Nash and Author 2Page 1

TRB Paper Recommendations and MS Word Template

Andy Nash

June 19, 2008

Introduction

I have developed these recommendations to help clients prepare papers for the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. They are based on many years of experience preparing and reviewing papers, but are not official TRB information and are not approved by anyone at the TRB.

The TRB guidelines for authors document ( explains exactly how you must format papers for the annual meeting and Transportation Research Record (printed journal). In contrast, these tips and the template below generally follow the TRB requirements, but add features to make the papers more readable when printed on a normal office printer or viewed on a computer screen from the conference CD ROM.

If you want to make absolutely certain that your paper will not be rejected for being in the incorrect format then don’t use this template! On the other hand, I have never seen a paper rejected for being in the wrong format. Finally recognize that you will need to revise the paper formatting if it is selected for the TRR, but that is relatively easy.

Note that the text highlighted in yellow in the template explains the formatting and provides more tips for your paper.

Tips for TRB Papers

  1. The TRB annual meeting website ( has detailed instructions to be followed by authors.
  2. Be aware of the deadline: August 1 for pdf versions. It is strictly enforced.
  3. All papers are submitted electronically. Obtain your TRB annual meeting author login from the TRB’s annual meeting website early! Here is the web address for instructions on submitting a paper:
  4. Upload abstract, author information and paper draft versions early. You can upload revised versions until the deadline, but having a draft version in the system ensures that if you have problems uploading the final version in the final days, at least an early draft will be evaluated.
  5. Word limit is: 7500 – but keep the paper under 5000 words and use the rest of the limit for figures and charts (figures and charts count as 250 words each).
  6. Write as simply as possible. Explain technical concepts clearly. The TRB’s great advantage is that it bridges between academic and practical research giving you a great opportunity to share your work with a broad audience. But it means that everyone reading the paper will not be highly technical so be sure to write clearly and simply.
  7. Make sure that all your figures are labeled in English.
  8. Provide the definition for all abbreviations you use the first time you use them. Never assume that people know it. Here’s an example:

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has decided to ….

After you have defined the FAA in this way, you can simply use FAA throughout the document.

  1. Use color illustrations. All the papers presented at the annual meeting are included on the CD ROM provided to attendees. This means that the figures can be in color although the TRR is in black and white (if your paper is selected for the TRR you may need to revise the figures).
  2. Use website links for references and throughout the document. They will show-up as links on the CD ROM version and are very useful for directing readers to information. (Be sure to include links to yourself, your institute, etc. when appropriate.)
  3. Be sure to use the US English language selection for spelling and proofreading!

Nash and Author 2Page 1

Europe’s High Speed Rail Network: Maturation and Opportunities

Andrew Nash

Vienna Transport Strategies

Bandgasse 21/15

1070 Vienna

Austria

Telephone: +43 – 1 – 923 – 1998

FAX: xxxxxxxxx

Second Author

Second Author Institution

Second Author Institution, Country

Second Author E-mail

Second Author Homepage

(Repeat as necessary … as shown I use fewer address details for the additional authors).

DATE – Always change the date to help you keep track of the latest version!

6,880 words + 2 figures = 7,380 words – I had too many words! Keep paper under 5000 if possible.

Abstract

Most of this abstract is just words being used to illustrate how the abstract should look on the page. However, here is a tip: neighbour, harbour … if you are in check spelling mode these will be underlined in red. Why? Because you should use US English in TRB papers, be sure to use the (Tools, Language, Set language) command to select US English. Here’s another tip, end your abstract with a description of how the paper is organized, here is an example: The paper summarizes development of Europe’s HSR network. Next, it describes innovation theory in the railway context. Third it describes ideas for transforming HSR into an innovative new service. Implementing these ideas will require overcoming institutional barriers. Finally, the paper presents conclusions.

repeat the title here – it looks better

1.Introduction

The first paragraph in any section begins flush with the margin. I have added spacing (padding) to the paragraph formatting to make the paper easier to read by providing more white space. This is one of the things that you would need to change if your paper is accepted for the TRR.

The second paragraph and all other paragraphs in a section begin with an indent. As you can see I have also added spacing between these paragraphs.

The last paragraph in the Introduction should be a “guidance” paragraph that tells the reader how the paper is structured. Here is an example.

This paper discusses the issue of high speed rail innovation in the context of Europe’s nascent international network. It begins with a summary of the European network and its development. Next it outlines innovation theory and innovation in the railway sector. Third, it outlines potential HSR innovations focusing on service design, pricing strategies, integration with other transport networks and overcoming institutional barriers. The final section presents conclusions and recommendations.

2.TRB subhead 1: Section

I organized this section of the paper by presenting four key ideas. Therefore, Subhead 1 served as an introduction to the ideas. In the first few paragraphs I summarized the main points. Then these were described in detail in the Subhead 2 sections.

If you use this approach to organize part of the paper, it is a good idea to end the section with a paragraph that describes what is coming up in the following Subsections. Here is an example: This section briefly outlines European HSR, developments in 2007, and creation of an integrated European HSR network.

2.1TRB Subhead 2

First paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

Second paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

I like to add hyperlink references to the paper even when they are not technically references based on the TRR author guidelines. These links will be active when users read the paper on their computers. This gives you a great opportunity for providing information to users (and an opportunity to drive readers to your website You may need to remove them if your paper is selected for TRR, but that’s easy.

