Key NASA History Web Sites
Interdependence of Archivists, Records Managers, and Historians
A Select Sampling of Model NASA History Publications
Tips on Writing an Unsolicited Proposal
How a Manuscript Becomes a NASA History Publication

How a Manuscript Becomes a NASA History Publication

1. The author researches, writes, and then turns in the manuscript to the NASA History Office.

2. The NASA historian(s) read(s) the manuscript for an initial quality assessment.

3. The NASA historian sends it to peer reviewers (typically several historians and one or two program scientists or engineers).

4. The peer reviewers send their comments to the NASA historian, who forwards them anonymously to the author.

5. The author must address all the peer-review comments, generally by making the suggested changes. If the author feels that the peer reviewers’ suggested changes are not appropriate, for whatever reason(s), he or she must discuss this with the NASA History Office to arrive at a mutual decision.

6. The author sends the revised manuscript to the NASA History Office, along with appropriate photos and captions.

7. The NASA historian reviews the revised manuscript.

8. As appropriate, the NASA historian queries outside academic publisher(s) about their potential interest in publishing the manuscript.

9. If no outside press is interested in publishing the manuscript or if the NASA History Office specifically wants to publish a particular manuscript, then the NASA historian turns the manuscript over to a NASA copy editor.

10. The NASA copy editor reviews the manuscript to ensure that it meets NASA editorial style guidelines and checks for typographical errors.

11. The NASA historian turns the completed manuscript over to the NASA Printing and Design Office for the production of a layout with images.

12. The NASA historian reviews the completed layout.

13. The NASA historian returns the completed manuscript/layout to the author to prepare an index manually. This is the author’s final opportunity to look over the completed manuscript/layout and make any last changes to the text or images.

14. The index is added to the layout.

15. The NASA Printing and Design Office sends the final layout to be printed through the Government Printing Office. The printer distributes copies of the book!

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