AAAI Technical Report instructions for participants

The purpose of this document is to explain how to format and submit the camera-ready copy of your paper for the workshop technical report. Please read these instructions carefully. AAAI technical reports are published from electronic files that you submit. Your cooperation in producing trouble-free files is to your advantage, because incorrectly formatted files will be returned to you for reformatting -- there is also a risk that your paper may not be published at all. You must submit both electronic and hardcopy.


When and What to submit
The submission deadline is May 18 for receipt of all electronic materials. Permission to distribute forms and audio-visual forms are due at the same time. This is a firm deadline. The following paragraphs discuss what you should submit.


Submit a PDF Version of Your File
Submit your electronic abstract, paper title, and a PDF version of your paper (LaTeX users must pay special attention to the instructions). Submission instructions are located at http://www.aaai.org/Publications/Author/electronic-submissions.html with a link to the workshop submission form.

The site may be extremely busy on the last day, May 18. To be prudent, try to submit your electronic paper in advance of the deadline. If you can't use the submission form, you must send your materials to your workshop organizer who will submit the materials for you.


Please Send us Trouble-free PDFs!
When creating a PDF file, please pay attention to the settings requirements noted in the submission instructions. Additional information on PDF settings is located at http://www.aaai.org/Publications/Author/distiller-settings.html.

Common errors made by authors when making PDFs include improper page size (such as A4), type 3 fonts, improper margins, and low-resolution graphics. Please check your PDF before sending it. It takes only a minute or two to verify every page in the file. By doing so, you avoid having your paper returned to you for correction. You can verify your fonts in Acrobat Reader (File --> Document --> Properties --> Fonts) or by using the PDF fonts utility in the Xpdf package. The document size is given in Acrobat at the bottom of the window. Be certain it says 8.5 x 11 inches.


Sign and Send the AAAI Permission to Distribute Form
The AAAI Permission to Distribute form must be mailed to AAAI-05 Workshops, 445 Burgess Drive, Menlo Park, CA 94025. Your paper will not be published unless you send us a signed, unaltered copy of this form. No exceptions. This form does not prevent you from publishing your paper elsewhere, but it does allow AAAI to distribute your paper in hardcopy and electronic form. A copy of this form is included with these instructions. It can also be downloaded from http://www.aaai.org/Publications/instructions.html


Formatting Instructions
Your paper should be formatted in two-column format according to the instructions supplied in this kit. Please pay careful attention to the margin requirements. Nothing may intrude into the margins. (If you use LaTeX, be especially certain that your tables and equations stay completely within the margins.)


Font Requirements
Your paper should be formatted in Times or Times New Roman. LaTeX users should use the "times package" in their source, and may find the following information on fonts of some use: http://www.aaai.org/Publications/Author/latex-fonts.html.

Those who use TeX or LaTeX must pay close attention to the typefaces used, as no Type 3 bitmap fonts may be used when creating your paper. Whenever possible, please use PDFLaTeX instead of straight LaTeX or TeX, as this program will avoid the type 3 font problem. Because it is almost impossible to avoid font problems in LaTeX 209, this old software must be avoided. If you cannot use PDFLaTeX or PDFTeX, you must instruct dvips to use an alternate font map. This can be achieved by the following command:

  dvips -Ppdf -G0 -0 papername.ps papername.dvi

(Note the zero following the G). This command tells dvips to use the config.pdf file. Scripts such as dvipdf that ostensibly bypass the PostScript intermediary should not be used because they generally do not instruct dvips to use the config.pdf file. If you use GhostScript, be sure you have version 7.04 or newer. The earlier versions do not create acceptable PDFs.

Finally, if fonts aren't getting embedded, look at the PDFTeX mailing list for hints on configuring PDFTeX. (http://tug.org/pipermail/pdftex/2002-July/002803.html)


Length Requirements
You are allowed to submit up to PAGE LIMIT. No paper longer than PAGE LIMIT pages will be accepted. (Note to Workshop Organizer: Total page limit cannot exceed 200 pages.)


Page Size
AAAI's technical reports are printed in 8-1/2 x 11 inch format. Your electronic file must be formatted for an 8-1/2 x 11 inch page. Those using RedHat Linux 8.0 and LaTeX should check the papersize setting in "/usr/share/texmf/dvips/config.ps" -- it may be that A4 is the default. Change it to letter to avoid incorrect margins.


How to Obtain AAAI Macros and Style Sheets
You may find our sample Word or RTF documents (including style sheets) helpful to you in formatting your paper. We also have LaTeX macros that can be used to format two-column camera copy. (Please read the formatting instructions!) To retrieve the templates, please go to

http://www.aaai.org/Publications/Author/macros-link.html

If you use LaTeX, please note that use of the new aaai.sty macro is required (the old aaai.sty macros and instructions are not the same; note that ijcai.sty macros are not acceptable). To avoid having your file returned for reformatting, you should download latex-set.tex and you must format your paper using the Times font. Please download "latex-set.tex" and read the new instructions for LaTeX users.


Graphics
Do not ever use gif files in your paper. This format is suitable for screen use only. It will not print legibly on our printer's equipment.


Naming Your Electronic File
To avoid possible erasure of your file on our site, you should include the following elements in the name of your file (in this order):

1. WS
2. Workshop Number (see the pull-down list)
3. YEAR (last two digits, e.g. 05)
4. Principal Author's First Initial and Surname (use mixed case)
5. Filetype extension (.pdf)

Thus, a paper by J. Doe for the 2005 AAAI Workshop number 3 would be called:

WS305DoeJ.pdf

If you are submitting more than one file under the same authors name, number the files 1, 2, etc. and put the number after the author's initial (for example, WS305DoeJ1.pdf, WS305DoeJ2.pdf, etc.)


E-Mail
We're sorry, we cannot accept e-mail submissions.


Questions
If you have any questions regarding the formatting and guidelines of this author kit, please contact workshops05@aaai.org.


Thank you for reading these instructions.