"Forward-Looking Statement" Disclaimers

Under current US law, US-based companies may, on occasion, believe that statements in some papers submitted to SPE conferences need to be accompanied by a disclaimer relating to forward-looking statements. While this applies to a small percentage of SPE papers, SPE has developed a preferred format for inclusion of these statements.

Please note that the disclaimer should not include language that would prohibit copying or distribution of the paper without company permission, as those activities are governed by SPE's copyright and permissions policy, not by the company. If the company is so concerned about the nature of the statements that such a prohibition is deemed necessary, then perhaps it should not approve the material for inclusion in a paper submitted to an SPE conference.

Strongly Preferred Location for Inclusion of Disclaimer

Add a section at the end of the paper, after the text of the paper, but prior to Acknowledgements or References that is titled Disclaimer. Then include the required statements (typically no more than 2-3 sentences).

Acceptable Alternate Location

The top portion of an SPE paper has the logo, paper number, paper title, authors, copyright statement, and provenance blurb (in smaller-sized type). This is followed by a heavy line. The paper begins below this line, typically with the title Abstract.

If a company believes that the disclaimer needs to be at the beginning of the paper, rather than the end, it is acceptable to put it in small type (same size as provenance blurb) between the line and the title Abstract.

Inclusion of Disclaimer in Conference Presentation

A brief statement of the disclaimer as part of the presentation or inclusion of a single slide with the appropriate disclaimer language without extensive discussion is considered adequate.