Frequently Asked Questions

Bald eagle juvenile sitting in nest looking right at the camera
Young bald eagle still in its nest

NPS / J. Campbell-Spickler

A list of the frequently asked questions answered on this page is provided below. Click on the desired hyperlink or scroll down ito see the answers to those questions.


On the front and back cover pages of Science Publication Series reports, why can't I use the name of my NPS unit (e.g., park or network or NRSS Division) and my unit´s address and website?

The location of the publisher is shown on the cover pages, not the location of the authors, editors, or contributors (which always appear on the title page (the second page of a report). This is the standard practice used across most private, university, and government publication entities.

For example, a book published by the New York City office of the John Wiley & Sons Publishing company, will always use New York, NY as the publisher's location on all book covers published by that office, regardless of the location of the authors, editors, printing houses, etc.

The Natural Resource Stewardship and Science office in Fort Collins, Colorado is the physical location of the publisher's office. This is the office that:

  • Performs and approves the final policy and layout reviews for each report.
  • Assigns unique report numbers for all published reports.
  • Maintains related digital archive records pertaining to each published report.

If a report for work funded by the I&M program has already been published in a USGS or university numbered series, do we also need to put it in one of these NPS report series?

No. As long as the results appear in some other numbered series or publication outlet and get into a bibliography or catalog so that managers, planners, and scientists can find them now and into the future, the results do not need to be published also in the NPS series.

Can we place logos from other agencies, universities, etc. on the front and back cover?

Yes. You can place other logos anywhere you like on the front and back cover pages, as long as:

  • The additional logos are located below the standard page-top banner and report title provided in our templates. No changes are allowed to the standard page-top banner or title lines that are provided with our templates.
  • The additional logos are not significantly larger or more prominent than the NPS arrowhead logo located in the page-top banner.

Can I publish an older, unpublished report in the series?

Publishing an unpublished report is always possible, but not always recommended. It is often better to maintain the original unpublished report, as is, whenever:

  • The current version of the unpublished report has been distributed to the public.
  • The unpublished report has been cited as a reference in other documents.

We suggest you publish the report anytime the report has not been distributed to the public in any way. If any updates or changes will be made to the report, we suggest that you maintain the original, as is, as a separate document for future reference. We will work with you to convert your old report to meet current NPS publication policy as quickly and efficiently as possible.

What happens if I find mistakes that I want to fix in a published report?

Edits to published reports are restricted after reports have been made available to the public in any way (e.g., physical copies sent, digital copies distributed by email, report posted for download on any public-facing website, including the NPS Data Store).

After a report in this series has been released to the public, there are two options for handling edits that add, remove, or replace any report content (individual words, sentences, figures, numeric values, pages, etc.):

  1. Live with the errors. This is the preferred option in most cases.
  2. Publish a new version of the report, with a new and distinct report number, TIC number, and NPS Data Store record ID.
    • Add a report subtitle to clearly differentiate it from the original report (e.g., Revised March 2018.)
    • Ensure the peer review manager approves the changes. This should be just a quick review of the original peer review process and approval of the changes.
    • Complete a new Manuscript Submittal Form and Checklist that denotes the changes from the original and marks the approval of the peer review manager, etc.
    • The newer version of the report will be held to the current NPS publication policy standards (graphic identity, official disclaimer language wording, etc.).
    • Use the NPS Data Store versioning tool to ensure the new report is properly entered as a new version of the older report. This will redirect users from the old reference to the newer and preferred one.

For further questions, contact series manager Fagan Johnson.

Last updated: July 2, 2024

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