All papers must be submitted in electronic format using the paper submission process outlined below. Please complete all of the following steps to ensure a valid submission:

• 1. Download and complete the Paper Submission Form.
• 2. Prepare your paper according to the Instructions for Authors in the following section. Your source file must be either in Microsoft Word (version 2000 or 2003) or in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format, saved with NO document security, and with all figures embedded electronically. Save it as Paper.
• 3. The completed Paper Submission Form and your paper should both be attached to an e-mail, using as Subject Paper Submission.
• 4. If you have any special audio/visual needs, these must be requested in the body of your e-mail.
• 5. If you intend to present a poster and wish to be considered for an award, you must include, in the body of your e-mail, the e-mail address of a person who will confirm your status as a student or technologist.
• 6. Send the e-mail to: papers@msc-smc.org.

If you are submitting more than one paper, each should be submitted separately – i.e. one e-mail (with 2 attached files) per paper.

The deadline for submission of all papers has been extended to April 30, 2012. Papers submitted after this date may not be accepted.

The submission of a 2-page paper, as outlined below, is required for both oral and poster presentations. At the end of this document you will find a paper presented at a previous meeting which meets the requirements below and can therefore be used as a model.

• 1. ELECTRONIC SETUP. Your electronic file must be submitted in either Microsoft WORD (saved as WORD 2000 or 2003) or Adobe PDF format with NO document security. The filename must have the appropriate extension (.doc or .pdf). All papers submitted as PDFs MUST have fonts and images embedded. Use a 12 point Times New Roman typeface, 6 lines per vertical inch. Use italics for taxonomic terms; do not use underlines. Avoid individualized formatting and special typefaces.
• 2. TEXT. Papers should be a condensed version of the final presentation and include all significant findings. Write the text so that readers who are not specialists can appreciate the purpose of the study and understand the procedures and conclusions.
  All contributions must conform to the layout requirements and should fill 2 pages exactly. Submissions of less than 300 words of text will not be accepted.
• 3. MARGINS. Set the paper format to letter and the margins for each page so that the text occupies a centered rectangle 6.75 in. wide by 9 in. high (17.1 cm wide x 22.8 cm high).
• 4. PAGE 1. Text only on this page, no illustrations. Title on first line must be 14-point boldface with initial capitals. For the rest of the text, use 12-point Times New Roman. Use single line spacing if more than one line is needed for the title. Leave one line of space before the author names. Start the authors’ names, each followed by a comma and one or more asterisks for reference to each author’s affiliation. Leave one line of space between author names and affiliations. Asterisk the first author's affiliation and provide the complete postal address. Similarly, on the next line type the next author's affiliation and complete address, etc. Do not center the title, author names or affiliations; return each line to the left margin. Leave one line of space, and begin the first paragraph without indentation. Skip a line between each paragraph.
• 5. PAGE 2. This page may include text, figures, and/or tables (if any). Place table captions above tables at the left margin; place figure captions below figures. Bring all artwork to the left margin.
• 6. LINE DRAWINGS, MICROGRAPHS AND PHOTOS. All artwork must be electronically incorporated into the text. Show figure number and scale marker (e.g., 1 μm) as needed. Color may be used and will be displayed as such on the CD-ROM of the Proceedings. Line art must be created either in a drawing program or scanned into a suitable format for importing into the document; check that the weights of lines and sizes of label fonts in embedded legends allow the figure to be understandable at the final reproduction size in the document.
• 7. TABLES. All tables must be electronically incorporated into the text. Use the table-making functions of the word processor to create the table with a horizontal rule top and bottom and below the column headings. Indicate units in parentheses in column headings as needed. Type information single-spaced within the table.
• 8. REFERENCES. Show citations in the text as an Arabic number on the line in square brackets, preferably at the end of the sentence, before the period. Format and place references as shown in the model paper.

Submission Example

Receipt of submitted files will be acknowledged via e-mail.

All papers will be reviewed by the Program Committee. Reasons for rejection include: lack of relevance; poor science quality; previous publication; excessive commercialism; deliberate fraud or hoax; lack of adherence to these instructions and/or late submission. Authors of rejected papers will receive a written explanation for the rejection from the Program Chair. Presenting authors will be notified of session and time assignments on or about May 10, 2012.

You are responsible for presenting your paper or poster. If unforeseen circumstances prevent your attendance, you must (1) notify the Program Chair (2) arrange for a colleague to present your paper. Failure to do so may result in rejection of your papers at future MSC-SMC meetings.

An LCD computer projector is the standard presentation equipment. Presenters must supply their own computer, and presentation computers must be connected and ready in advance of the time of the talk.

Special audio/visual (A/V) equipment requests must be indicated in the e-mail containing the submission form. These requests will be granted subject to availability.

The poster sessions will again provide the best venue for discussions and exchange of scientific information. We encourage you to consider submitting posters, and especially look forward to increased student participation through this mechanism.

Each Poster will be allocated a display area (maximum width 115 cm).

Posters will be set up, starting at 10am on Tuesday. They must be in place by Wednesday 4pm to be eligible for an award (students and technologists only). Poster presenters must be at their displays on Wednesday from 6pm – 8pm. Removal of posters should be done by Thursday, 5pm.

The Microscopical Society grants two awards: the Gérard T. Simon and CFDM awards. Please refer to the Society Awards page for more details.

The Proceedings will be available online only. All accepted papers will be published as downloadable files, with figures in full color.