Instructions to Authors

As an internationally recognized science and policy forum, the IOSC’s paper and poster presentations are the backbone of its technical program and contribute to the vast canon of oil pollution knowledge shared between the government, industry, and academia.

As is appropriate for an international gathering of responders, researchers, policy makers, and the public, IOSC endeavors to be inclusive of a wide range of disciplines. Previous papers have addressed topics from oil spill fate and transport modeling, to response policy and human health concerns to name just a few.

Invited authors present their respective papers or posters during different interactive sessions scheduled during the conference. These papers and posters are published in the online IOSC Proceedings.

Abstract and manuscript submission and management are handled by the organizers of the conference and not on the IOSC Proceedings website.

Although there have been exceptions during the long history of this conference, the final products published in the IOSC Proceedings are generally borne from the following submission process, which has been developed by the Program Committee:

1. An author submits an abstract for consideration by the IOSC.
2. Depending on the subject, the abstract is assigned to a panel of 3 voluntary subject matter experts from industry, academia, and/or government. The abstract is then double-blind reviewed – the author does not know the identities of the evaluators and vice versa.
3. The evaluators score the abstract on several dimensions, typically: relevance, accuracy, originality, impact, and clarity.
4. The Program Committee convenes to review the evaluations for the abstracts as well as number submitted and topics addressed. Taking the number, content, and quality of the abstracts into account, the Conference Program Committee develops a draft platform of posters and papers desired for the IOSC.
5. IOSC is a unique opportunity in that both the papers and posters will be published. It is an expectation that all session speakers will submit a paper for publication, and that all poster presenters will submit their posters in advance of the conference. Both papers and posters will be peer-reviewed. Papers are normally reviewed by 3 reviewers, posters are normally reviewed by 2 reviewers.
6. Session chairs will follow the following guidelines when inviting reviewers:
   1. The reviewer should not have a conflict of interest with the authors or their organization.
   2. The panel of reviewers will represent both an expertise in the topic, and the broad perspective of the IOSC audience.
   3. Assignment of reviewers is voluntary and uncompensated.
7. Abstract authors who accept invitations to further develop their abstracts into posters or papers are assigned to a Session Chair along with a review team of two or three peers from industry, academia, and/or government. Given the large breadth of topics addressed by the IOSC, these panels of reviewers are selected to represent both subject matter expertise and the wide audience of the conference. The final submitted paper or poster should:
   1. Be factually and grammatically correct.
   2. Be the author(s) original work.
   3. Comply with format and size guidance provided below.
   4. Adhere to best practices of the discipline that it addresses.
   5. Correctly and completely reference earlier work on the topic, including any work on which the paper builds in the format described below.
   6. Be written in a manner accessible to a majority of the audience of the International Oil Spill conference.
   7. Not be substantially or mostly an advertisement for a product. Demonstrations of effectiveness of new technologies or products may be accepted if those papers or posters include substantial evidence thereto.
   8. Be in compliance with any copyright agreements of work previously published.
   9. Be in compliance with the laws of the United States of America.
8. The Session Chair and peer review panel will work with the author to finalize the paper or poster.
9. The Session Chair makes a final determination as to whether or not the paper or poster should be recommended for the conference. If approved, the author is invited to give a presentation during the conference regarding their work and have their final paper or poster published in the online IOSC Proceedings.
10. The Editor has final authority to accept or reject any poster or paper, and to adjudicate any disagreements between a Session Chair and an author. The Editor may discuss any such issues with the Program Committee and/or the Executive Committee of the IOSC.

Paper and Poster Formatting Guidelines

For specific poster and paper formatting guidelines for IOSC 2020, please follow this link: here.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

The IOSC supports DOIs as unique identifiers for its papers and posters. A DOI number will be assigned for each paper and poster published in the IOSC Proceedings. DOIs can be useful in the future for identifying and citing articles published online. More information can be found at www.doi.org

The following individuals can help answer any questions about the IOSC Proceedings:

Editor

LCDR Michael Persun (he/him/his)
Response Department Head
Coast Guard Sector New York
212 Coast Guard Drive
Staten Island, NY 10305
Phone: 718.354.4346
Email: [email protected]

Program Committee Representatives

LCDR Jason Scott
U.S. Coast Guard Office of Marine Environmental Response Policy
Arctic and International Coordination (CG-MER-2)
2703 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE
Washinton D.C. 20593-7516
Email: [email protected]

Suzanne Lemieux
American Petroleum Institute
200 Massachussetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202.682.8453
Email: [email protected]