Instructions for Authors
- Details
- Published: Monday, 15 March 2021 16:02
- Written by STEPS
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Authorship Responsibility, Financial Disclosure, and Copyright Transfer Form
Full Articles
Full articles should be between 2,000 and 5,000 words in length, formatted according to The Chicago Manual of Style, and include citations or references for further reading. Full articles will fall into one of the following categories:
- Discussions of policies that either promote or impede S&T research
- Articles that address implications and/or consequences of S&T advances on national or international policies and governance
- Articles that introduce or review a topic or topics in science, technology, or engineering, including considerations of potential societal impacts and influences
- Articles that cover historical developments in science, technology, and engineering or policies related thereto, and lessons learned or implications going forward
- Non-partisan opinion pieces concerning policies relevant to S&T, to include S&T research trends or research opportunities, and the role of national policies to promote or modify those trends and opportunities
Articles submitted to the journal must not have been published or be under consideration by any other journal or magazine. Articles must not contain material that infringes copyright, or that includes libelous or defamatory content.
STEPS follows an internal reviewing procedure. Page charges and publication fees are not levied upon authors. We do not guarantee publication of all submitted work. The ultimate responsibility for any decision lies with the Editor-in-Chief, to whom any appeals should be addressed.
Submission of an article implies that all authors have read and agreed to its content. Ethical considerations apply if the article reports on original experimental research involving humans or animal research. Contact the editorial office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if these conditions apply.
A complete submission consists of the following components:
- A brief cover letter stating the names, titles, affiliations, and contact information of all authors (including email addresses), a designation of the corresponding author, and a statement that the work is original and has not been submitted elsewhere.
- An acknowledgment of copyright transfer. An intention to sign a copyright transfer can be included in the cover letter in lieu of submitting the form with the submission. See: Authorship Responsibility, Financial Disclosure, and Copyright Transfer Form
- The article text, which includes:
- An abstract of around 250 words (or less)
- Keywords (typically three or four search terms that each characterize an aspect of the article)
- Text body (typically between 2,000 and 5,000 words, which will be around four to ten pages of text, single spaced)
- References (endnotes), conforming to Chicago reference style
- Acknowledgements, statement(s) of appreciation for contributions by non-authors, and any grant support requiring (or desiring) a declaration of support.
- Disclaimer: For authors that are employees of the government or a private corporate agency, a statement that the claims made are those of the author(s), and a statement as to whether the work was directly subsidized and/or contracted by a private or commercial enterprise.
- Competing interests: A statement of any competing interests, to include stock holdings or affiliations that might be influenced by representation of claims made in the article, or a statement that “The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.”
- Author biography of around 250 words.
- Optional Figures and Tables, submitted as separate image files. Appropriate image formats include jpeg, gif, ppt, and png. Figures should not be included in the text body, but the text body should indicate approximate locations of figures and tables as a single sentence paragraph, such as “Table 1 goes here” or “Figure 1 goes approximately here.” Figures and tables should not be subject to copyright restrictions. Identify the source if there is any question.
- If applicable, figure and table captions, which should include proper image credit/attribution statements.
- If applicable, paperwork granting permission for the use of copyrighted material. It is the author’s responsibility to ensure that all published material is free of copyright restrictions.
- An author photo, submitted as a digital image file.
Upon acceptance of an article for publication, the corresponding author will be asked to sign an author responsibility, financial disclosure, and copyright transfer agreement. Except in cases of U.S. government employees, the copyright transfer agreement transfers copyright to the Potomac Institute Press. It is the intention of the Institute to make published articles publicly available on its website, https://www.potomacinstitute.org/steps. The authors acknowledge that published material will be disseminated to the public, internationally. Any further reproduction or distribution, or publication of the work shall cite the Potomac Institute Press and include a link to the published work on the Potomac Institute website.
Short Articles
Short articles of less than words in length, formatted according to The Chicago Manual of Style, may be submitted for possible publication, and should fall into one of the following categories:
- A short note of 1,000 to 2,000 words in length concerning a scientific, technological, or engineering advance worthy of note and its potential impact on policies and/or society
- A short note of 1,000 to 2,000 words in length concerning impending or recent legislation or rules that will affect scientific, technological, or engineering research
- A short review of 1,000 to 2,000 words in length of a book or significant publication concerning science, technology, or engineering, and its impact
- An editorial, non-partisan, of roughly 1,000 words or less, signed as an opinion piece; or
- A letter to the Editor of STEPS to be considered for publication
Short articles do not require abstracts, author biographies, or photos. All other conditions and submission details apply.
