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NOAA Publication - Instructions for Authors

In the absence of a centralized publications office, the following steps are intended to help NOAA authors through the process of getting their documents published as NOAA publications. The first section below reflects the process for print publication and further down there are instructions for digital only publications that will not generate a hardcopy counterpart.

In order to submit a publication into a NOAA publication series, such as a Technical Memorandum or Technical Report series, a form similar to the NOAA Form 25-700, used by NMFS SPO, is filed by the author with the person in their line office designated as Publications Coordinator, responsible for checking series numbers to confirm which were unassigned and thus available. The author would then select a free number (typically the next in sequence). The Publications Coordinator will also provide and/or apply any applicable standards, such as for formatting.
The line office's Regional Printing Coordinator submits a Dept. of Commerce (DOC) form CD-27 "Publication Clearance Request" once a year for each publication series with the NOAA Public Affairs Office.

The Regional Printing Coordinator can provide a cost estimate for printing via the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) Form SF-1 or by otherwise contacting GPO.
The Regional Printing Coordinator or NOAA Printing Coordinator submits the special NOAA variant of U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) Form SF-1 "Printing and Binding Requisition" to requisition the hard copies. [Note: The GPO Form 3868 "Notification of Intent to Publish" may also be required].
GPO Form SF-1 is accompanied by GPO Form 952 "Digital Publishing Information" to describe how any part of the document that was created on a computer should be printed in hardcopy.
As needed, submit NOAA Form 50-5A "Requisition for Duplicating Service" to the NOAA Duplicating Plant if you want hardcopy reprints and/or DOC Form CD-10B "Photographic Specification Sheet" with Form SF-1, if you need reprints of photographs.
The library staff of the author's line office, provided a copy of the publication, coordinates getting the document into the NOAA Libraries catalog, the GPO Catalog of Government Publications (CGP), and deposited via the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) and/or the NOAA institutional repository.

For digital/online-only publication, only steps 1 and 7 need apply.

Links to additional information:

Additional instructions for publishing in NMFS publications.
Federal On-Scene Coordinators Guide to NOAA Scientific Support
Instructions for submitting publications to the GPO Catalog of Government Publications.