Proposal Sources

CAST welcomes suggestions, ideas, and recommendations for future CAST publications and projects. Anyone—whether a CAST member or nonmember—may submit topic ideas or complete proposals.

Submit an Idea

The easiest way to share your ideas with CAST is through the “Submit an Idea for a CAST Publication” portal. You may access the portal through the link on this page, or a button provided on the CAST homepage. Clicking on the button/link will lead the user to a simple online form to collect ideas and basic contact information. Once an idea is submitted, CAST staff will be notified and the information will be fed to the appropriate work group. Selected ideas may be used by the work groups to create a complete publication proposal.

Submit a Proposal

If you prefer to submit a complete proposal for a future CAST publication or project, you may access the CAST proposal form here. (printable PDF “CAST Proposal Form” or a downloadable Word document.)

Proposal Criteria

When writing a proposal, keep in mind the following CAST criteria:

1. The topic should be of broad national concern, and there should be a compelling need for the information. Topics on which legislative or regulatory decisions are pending, are likely to be made in the near future, or are perceived as being seriously needed should be given highest priority. Regional and state issues may be considered if they have evident potential for national concern.
2. The topic should benefit from a multidisciplinary approach and should relate to one or more of the scientific disciplines represented in CAST member societies. CAST does not normally address topics that fall within the boundaries of a single member society or organization.
3. For topics dealing with products, the perspective should be broad (e.g., explaining the impacts of agricultural mechanization rather than building a case for public funding of research on agricultural mechanization).
   

Proposal Submission

E-mail completed proposals to kschescke@cast-science.org, indicating “Proposal” in the subject line
or mail to:

CAST
Attn: Kent Schescke
4420 West Lincoln Way
Ames, Iowa 50014