Criteria for Publication and Instructions for Submission of
Tech Zone and Insights White Papers

All contributions for publication on the Society of the Plastics Industry’s myPlasticsindustry.com Web portal must be submitted in the form of a White Paper -- defined here as an informative document that focuses on broad industry topics or specific reader concerns and does not promote a company’s products or services.

Please do not submit press releases, product data sheets, marketing literature, or similar documents. They will be rejected. Of course, the author and his or her company will be prominently credited as the source of any accepted White Paper.

The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) and the administrators of myPlasticsindustry.com reserve the right to reject any submission deemed to have a promotional intent or that highlight the benefits of one product or the deficiencies of a competing product.

“Tech Zone” and “Insights”

White Paper submissions that are accepted for publication will appear in either the “Insights” or “Tech Zone” areas of myPlasticsindustry.com.

“Insights” is the place for non-technical papers related to business topics -- such as trade, economics, finance and operations management – as well as domestic and international regulatory issues.

The “Tech Zone” is where technical papers on science and technology will appear. Topics may include emerging technologies like degradables, nanotechnology, energy efficiency, radio frequency identification and recycling, or established technologies involving equipment systems, raw materials, processing techniques, or other aspects of plastics manufacture.

Criteria for Publication

SPI staff will review each manuscript submitted upon receipt. To meet acceptable criteria for publication on myPlasticsindustry.com, White Paper submissions must:

• Provide useful information or valuable insight of specific relevance to plastics industry professionals. Appropriate examples might include:
  • Solutions to technical or practical problems
  • Techniques for carrying out a design or manufacturing function
  • Examinations of the pros and cons of a new technology (in generic terms)
  • Analyses of an existing technology (in generic terms)
  • Explanations of how a process works
  • Guidelines or tips for approaching a management or operations issue
• Not sell or promote a product or service. Mention of a product by name is only acceptable when the product is cited a single time as an example in support of a general category or theme.
• Not include a company’s logo in the main text. A logo may be included with an author’s biographical sketch after the article.
• Not include anti-trust sensitive information involving prices, pricing practices, distribution and supply/demand forecasts. However, it is acceptable to discuss general trends or to project the impact of external factors on future prices. While specific price forecasts should be avoided by industry members, authors who do not participate in the market (consultants, market analysts, journalists) may offer specific price forecasts.
• Not have been published elsewhere and should not overlap or duplicate the author’s own published work or plagiarize someone else’s work.
• Provide author information (See “Manuscript Preparation” below).
• Be between 1,000 and 3,000 words in length.
• Be composed in the English language.
• Must be accompanied upon submittal by a signed and dated SPI Web Publication Copyright Agreement

Rejected Papers and Opportunities for Revision and Re-Submission

In the event that an article is turned down by SPI staff, the author will be notified and given guidance on how to revise the piece to acceptable publication standards. Should the author disagree with the reasons given for the rejection or is unwilling to make the suggested revision, he or she may petition SPI’s Committee on Marketing and Communications (CMAC) via email at comm.@socplas.org. (The CMAC is a group of plastics industry professionals of SPI member companies who serve the association in an advisory capacity on issues relating to communications, marketing, public relations, media outreach and branding.)

Manuscript Preparation

• Papers must be submitted as a Word document. (PDF files are not acceptable.)
• Papers must be single-spaced and be sent as a digital attachment via email. Hard copy submissions will not be accepted.
• Print should be black, 12 point Times Roman type.
• Tables , figures and illustrations should be placed on the page where they are first referenced
• Author information, to include full name, title and company affiliation, must appear beneath the title or headline. If the paper has multiple authors, this information must be provided for each individual.
• Brief author biographies of no more than 100 words, as well as high-quality author photos, are welcome but not required. They should be placed after the article text. Company logos may accompany author biographies.

Send your White Paper via email to beisenberg@plasticsindustry.org

Fax a signed copy of the SPI Web Publication Copyright Agreement to Barry Eisenberg at (202) 296-7355.

Tips for a Successful White Paper Submission

Effective white papers usually contain the following characteristics:

• Instant focus on reader interests. The first few lines of an article should clearly address challenges that the reader may encounter or opportunities that he or she may not be aware of.
• Brevity. There is a limit to a reader’s patience – particularly on the Internet. Please observe the word count limit stated above as it will improve the chances that your paper is read to the end.
• Text break-up and visual cue. Use bullet points and subheads. Break up long paragraphs into shorter ones. Use illustrations or tables. Long stretches of uninterrupted text will discourage Internet readers.