The following series types are used to help identify numbered publications in the WSU Extension Online Store. Definitions are provided below to help authors determine how best to present their information to a target audience and how to categorize the resulting presentation when submitting it to Manuscript FastTrack.
All FastTrack submissions will be evaluated by two or more peer reviewers assigned by WSU Extension Program Directors (except where noted). Presentations that pass peer review and complete the publishing process can be considered as scholarly products for promotion and tenure. The time for post-review editing and design is highly influenced by the number of pages and place in the queue.
1. Fact Sheets (FS Series)
Fact sheets are short and very concise technical materials. They address a fairly narrow topic and can fit into a topic-specific series.
2. Extension Manuals (EM Series)
Extension manuals are comprehensive documents providing in‐depth analysis and recommendations related to complex topics. Care should be taken to justify why a large and detailed publication is necessary.
3. Extension Curricula (EC Series)
Extension curricula are educational materials supporting delivery of a designed program. These compilations may include written, digital, or other media; instructions and protocols; and evaluation tools packaged as a single focused curriculum.
4. Online Modules (OM Series)
Online modules are asynchronous non‐credit courses that generally include recorded voice, digital video, or both. Compilations of these modules are often used to form an entire online curriculum. While the length of online courses is not stipulated, online modules should be kept to no more than one hour each.
All proposed online course modules should be submitted to FastTrack before they are recorded. Online modules are considered editable content, meaning that reviewers and Program Directors can expect that recommended changes will be made to any form of content, including re-recording presentations, revising slides, and modifying digital video.
5. Technical Bulletins (TB Series)
Technical bulletins are a special category of publication intended for research or variety trial data and other technical material that may not be appropriate or a good fit for a fact sheet or manual. This material may be written for a specific and well-defined target audience (rather than a general audience) who is familiar with the topic and looking to use the results of the work (not replicate an experiment).
Unpublished data and other experimental results that may not be suitable for publication in a refereed journal may also be published as a technical bulletin, but the manuscript must generally follow a basic outline (below), and go through both FastTrack for peer review and the Extension editing and design processes for publication.
Basic Outline for Technical Bulletins
- Abstract (brief)
- Introduction (brief statement of problem or issue addressed by the research)
- Methodology (brief overview; not in replicable detail)
- Results
- Conclusions
- Glossary
- References
Suggested manuscript length: no more than 10 pages of double-spaced text (2500 words), plus illustrations and tables. For more detailed suggestions on how to write a technical bulletin for agricultural topics, consult guidelines from the Plant Management Network: http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/guidelines/types/#Research.
In some cases, a technical bulletin may include material that formed the basis of a published, peer-reviewed journal article. Re-use and publication by WSU Extension may or may not be allowed, and may or may not require further peer review, at the discretion of the Program Unit Director or Associate Dean of Extension.
Manuscripts submitted to WSU Extension cannot be the edited/published version of a journal article. The pre-edited, pre-published manuscript of a journal article may be used, but must be adapted for Extension publication in several ways such as converting metric units of measure to standard English units and defining technical terms. (Note, Extension publications also benefit from having more illustration and supporting graphics than is typical of journal articles.) These manuscripts must also note in an acknowledgement that the material was previously published and give the citation of that publication. In the case of republished material, the authors must submit a copy of the published journal article and a copy of the journal publication agreement when they submit the manuscript to WSU Extension through FastTrack.
If you have any questions about WSU Extension technical bulletins or any of the other publication categories, please contact Lagene Taylor: lagene@wsu.edu, 509-335-2823.
6. Pacific Northwest Extension Publications (PNW Series)
Pacific Northwest Extension publications are educational materials produced and distributed cooperatively among the Extension services of the University of Idaho (UI), Oregon State University (OSU), and Washington State University. All proposed PNW publications must correspond to one of the other listed publication categories and also be relevant and useful for Idaho and Oregon Extension audiences. Shared authorship and consultation with fellow specialists in these states is recommended, but not required.
After acceptance is confirmed by a WSU Program Director, the presentation must then pass a second round of peer review by UI and OSU specialists who focus on state-specific issues. Approval from both states results in completed items being added to UI and OSU Extension publications catalogs, potentially increasing the number of users. The PNW author’s guide provides further details.
7. Peer Reviewed Video (PRV Series)
There are formal steps required PRIOR to submitting a transcript for a PRV item. Please review those steps here: Video Peer Review Process Instructions. Initial contact with Darrell Kilgore is required before starting any video processes that you wish to have peer reviewed.