.

The following guidelines will help in preparing your report to be published either electronically or in hard copy.

Reference to CRC Reef Research Centre

The Cooperative Research Centre for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area should be referred to by its full name or as CRC Reef Research Centre or CRC Reef. Do not use other abbreviations.

Formatting

The font should be Palatino (11 point) with 1.5 line spacing.
The text should be left justified and right-hand ragged.
Page numbers top right 10pt Palatino or equivalent.
Margins for left/right to be 3.17 cm; margins for top/bottom to be 2.54 cm.
Headings and sub-headings in bold.
A footer stating “CRC Reef Research Centre Technical Report No. XX.”

Language and style

No underlining – use italics for scientific names.
Spelling should be as in The Macquarie Dictionary eg italicise, finalise, centre. The spelling of American organisations should not be changed eg. Department of Defense.
Numerals should be written in full if less than 10 (one, two, three) and in numeric if above 10 (321, 45, 87) unless at the beginning of a sentence.
Most measurements used in Australia are those of the International System of Units or SI units. A space should be left between the number and the unit eg. 5 m, 44 mm, 8 kg.
Define all acronyms on their first use and use the abbreviation thereafter.
Use non-gender specific language.
For more information use Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Figures and tables

Figure captions in 10pt font should be below the figure. They should have a hanging indent and be left justified.
Table captions in 10 pt font should be above the table. The caption should have a hanging indent and left justified.
Photo credits should be in italics under the photo and after the caption.

Report order

The report should be organised into the following order

Title page
Copyright and ISBN information
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Table of Contents (Title ‘Table of Contents’ on left-hand-side of page, leaders to page numbers)
Executive Summary
Introduction
Materials and methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
References
Appendices

Title page

CRC REEF RESEARCH CENTRE TECHNICAL REPORT No. XX (14 pt, upper case) should appear across the top of the page.

Title (lower case, 24 pt bold) centred.

Author(s)’ names (lower case, 14 pt bold), institutions and addresses (lower case, 12 pt) should appear below the title.

Toward the bottom of the page, write (10pt):

CRC Reef Research Centre is a knowledge-based partnership of coral reef ecosystem managers, researchers and industry. Its mission is to provide research solutions to protect, conserve and restore the world's coral reefs. It is a joint venture between the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Great Barrier Reef Research Foundation, James Cook University, Queensland Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries, Queensland Seafood Industry Association and Sunfish Queensland Inc. The University of Queensland is an associate member.

A report funded by CRC Reef Research Centre.

CRC Reef Research Centre
PO Box 772
Townsville QLD 4810 Australia
Telephone: 07 4729 8400
Fax: 07 4729 8499
Email: info@crcreef.com
Website: www.reef.crc.org.au

Copyright and disclaimer

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry

Insert information here from National Library

Bibliography.
Includes index.
ISBN

This publication should be cited as:
Firstauthor A, Secondauthor B. 2003.Title of report. CRC Reef Research Centre Technical Report No XX. CRC Reef Research Centre, Townsville.

This work is copyright. The Copyright Act 1968 permits fair dealing for study, research, news reporting, criticism or review. Although the use of the pdf format causes the whole work to be downloaded, any subsequent use is restricted to the reproduction of selected passages constituting less than 10% of the whole work, or individual tables or diagrams for the fair dealing purposes. In each use the source must be properly acknowledged. Major extracts, or the entire document may not be reproduced by any process whatsoever without written permission of the Chief Executive Officer, CRC Reef Research Centre.

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of information in this report, CRC Reef Research Centre Ltd accepts no responsibility for losses, damage, costs and other consequences resulting directly or indirectly from its use.

In some cases, the material may incorporate or summarise views, standards or recommendations of a third party. Such material is assembled in good faith but does not necessarily reflect the considered views of CRC Reef Research Centre Ltd or indicate a commitment to a particular course of action.

Published by CRC Reef Research Centre Ltd., PO Box 772, Townsville, QLD 4810 Australia.

Foreword

A Foreword is not necessary. If desired, the authors can arrange a Foreword by a senior management agency or industry representative who has special interest in the report’s results.

Executive summary

The Executive Summary should be written in ‘plain English’ and include key issues and implications for further consideration by management agencies, research institutes and industry groups. Points to cover include:

what are the recommendations?
were the objectives fulfilled
implications for management
implications for industry
the main findings and ramifications
how will the findings be communicated to stakeholders?

If the technical report is very large, the Executive Summary will be the only part of the report available on the CRC Reef website.

References

There should be no comma between the name and date of references listed in the text (Jones 1998, Jones et al. 1999). References should be cited as listed below.

Smith F, Jones A. 1998. Everything you Wanted to Know about Corals. Elsevier, London.
Smith L, Jones A, Coralhead L. 1998. Everything you wanted to know about corals. J Mar Biol Ass UK. 27:21-31.
Smith L, Jones A, Coralhead L. 1998. Chapter 3. Everything you wanted to know about corals. In: Jones A, Fred L. (eds). The Big Book Of Corals. Elsevier, London. pp 34-97.

Submission

Submit the report as hard copy and electronically to Louise Goggin (contact details below). You should also supply keywords and the birthdate of all authors for National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry.

Review

The report is sent to two anonymous reviewers after it is submitted to CRC Reef. Should you dispute any critical comments, contact Dr David Williams, Deputy CEO (Research). Otherwise, modify your report to incorporate their suggestions and re-submit it to CRC Reef.

Distribution

It is CRC Reef policy that technical reports are now only published electronically unless prior arrangement is made. Printed Technical Reports are automatically distributed to the Board, Program Leaders, CRC Reef Advisory Groups and national and CRC Reef member libraries. You should submit a distribution list of names and addresses for additional individuals or organisations.

Promotion

All publicity and promotional material to project an appropriate corporate image and should include the CRC Reef Research Centre logo, acknowledging that the CRC Reef is a collaborative venture between its members. Where possible, all logos should be included together. Display header slogans for most projects should include “Ensuring the future of the world’s coral reefs.”

Checklist for technical reports

Technical reports should be customised to suit the information needs of the target audience.
Adhere to the CRC Reef Research Centre Guide for Technical Reports and format your report accordingly (note: reports may vary according to content and stakeholder expectations).
Write a plain English executive summary in conjunction with associate and arrange for a foreword to be written by an appropriate (and independent) senior person.
Arrange approval of draft final reports with co-authors, your Program Leader, Task Associate, and relevant employer/institution.
Submit draft final report to Louise Goggin, CRC Reef. Reports are sent to two reviewers. Reviewers’ comments and recommendations are returned to the authors.
Major reports will be checked by members of the Board. Comments, suggestions and distribution advice will often be provided to authors.
Incorporate reviewers’ comments into report.
Submit final report as hard copy and electronically to CRC Reef to arrange ISBN number and printing (if appropriate). For the ISBN, you must supply keywords and the birthdate of the first author. If appropriate, advise quantity of hard copies needed and list of contact names and addresses for mail-out.
Work with CRC Reef communication staff to arrange report launch, media publicity, plain English summary for newsletters, websites, information transfer, seminars and workshops.

For more information contact:

Dr Louise Goggin
CRC Reef Research Centre
PO Box 772, Townsville 4810 Qld
Ph: 07 4729 8400
Fax: 07 4729 8499
Email: louise.goggin@crcreef.com