Publication Cycle
Armed Forces Comptroller is a quarterly journal. Publication months are as follows:
- Winter issue – March
- Spring issue – May
- Summer issue – August
- Fall issue – November
To allow for the ASMC Editorial Board review and layout processes, prospective contributors should submit articles well in advance of these dates. (See "Submission Deadlines" below.) Publication of journal issues may vary somewhat from the above targets to allow for inclusion of special material or time-sensitive items.
Editorial Content
The purpose of Armed Forces Comptroller journal is to assist the American Society of Military Comptrollers in achieving its objective for the professional development of those in military financial management. The journal accomplishes this by:
- Providing a forum to keep Society members and other interested individuals informed of current activities and innovative ideas in military comptrollership and its various disciplines. Articles on historical topics will be considered when they are relevant to current events and trends in military comptrollership.
- Promoting the education and training of Society members, and supporting the advancement of the profession of military comptrollership, by addressing the full range of functions and specialties that comprise the profession of comptrollership and resource management.
- Maintaining an emphasis on people and what may be of interest and benefit to them, to include a well-balanced presentation of ASMC Chapter activities and other items of interest.
Submission Deadlines
Solicited or Unsolicited Manuscripts
Manuscripts must be original and not published earlier in other professional journals or publication.
Proposed articles for Armed Forces Comptroller are reviewed first by the ASMC Editorial Board. The Board recommends to the Executive Director and Editor of Armed Forces Comptroller whether unsolicited articles should be considered for publication. Accordingly, and except under specific exceptions, such manuscripts must be submitted earlier than other publication materials.
Deadlines for unsolicited manuscripts are as follows:
- Winter issue – October 31
- Spring issue – January 31
- Summer issue – April 30
- Fall issue – July 31
Other Material (Chapter News, Professional Development Announcements, etc.)
Submission deadlines for other Armed Forces Comptroller input may vary significantly depending on the length and format of the items. In general, material should be received approximately ten weeks before publication of the journal.
All input for Armed Forces Comptroller should be submitted to:
Editor, Armed Forces Comptroller
American Society of Military Comptrollers
415 North Alfred Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Or you may email input to sizemore@asmconline.org
Style Sheet
- A "style sheet" describes the basic rules for manuscript preparation by a specific publication. It makes the printer's job easier and less costly. The following style sheet for Armed Forces Comptroller is rather streamlined and is intended to help potential authors prepare their copy in a consistent manner.
- All copy should be submitted with notes prepared as indicated below and with clear author by-lines. Commercial and DSN (if applicable) telephone and fax numbers should be included for each author or for the author serving as principal contact with ASMC.
- Authors should also submit a valid e-mail address. Authors whose articles are selected for publication will be asked to submit their final copy in both hard copy and text file format.
- Length; articles should be between 2,000-2,500 words, which typically equates to 3-4 typewritten pages with heading and graphic or photo incorporated.
- Art Work/Graphics. Initial manuscript submissions may include reproduced versions of graphics or art within the text. If selected for publication, however, authors must provide original or high quality graphic files of sketches, charts, drawings, etc.
- Photographs. Initial manuscript submissions also may include reproductions of photographs within the text. If selected for publication, original photographs or high resolution files, clearly captioned, must be provided. Individuals in group photographs should be identified by full name, rank (if applicable), and location in the photo. For example:Front row (l. to r.): Mary Jones, VADM James Thomas, Capt. Rick Smith. Back row (l. to r.): Col. Robert Brown, Lt.Col. Susan Black, Steven Green. Members of the Pentagon Chapter visit the firing range at Fort Soldier. Jack Zim (l.) receives instruction on new range technology from CPT Jim Day (r.).
- Headings and Subheadings. Three simple tiers or "orders" of heads are used in Armed Forces Comptroller.
- Main heads are centered, all in upper case letters, and underlined: DEFEATING COST OVERRUNS
- First subheads are flush to the left margin, upper and lower case, and underlined: Overruns Caused by Oversight
- Second subheads are indented five (5) spaces, upper and lower case, underlined, and followed with a period. Text begins on the same line, indented three (3) spaces from the period. Actions by Review Boards. Throughout the 1970s, review boards were most active in assessing the continuing professional training of auditors …
- Acknowledgments. On occasion, authors wish to express appreciation to those who assisted during preparation or review of a manuscript. Such notes of thanks should be brief, single spaced, and indicated by an asterisk. The note should be placed at the end of the author's submission. In the journal, the note will appear in a footnote at the bottom of the first page of text. An example follows: * The author thanks John Smith, Mary Jones, and Col. Barbara Rossa for their helpful information and review of drafts of this article.
- Author Bios and Photos.
- A brief biography and photograph of each author will appear in the journal issue. The bio should be 30 to 40 words long and include the following: author's current position, significant previous positions or honors, ASMC Chapter affiliation and position(if any). For example: George Allen is the Budget Officer for Command X. He served previously as the Comptroller of Fort YY, and is past Chapter President of ASMC XYZ Chapter. He has been adjunct professor of management at George Washington University since 1986.
- Author photographs should be professional color head shots. They must be at least 2 x 3, and a 300 DPI resolution. Do not place images in an application (such as MS Word or PowerPoint); send only jpeg files
- Footnotes. Notes to articles will appear at the end of each article. Indicate notes by superscript Arabic numbers in the text (like this 2), and by regular Arabic numbers in the notes themselves. The examples below include article, book, and interview sources: John Peters and Jane Schwarzkopf, "The High Cost of Refitting Vehicles After Desert Use," Auto News, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Fall 1990), pp. 3-6. Harry Albermarle, Accounting Trends (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1972), pp. 10-22. Telephone interview with Gen. Ryell Spinya, March 1, 1991.
ASMC Worldwide Chapter News
Deadlines for submission
- Winter issue – December 31
- Spring issue – February 28
- Summer issue – May 31
- Fall issue – August 31
Guidelines for Chapter News Photos
Four pages of the Armed Forces Comptroller are dedicated to sharing photos and news of chapter activities. Every attempt will be made to include at least one photo from each submitting chapter. When this is not possible, priority will be given to those chapters that have not been featured in recent editions of the magazine. When submitting photos, please use these guidelines:
- Chapters should list photos in priority sequence. When priorities are not identified, photos will be selected based on the general criteria of quality of the photo and timeliness.
- Group photos allow the journal to feature more members and guests in the limited space available.
- Each photo must be clearly numbered, with a caption in an attached file. At a minimum, caption should include: Chapter name, full name (and rank if appropriate) of each individual pictured (left to right), and a detailed description of activity in photo. Please do not use dates in captions.
- Photos must be of reproduction quality — color preferred, with good clarity and composition. Be sure the photographer has turned off the date function on the camera.
- Events pictured must be timely — e.g., photos of Christmas events may be appropriate for the Spring issue, but not for the Summer issue. Please keep in mind that we work three months in advance of the mailing. For example, photos for the Summer issue are chosen in May.
- Photos must be sent electronically or on a disk; they must be at least 4×6, and a 300 DPI resolution. Do not place images in an application (such as MS Word or PowerPoint); send only jpeg files.
Photos should be sent to:
Chapter News, ASMC
415 North Alfred Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