TRB Subhead 3

First paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

Second paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

TRB Subhead 3

First paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

Second paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

2.3TRB Subhead 2

First paragraph: Always refer to figures and tables in your text. Here are two examples. Figure 1 illustrates the existing and planned network. Table 1 presents data collected from the case study.

Figure 1: European High Speed Rail Network. Source [1]

Note that I have increased the spacing after the figure to add more white space to the document. I think you should feel free to make the document look pleasing, especially around figures and tables. These will all need to be changed anyway if the paper is selected for the TRR, so focus on making what you submit look good for the CD viewers and reviewers.

Also remember that all text on figures and tables should be in English. The figures and tables are very important for understanding the research; therefore take care to translate text on them accurately.

Second paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

Last paragraph: I always like to end with a summary paragraph. Here is an example.

In summary, high speed rail will play a growing role in helping to define the competitiveness of regions, the new engines of economic growth. High speed rail planners must understand how HSR systems can be used to stimulate development and enhance regional liveability.

3.TRB Subhead 1

First paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

Second paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

3.1TRB Subhead 2

First paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

Second paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

3.5TRB Subhead 2

Notice that I have not included MS Word’s automatic numbering feature in the subhead formats. You could add it if you want, but generally these papers are not so complex that automatic numbering is needed.

Always refer to your tables and figures in the paper text. A recent research study in Austria categorized the barriers to railway system innovation in four general areas: institutional, organizational, socio-cultural and technical. These barriers are summarized in Table 1. [[1]] The research is particularly interesting as it explicitly recognizes the impacts of cultural and institutional conditions on innovation. (Note the added white space above the table in the TRB table title format. Note: the table itself is formatted with 2 pt above and below each line, I like the added space, but you will need to format the table based on your data; just be sure it looks good on the page!)

Table 1: Barriers to Innovation in the Railway Sector [22]

Barrier Type / Specific Barriers
Institutional / Monopolistic business model
Political (internal and external) involvement in making operating decisions
Organizational / Lack of investment capital
Insufficient professional resources
Insufficient technical expertise – i.e. reliance on a specific technical path
Problems caused by European railway re-organization (i.e. vertical competition within companies) that reduce cooperation and increase uncertainty
Socio-cultural / National orientation of railway companies
Old-fashioned consumer image of railways
Technical / Long innovation cycles
Misunderstanding of customer needs

I added a “return” to provide white space separating the table from the following paragraph. Here’s another summary paragraph: In summary, the rail industry presents many barriers to innovation, but, it is also true that rail operators have made huge investments in high speed rail technology development and deployment in the last 40-years, which shows that there is potential for at least technical innovation. The question is can similar innovation take place in the social systems that influence operation of high speed rail service? The following section develops this idea further.

4.TRb subhead 1

First paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

Second paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

TRB Subhead 3

Technically this is wrong, subhead 3 should not follow subhead 1, but I wanted to use a numbering system for subhead levels 1 and 2, (i.e. 3. Title, 3.2 Subtitle) and I did not want to use the numbers in this particular section of the paper. Again, the main idea is that you prepare a paper that is easy to read.

Here’s another example: bullets. The TRR format bullets are pretty ugly. In this example I have used normal bullets and separated them by adding spacing using the (Format, Paragraph, Spacing) command. I like to add space when the bullet text runs to over one line. Again, use common sense to make the paper look good. Two key transport issues that impact regional competition are:

  • Regions must have high quality international connections (international airports and high speed rail lines); and,
  • Regions must support an intelligent combination of transport modes designed to enhance liveability since globalisation means that international corporations can be located anywhere and will choose locations with high liveability and access. [[2]]

After bullets I usually start with a TRB First Paragraph, because I think this looks better than having an indent after the bullets – it confuses the bullets with the new paragraph. Here is an example of single line bullets – I don’t add space here, but do follow with a first paragraph.

European railroads have reacted to increased competition by introducing strategies, modeled after low cost airlines, intended to increase ridership and revenues including:

  • Reducing operating costs;
  • Yield management;
  • Reducing perceived ticket costs; and
  • Increasing revenues by offering amenities.

(TRB first paragraph) Railroads have used two approaches for implementing these strategies: applying them to existing service or applying them to trains operated by ‘new’ companies.

TRB Subhead 3

First paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

Second paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

5.Conclusions and Recommendations

Always have a section titled something like this.

Second paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

Second paragraph: This is example text used to simply take up space and provide enough information to illustrate how the paragraphs actually look.

References

I have never been good at getting the automated references to work, so I will include that in a future version of this template. Here are my formats.

[1] Siebt, Claus and Herwig Schoebel; Rail-Net – Innovationshindernisse im Gesamtsystem Bahn; Innovatives System Bahn, Vernetzungsworkshop 2007; Bundesministerium fuer Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie; presentation available at: accessed 26 July, 2007.

[2] Halbert, Ludovic; Pain, Kathryne; Thierstein, Alain; European Polycentricity and Emerging Mega-City Regions: `One Size Fits All` Policy?; in: Built Environment, Vol.32 (No.2), pp. 205-218; 2006.)