Electronic
File Formats for NASA-Funded Contractors
NASA-funded
contractors, who elect or are required by their contract to submit
a final report to NASA, should transmit the final report of STI to the
appropriate NASA Center contracting officer. Also send a copy of
the letter that is sent to the NASA contracting officer to the NASA Center
for AeroSpace Information (CASI), Attn. Acquisitions, 7115 Standard
Drive, Hanover, Maryland 21076-1320. See NPR 2200.2B, "Guidelines
for Documentation, Approval, and Dissemination of NASA Scientific and
Technical Information" (available from this website) for stylistic
information and recommended formats for final contractor reports.
Final
Report Submittal Requirements
NASA strongly recommends that you submit an electronic version of
your final report. Recommended fonts include Courier, Helvetica,
or
Times. We recommend that you also submit a paper copy that may be
used to ensure data integrity (e.g., that the file has not been compromised
and that no font substitution occurs in math, equations, and symbols).
If
your STI contains limited, restricted, or export-controlled STI,
do not electronically submit it via the Internet or email unless
it is encrypted in a format appropriate to NASA. For the purposes
of
encryption, limited/restricted information is defined as competitively
sensitive information, such as trade secret, proprietary, Small Business
Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer
Pilot Program (STTR), confidential commercial, and patent (prior
to
formally filing a patent application) information. Export-controlled
information is defined as ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations,
22 CFR 120-130) and EAR (Export Administration Regulations - 15 CFR
730-744) information. NASA CASI does not handle classified documents.
If appropriate encryption is not available at time of transmittal,
NASA will accept a paper copy or an electronic copy on CD-ROM. The
paper copy or electronic file loaded to the CD-ROM and the CD-ROM
itself must be marked with the appropriate restriction. Do not add
the restrictive marking to the exterior mailing envelope. For additional
information, contact you're the NASA contracting officer or the NASA
Center STI or Technical Publications Manager.
Required
Forms
Include the SF 298 Report Documentation Page (RDP) as the last page
of the report file (available at www.sti.nasa.gov).
Click on Publishing Information on the home page or go
to the NASA Electronic Forms system.
Elelctronic
File Submittal Guidelines
The following guidelines may help in creating acceptable files.
Electronic
File Formats and Media
NASA and its contractor-run facility, the NASA Center for AeroSpace
Information (CASI), will accept electronic files in the following
formats:
- Adobe
Portable Document Format (PDF) (preferred format) (see below: Converting
Files to PDF)
- Postscript
- Native
formats — Native refers to the source application (Word,
PowerPoint, WordPerfect, Excel, Photoshop, etc.). Files in their
native
format
must be self-contained including all graphics.
- HTML
files must be self-contained; there should be no links (electronic
pathways) to external documents or web sites because files can
be
disabled or links "broken" and the information is lost.
- TIFF
- XML
- ASCII
(text-only files)
Electronic
files can be submitted via
- Disk
(3.5 in., CD-ROM formatted to ISO 9660 Standards, 100 or 250 Mb
Zip)
- E-mail
attachment up to 5 Mb
- Internet
download
- If
none of these methods work for you, please contact your COTR for
instructions
CASI
uses WinZip to uncompress files.
Organizing
Electronic Files
The electronic file must contain the complete camera-ready cover-to-cover
report including the SF 298 (RDP). Suggested fonts for best results
are Courier, Helvetica, and Times.
-
Store report and/or supplements to a report as a single, cover-to-cover
product; CASI WILL NOT combine multiple files to create the necessary
single-file document. In the case of compilations, in addition to
a single, cover-to-cover file, also provide a separate file for
each individual chapter or paper in the document. This facilitates
cataloging at CASI.
- Include
all pages required to output or store it as a camera-ready cover-to-cover
report-cover pages, front matter, text, graphics, RDP, and blank
pages-to ensure proper page positioning throughout the report when
it is printed.
- It
is not necessary to provide an "interactive" PDF file
(such as contents page numbers linking to those sections), as that
utility is not needed and will not be used or retained when CASI
downloads the file to their storage area for online access.
Converting
Files to PDF
The preferred mode is "PDF Normal" in which the PDF is
created directly from a Postscript file. Postscript files generated
from native
formats can be converted to "PDF Normal" using Adobe Acrobat
Distiller. It is recommended that native files be printed to Postscript
format before creating PDF files. This creates a searchable PDF file.
PDF
files generated from a scanned image should be converted from the
scanned image to PDF Searchable Image Exact (PDF image plus text).
This creates a searchable PDF file while maintaining the integrity
of the original report. Other modes of conversion that are available
in conversion programs may alter the contents of the original file.
For
assistance creating PDF files, additional information can be obtained
from the Adobe Web site at
http://www.adobe.com. Adobe Acrobat Reader can be downloaded free from http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/main.html
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