Authors should submit their papers before or at the conference to John Cushman. Any late papers must be submitted to the FPB Editorial Office by 13 August, 2004 or at a later date only by arrangement with the Managing Editor to fit in with travel/return to the office plans. Submissions are required by this time to allow sufficient time for review, revision and production (see timeline below).

1. All papers to be received by Editorial Office by 13 August 2004 0.0
2. All papers sent out for refereeing by end of August 2004 0.5
3. All referee reports should be back to Editors by end of September2004 1.5
4. All manuscripts returned to the authors for revision by mid-October 2004 2.0
5. All revised manuscripts back to the editor by end of November 2004 3.5
6. Acceptance decision made, and issue closed, by end of December 2004 4.5
7. Copyediting and typesetting of manuscripts completed by end of January 2005 5.5
8. All proofs sent to authors by mid-February 2005 6.0
9. All proof revisions back to Editors by end of February 2005 6.5
10. Issue to printers by 15 March 2005 7.0
11. Publication date (web version posted) 15 March 2005
12. Print version available 30 March 2005

GUIDELINES for AUTHORS
The FPB Notice to Authors (http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/105.htm?nid=105&aid=413) sets out the requirements for preparation of manuscripts. All papers are refereed to the normal standards of the journal (by at least two referees). This must be clear from the start, so authors are not disconcerted to have their manuscript refereed, instead of getting an ‘internal’ or 'friendly' review. However, in such Special Issues, we may give authors more latitude than normal in the expression of personal views and ‘work in progress’.

Please meet the deadlines. Authors are encouraged to present their manuscript at the meeting. Any new data or ideas that arise as a result of further discussions at the meeting can be incorporated at proof stage.

Author responsibilities: Late submission of original manuscripts or slow return of revised ones greatly hinders timely publication. It is very unfair to the authors who send their papers in on time, only to find that publication is delayed by late submissions or delayed reviews. It also causes great disruption to the journal production processes. Where a paper is extremely late, we have the difficult decision either to omit it from the Special Issue (if it is an important contribution, this may compromise the integrity of the whole issue) or hold the issue for the recalcitrant (which causes problems for the timely authors).

I look forward to presenting you with a beautiful CAM Special issue!