Guidelines for Contributors

 

Topics of Interest

While our magazine does not follow the traditional theme approach that most monthly printed publications do, we try to maintain a specific focus of topics for the articles that we publish. Generally speaking the article should probably fit into one of these core topic categories:

Click here for a list of our Categories

Not all articles will fit within this list of categories. Some articles may venture outside of the traditional scope of our publication. The topics listed above are not intended to define more boundaries for our authors but to help inspire ideas that might never been considered otherwise.

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Columns and Reviews

If you have a passion for writing and a fascination with some aspect of chronic pain, we encourage you to become a reviewer or columnist. Regular columns and reviews from expert contributors help to build the site’s identity, attract repeat visitors, and keep the industry thinking of new ways to innovate.

First Things First

Columns: The first step is to contact the editor and propose a theme and a focus for your column. We will work together to tailor this theme so that it’s as relevant to our audience as possible, and so that it complements (i.e., doesn’t overlap with) the territory staked out by other FOG Magazine columnists. Once we’ve agreed on a focus for the column, we’ll brainstorm about a running name and develop a color scheme to give the column a distinctive visual identity.

Reviews: The first step is to contact the editor and indicate the book or product you wish to review. Products or books shoud be no more than three months old to review. We will work together to ensure that it is as relevant to our audience as possible. Once we’ve agreed on product or book for review, we’ll work with the publisher to get a NFR or review copy of the product or book.

Frequency

Most columnists and reviewers submit new articles monthly. We can also accommodate other schedules, from biweekly to bimonthly. Since FOG Magazine is largely a volunteer operation, we won’t hector you about deadlines, but keep in mind that publishing fresh articles on a regular schedule helps to build a loyal readership.

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Length

Individual columns and reviews should be no longer than about 2000 words. Most Web readers shy away from commentary-type articles that are any longer than this.

Articles (excluding columns and reviews) should be about 1500 words to no more than 3000 words in length. Each article submitted should have the standard title, subtitle (if any), byline, content body and author’s bio.

Flow

It is important that the author “chunk” the body content of the article using editorial elements such as headers, bulleted lists, data tables, pull quotes, graphics and block quotes.

File types

Articles should be submitted either in plain text (.txt file) or Word file (.doc) or as properly marked up XHTML as an attachment. In any case, hyperlinks must be clearly marked. Note: do not send emails with the article content in the body of the email, make sure it is an attachment.

Graphics

We also welcome additional graphics for articles. These also should be sent by email as JPG or GIF attachments. You can also use Flash but only after editorial approval and typically only when it is necessary to communicate the visual idea. Graphics should be no wider than 550 pixels wide and 400 pixels high. Note: we may ask you to recreate the graphics if they are over-compressed or not scaleable to FOG Magazine size requirements for images.

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The Editing Process

All articles submitted for publication on FOG Magazine will be screened and edited by the site editor(s) and copy editor(s). In general, editing is light and is limited to matters of style, spelling, grammar, and flow. The purpose of the editing process is not to impose a uniform editorial voice, but simply to make our articles as clear and readable as possible.

Revisions and Re-Writing

If the editor’s revisions to an article are minor and don’t affect its meaning or overall flow, we will sometimes publish it directly, without further communication with the writer. However, in most cases, the editors will try to email the edited version of a story to the writer for the writer’s approval or for rewriting before publication. We encourage contributors to review these revised versions and submit a second draft as quickly as possible. Again, we view the editorial process as collaboration intended to maximize the quality of the final product, so we encourage our contributors to communicate with the site editors about any concerns they may have about the way their articles have been edited and to challenge the editors’ suggestions when necessary.

A Note on Opinions

We also encourage contributors to be as opinionated as they like in their articles. However, FOG Magazine will not publish articles that we deem to be libelous, slanderous, or untruthful. We reserve the right to reject any contribution that does not meet the site’s editorial standards, as determined by the editors.

On occasion, if an essay, article, or column contains particularly controversial or provocative comments about a particular company or individual, we may contact that company or individual before publication and offer them the opportunity to respond in writing simultaneously with the publication of the original article. However, such respondents will not be allowed to censor or alter the content of the original article.

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Compensation

Standard Benefits

If you’ve ever written for an Internet-based publication, you probably know what a struggle it is for content-oriented Web sites to become self-supporting. Unfortunately, we are currently not receiving any cash support from the Web community; we are just doing this as a service to the chronic pain community.

Therefore, we depend on volunteers who give us permission to publish their work free of charge. The main benefit we can offer in return is exposure in the form of a byline, profile including links to contributors’ home pages or other works, and regular promotion of contributors’ articles through our newsletters and through the site itself.

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Copyright and Permissions

Copyright

All published material written by any volunteer contributor of FOG is jointly copyrighted with All Rights Reserved by FOG Magazine and the author(s).

Portfolio Use

Authors are granted permission to republish their contributed articles in English or in any other language on their own personal site or portfolio site. A link to FOG Magazine, while encouraged, is not required.

Republication in English

Republication in English is disallowed except under editorial approval and if full compensation is given to the original author at fair market value (~$0.20 per word). If permission is granted, and authors are compensated, a link or credit to FOG Magazine is encouraged but not required. Credit to the original author is required in any case.

Republication in non-English languages

Articles can be published online in languages other than English following editorial permission; however, we request that it be credited to both the author and FOG Magazine, with a hyperlink to the original article’s URL.

Republication Permission

Permission to republish this material can be requested by writing contacting the FOG Magazine editor at FogMagazine@gmail.com

Questions?

If you have any questions about our magazine policies, please contact us at FogMagazine@gmail.com before making any submissions to us.