{"id":47818,"date":"2018-01-08T12:34:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T17:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/?page_id=27405"},"modified":"2025-08-29T17:25:02","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T21:25:02","slug":"submissions-style-guide","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/submissions-style-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Write for Just Security"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contributors are key to <\/span>Just Security<\/span><\/i>\u2019s success. If you\u2019re not already in contact with a <\/span>Just Security<\/span><\/i> editor, please send submissions \u2014 full drafts rather than idea pitches \u2014 to: <\/span>submissions@justsecurity.org<\/span>. <\/span>Please confirm in your cover email that the submission is exclusive to <\/b>Just Security<\/span><\/i>.<\/span> If you have already submitted your piece to another outlet, please wait for them to respond, or notify them that you are withdrawing it before submitting to us, to avoid awkwardness in case both outlets accept.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please paste the text of your article into the body of your email, as well as attaching it as a Word document. Include your name(s) (byline) as it (they) should appear on the final article. Let us know if there is any time-sensitivity that we should take into account. We will aim to reply within five business days. Though we try to reply to all submissions, we sometimes can\u2019t due to the high volume.<\/span><\/p>\n

Writing<\/b><\/h3>\n

As you write, please keep in mind that <\/span>our audience <\/b>includes U.S. and international policymakers, lawyers, legislators, civil society experts, academics, national security journalists, and the public. We publish original, rigorous, high-quality content geared towards each of these audiences \u2013 and often aim to reach many of them at once. A large part of <\/span>Just Security<\/span><\/i>\u2019s mission is educating this audience of decision-makers and those shaping the national and international debates about the important issues we cover, and whenever possible, offering solutions that elevate the quality of those debates. We receive regular feedback from this group of time-pressed readers that one of the things they value most about <\/span>Just Security<\/span><\/i> is our ability to quickly get to the heart of, and clearly analyze, complex issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Article Style and Length<\/b><\/h3>\n

The best way to get a <\/span>feel for the types of articles that <\/span>Just Security<\/span><\/i> publishes is to regularly read the site. You will see that <\/span>Just Security<\/span><\/i> pieces include those in<\/span> standard article format, expert Q&As, compilations <\/span>from a range of experts, articles that distill complex information into charts and graphics framed by analysis, and more<\/span>. <\/span>Just Security<\/span><\/i> articles include crisp explainers or analytic pieces providing targeted insight into a speci<\/span>fic development, deep dives into law and policy issues, and everything in between.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is also considerable variation in length; as an online publication, we<\/span> can work with authors to identi<\/span>fy the length that meets the needs of each piece. Most articles fall within the 1,200 to 2,500 word range, with 1,500 as an average length, and occasionally articles can be even shorter, such as a quick-turn piece providing an important insight into a time-sensitive development. We generally advise authors not to exceed 2,400-2,500 words, although occasionally the specifics of the article may call for something longer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Author Disclosures<\/b><\/h3>\n

Just Security<\/span><\/i> encourages submissions from authors who have unique perspectives on particular policies, legislation, court cases, and so on. For full transparency, if you are writing about a legal matter you are or were involved in or a project or a report by you or your organization, that should be disclosed directly in the text of the piece, and\/or in an editor\u2019s note at the end of the piece. Any other potential conflicts of interest should be noted to our editors. (Note the short author bio at the bottom of each article page is static for every article published by that author at Just Security, so it should be general enough to be relevant to anything you might publish with us.) Please also disclose such connections in your submissions email as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Writing Style and Structure<\/b><\/h3>\n

Just Security<\/span><\/i> articles should conform to <\/span>American English spellings and language conventions<\/b>, with<\/span> Merriam-Webster<\/span><\/a> as the reference dictionary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Due to our status as a resource for a broad audience, <\/span>we follow a modified version of Associated Press (AP) Style<\/b>. When in doubt, that\u2019s your best source for stylistic guidance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Please use <\/span>hyperlinks<\/b> rather than footnotes, including sources you used for any factual information and for further information or commentary as needed. Keep most hyperlinked text to between one and three or four words. If you want to link to documents that you have that aren\u2019t available online, we can often upload the documents to our site and generate a link to them for use in your text.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your <\/span>opening paragraph (or lede)<\/b> is in many ways the most important. This is where you must convince a busy audience to read your full article. It is generally helpful to sum up the central argument you\u2019ll be making and signal to the reader what to expect in the piece \u2013 the \u201cbottom line up front,\u201d or BLUF.<\/span><\/p>\n

We seek to <\/span>avoid overly academic\/technical jargon.<\/b> Our target audience is sophisticated but may include a range of generalist and specialist readers. Other techniques to capture reader attention include: <\/span>avoid long paragraphs<\/b> and <\/span>use subheadings<\/b> to break up the text visually and\/or organize the piece.<\/span><\/p>\n

A few <\/span>other pointers<\/b> include: Try to avoid using \u201cwe,\u201d \u201cour,\u201d \u201cus,\u201d or \u201chere\u201d when referring to the United States of America(ns), both to avoid ambiguity and because <\/span>Just Security<\/span><\/i>\u2019s audience includes readers outside of the United States. We use the Oxford comma and semicolons in complex lists. We place periods and commas inside quotation marks. Colons and semicolons go outside quotation marks. Please use one space between a period that ends a sentence and the beginning of the following sentence, not two spaces. Regarding <\/span>names, <\/b>we use an honorific or title on first mention only, along with full name, and last name only thereafter.<\/span><\/p>\n

We work with authors to develop the best possible <\/span>title\/headline<\/b>. A good one is as short as possible, clear, preferably active tense, quickly sums up the gist of your article, and grabs the reader\u2019s attention. It doesn\u2019t always need to explain all the nuance of your piece, but it should contain key words signaling the topic. Brevity is important for readability and for sharing on social media. As with the style of <\/span>Just Security<\/span><\/i> articles, the best way to get a sense of a strong headline is to regularly read the content on the site.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last updated: October 2024<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contributors are key to Just Security\u2019s success. If you\u2019re not already in contact with a Just Security editor, please send submissions \u2014 full drafts rather than idea pitches \u2014 to: submissions@justsecurity.org. Please confirm in your cover email that the submission is exclusive to Just Security. If you have already submitted your piece to another outlet, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":24277,"parent":0,"menu_order":25,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"coauthors":[1244],"class_list":["post-47818","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWrite for Just Security - Just Security<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/submissions-style-guide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Write for Just Security\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Contributors are key to Just Security\u2019s success. 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