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U.S. Forest Service
Caring for the land and serving people

United States Department of Agriculture

Write a FIDL

Guidelines and Responsibilities

Authors

  • Make sure that someone else isn't already working on your proposed FIDL (view list of planned new and revised FIDLs), and work with a Regional FIDL Contact to sponsor and fund your FIDL.
  • Alert the National FIDL Coordinator Karen Ripley (503-808-2674, karen.ripley@usda.gov) to your plan.
  • Write the new or revised FIDL manuscript, and prepare publication-ready figures (photos, drawings, charts, etc.; minimum of 266 ppi at publication size)
  • Solicit peer review from individuals selected in consultation with the FIDL Contact of the sponsoring Region or Area or IITF, and revise the manuscript if warranted.
  • Send the final manuscript and separate files with the figures to the FIDL Contact, and negotiate the number of paper copies.
  • Review the publication proofs and return corrections to the national FIDL coordinator.
FIDLs Related links
Related Links

FIDL Contacts

Forest Health Protection Publications and Reports

Regional FIDL Contacts

  • When a new or revised FIDL is planned:
    • Identify funds to be used to publish the FIDL. To avoid duplication with other planned FIDLs, also notify the national FIDL Coordinator about the proposed topic.
    • Develop a plan for who will accomplishing manuscript layout in InDesign®, 508-compliance and printing. This could be a local Region or the PNW Region (R6).
    • Consult with the author(s) about potential peer reviewers.
    • Review the final manuscript (Word®) and figures to ensure that the region/area/IITF is willing to sponsor the FIDL; a Contact may also review the peer-review comments.
    • Accomplish manuscript layout in InDesign® locally or through the national FIDL Coordinator in the PNW Region (R6).
    • Send the electronic files of approved FIDLs to the national FIDL Coordinator, along with information about funding (job codes and override codes) and paper copies (number to be printed, who is to receive them, delivery address).
    • Coordinate the distribution of paper copies with the national FIDL Coordinator.
  • Respond to requests for paper copies of FIDLs.
  • Provide suggestions and feedback to the national coordinator regarding FIDLs.

National FIDL Coordinator

  • Work with the PNW Region's Office of Communications and Community Engagement staff to develop a FIDL template including a logo and standardized format.
  • When a new or revised FIDL is planned:
    • Track planned new or revised FIDLs to avoid duplication; post a list of planned FIDLs on the website.
    • Check the final manuscript and figures for adherence to the standard FIDL "look and feel".
    • Submit the complete FIDL package (manuscript & figures, requisition with job code, # paper copies to be printed, and delivery information) to the appropriate design staff (local Region or PNW Region's Office of Communications and Community Engagement) for layout or printing. Send publication proofs to authors; transmit corrected proofs back to the appropriate design staff for final layout.
    • Distribute the newly printed FIDLs to forest health specialists (FS, state, research) and libraries.
  • Maintain the FIDLs website.
  • Maintain a mailing list of FS and state FHP offices to facilitate distribution.
  • Work with the regional/area/IITF Contacts on other issues, such as responding to requests for paper copies of FIDLs.

Initial Planning

  • Check the list of planned new or revised FIDLs to see if someone else is already working on a FIDL that covers your intended subject.
  • If your subject is not already claimed, work with your region/area/IITF FIDL Contact to secure funding for the FIDL, identify potential co-authors &/or reviewers, etc. The regional/area/IITF FIDL Contacts will notify the national FIDL Coordinator when a region/area agrees to sponsor a new or revised FIDL. For new FIDLs, the national FIDL Coordinator will assign the next available FIDL number.

FIDL Content

Each FIDL should cover one forest insect or pathogen, a group of closely related organisms (ex: #147 - Mistletoes on Hardwoods), or a group of organisms affecting a common host (ex: # 13 - Heart Rots of Appalachian Hardwoods).

The major sections of a FIDL usually are:

  • Introduction
  • Distribution and Hosts
  • Life History / Life Cycle
  • Evidence of Infestation / Symptoms & Signs of Infection
  • Impacts
  • Management
  • Assistance
  • References
  • Acknowledgements

Additional sections may be included at the author's discretion, such as "Spread and Intensification", "Description of Life Stages", "Natural Enemies", "Stand Conditions Conducive to Infestations", etc. As a USFS publication, standard statements regarding pesticide use (if appropriate) and non-discrimination will be included in each FIDL. To facilitate printing, FIDLs are usually 8, 12 or 16 pages long. View an example of the standard.

Peer Review

Authors work with the regional/area/IITF FIDL Contacts to identify potential peer reviewers. Authors send draft FIDLs to reviewers, and may modify draft FIDLs in response to feedback and suggestions provided by reviewers.

Publication Logistics

Number of paper copies:

The sponsoring region/area/IITF determines the number of paper copies to be printed. In recent years, 2,000 to 5,000 paper copies have been printed for FIDLs likely to be of interest within one or two regions/area/IITF. FIDL Contacts have provided default numbers of paper copies desired by their FHP offices and state partners -- usually two different numbers, depending on whether or not the subject of the FIDL applies to their Region. Occasionally the national FIDLs Coordinator queries the regional Contacts regarding the number of copies wanted for FIDLs currently in the pipeline for printing.

Estimated publishing costs:

Currently, the PNW Region's Communications and Community Engagment staff has agreed to handle layout and contracts for printing of FIDLs at no cost, so the sponsoring region/area only pays for the printing costs. Printing costs are highly variable, depending on the number of pages (usually 8, 12 or 16), the number of copies, and whether printers are busy when the printing contract is advertised; in recent years, printing costs generally ranged from $1,500 to $3,500. Several regions/area/IITF may contribute funds to publish a given FIDL.  In the future, the PNW Region may charge for layout and contracting services.

Images:

Please submit photos as individual files in .jpg format with the highest resolution possible. At a minimum, photo resolution must be 266 dpi at the publication size. Graphs, charts, and line drawings may be either .jpg format or .gif format, as long as they are high resolution.

Submitting a new/revised FIDL:

  1. Authors send completed, peer-reviewed FIDL manuscripts and images in electronic format to the regional/area/IITF FIDL Contact.
  2. Assuming the region/area/IITF agrees to sponsor the FIDL, the Contact forwards the new or revised FIDL to the national Coordinator along with information about funding (job codes and override codes) and paper copies (number to be printed, who is to receive the paper copies, delivery addresses).
  3. The national FIDL Coordinator works with PNW Region Communications and Community Engagment staff to layout the FIDL using a standard template, then sends a manuscript proof to the authors. View an example of the standard.  Authors review the manuscript proof, and identify typographical errors or other minor changes.
  4. The PNW Region staff handles the contract for printing the FIDL.  A 508-compliant .pdf version will also be posted on the FIDLs website by the national FIDL Coordinator.
  5. Newly printed FIDLs are delivered to the recipients specified in step 2. The national FIDLs Coordinator distributes additional paper copies to forest health specialists (FS, state, research in other Regions.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/foresthealth/publications/fidls/fidls-guidelines.shtml