EDITOR’S CORNER


Ethical and Practical Considerations for Content Submittal


Adam W. Heft, CPG-10265 I hope you had a Happy New Year to ring in 2026! As usual,


I have been busy working to bring you this, the annual Student Editon of The Professional Geologist! We have quite a variety of articles this year – thank you to all who have submitted content that helps make this publication what it is. There are articles by students and for students as well as some usual general content. Some of the topics covered in this issue include fishing, carbon capture, vapor mitigation, graduation, Mars geology, field camp, and an article about the closure of the Department of Earth and atmospheric Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and AIPG's letters in support of the Department. I hope you enjoy the variety!


You will also notice the annual member listing included


herein. Again, in order to be included in this listing, you MUST have opted in – either on the AIPG website under your profile, or via direct communication with either AIPG staff or myself. AIPG headquarters sent out several emails to this effect with reminders and a link to members. Last year, I heard from several disappointed long-time members whose names were unfortu- nately not included on the list. Hopefully, everyone who wanted to be included this time has been.


As always, I’m continuing to request content for future edi-


tions of TPG; while I have a few extra articles for the next edition, I still don’t have enough content to fill out a complete issue. So please, consider submitting an article. I’m sure most people have a case study, an interesting project, or research that would make a good base for an article. If need be, the article can be “steril- ized” so it isn’t obvious where the project is or who the client (or regulator) is. And of course, Tales from the Field, opinion pieces, and Letters to the Editor are all welcome.


Regarding submittals, the guidelines are published on the


national website at: https://aipg.org/page/TPGArticleSubmittal. Please review these guidelines before sending your submittal (which may be sent to AIPG Headquarters or directly to me as Editor). Your adherence to these guidelines makes my task easier. Please pay particular attention to the quality of any graphics you include. These need to be high quality; if there is any hint of fuzziness to any part of the image, please replace it with a higher quality image or a different one altogether. While it is possible for our design editor to work some magic to sharpen the image, that takes time and does not always have favorable results – in which case we have to ask for a better image anyway.


During the last year, we had some issues concerning a few


submittals, and, consequently, the Executive Committee and I felt it was necessary to modify the submittal guidelines to include some additional information. I will reiterate the impor-


www.aipg.org


tant points here; however, these are detailed in the updated guidelines available on the website at the link above.


When submitting an article, opinion piece or Letter to the


Editor that specifically references another author’s published article, opinion or letter, it must be done professionally and courteously. This is in keeping with the AIPG Code of Ethics, particularly, Canon 4, Standard 4.2, Rule 4.2.1 which reads, “A Member shall not issue (a) false statement(s), or a sensational, exaggerated, defamatory, and/or unwarranted statement(s) regarding a professional colleague. Differences of opinion occur and statements regarding opinions should be restricted to and based on logical and scientific principles and should be made in a respectful and professional manner.”


Thus, no matter how much you disagree with what someone has said or written, do not resort to name-calling or other insult- ing or inappropriate behavior. Submitting such content may result in readers interpreting your content as an ethics violation.


Another issue is the extent to which the Editor, Assistant


Editors, and/or Design Editor are responsible for revising your submittal. Anything submitted should first be rigorously reviewed by the author and/or author’s peers so it is as high- quality and ready for publication as it can be. Only then should it be submitted for consideration by the Editor. Thus, articles written by those whose first language is not English should have the article reviewed by someone fluent in English to help ensure it is well written and able to be understood by our readers. The Editor or other reviewers should not have to guess what is meant by unclear statements.


Another example of this is in cases with either very long articles that could be published in two or more parts, or sec- tions of an article that are longer than necessary or unclear. A review comment might be a suggestion for the author to revise the section or break the article into a Part I and II submittal. It is not the job of the Editor or reviewer(s) to decide how or where exactly to revise your submittal to address that comment. Suggestions may be provided by the reviewer, but it is up to the author to make the revision.


Adherence to the guidelines will help make the review process easier and faster, allowing a decision on whether the article should be published to be reached more quickly, and an edited version to be returned to the author in a timely manner. On behalf of the editorial team, thank you for understanding and complying with the guidelines! I am always happy to answer any questions a prospective author may have in advance of their submitting content.


Jan.Feb.Mar 2026 • TPG 3


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