Submissions

Ramparts360 guidelines for articles from contributors

Introductory Email

Put ARTICLE (all caps) in the subject line of your email. Send it to SibylWest@Ramparts360.com

A brief note should accompany the email article. The note should state (in less than two sentences) an outline of the content of the article. The writer’s name and a return email address are required.

Put your name and email address at the top of your piece.

Type of material accepted

Ramparts360 also publishes previously published material that may also be available elsewhere but prefers original pieces. Please specify whether or not the article you are sending has been published before and where.

If it is a first time publication we will tag it “Ramparts360 exclusive” and after publication authors are free to post elsewhere so long as they note its prior publication on Ramparts360 and provide a hyperlink to the original.

Exclusivity

“Ramparts360 exclusive” will not be attributed to pieces that are being sent to multiple sites, or which have been published elsewhere, including on a personal blog. Once Ramparts360 has published an original piece and keeps it in our archives, subsequent literary rights become the property of the author, who is free to re-publish anywhere. But we request that Ramparts360 be credited as the original publisher and hyperlinked.

Copyright guidelines

When adding value to breaking news coverage with links to analysis, related items and other recently-published material, please keep use of quotations within Fair Use copyright guidelines. This generally means keeping quoted material under 200 words per item quoted, and substantially less if the original item is short.

Copyrighted wire service photos and AP stories should be avoided. If you rely on the original reporting of others, credit them by name with a hyperlink to the source(s) you used.

Articles are best when they provide analysis and new information on topics of importance to Americans so that we can advance thought, conversation and insight. Arguments made for their own sake and rehashing of what others have written elsewhere are not attractive or of much interest.

Because of the number of articles we receive it may not be possible for us to notify you of the status of your piece.

Parodies and satire

Humor should be witty, can be edgy BUT no profanity.

Please note -

Word Limits

• Blogs can 400 – 800 words in length.
• Articles can be 600 – 1,000 words. Anything longer than that is subject to the editor’s permission.

Author’s Bio and Credit

• The writer may include a personal bio blurb that will appear at the bottom of the article. This may include a link to the author’s website or blog.
• The blurb should be no longer than 35 words, including your email address if you like.

Form for Articles

• Submissions in MSWord are preferred.
• Please use spell check. (Yes, I have to say that.)
• The article may also be sent as an email text if it conforms to the other requirements for publication.
• Do not cut lines of sentences short but have them run the full width of the page.
• Type in the title, your name, email address and date of the piece.

Graphics

• If you have charts, graphs, pictures, or other visual materials, attach them as gif or jpg files to your email.
• Please note that we cannot publish copyrighted material without permission of the owner, so news service photos and the like cannot be used.

General Format

• Regular text should be flush left and aligned left.
• Do not indent the first line of a paragraph.
• All text should be single spaced with a double space between paragraphs.

Block Quotations

• Block quotations should be indented.
• Do not place quotation marks around block quotes.

Font Style

• Do not use bold face font. Use italics sparingly.
• Do not italicize the names of publications.
• Do italicize the titles of books.

Quotations and punctuation

• Place commas and periods inside the closing quotation mark at the conclusion of a quote.

Capitalization

• Do not use all-caps for emphasis.
• Capitalize the first word of the title, and any proper nouns.
• Do not capitalize every word in the title.
• Please avoid randomly capitalizing words that are not proper nouns.

Tables

• If you have any tables in your work, please use the table function on Microsoft Word.
• Do not use the spacebar to create tables.

Links

• Hyperlinking to a source (rather than using an endnote) is the preferred method for fact verification.
• Source all your quotes and any important factual contentions.
• Embed hyperlinks if possible.
• If you cannot then paste the URL of the source into the text following the word to serve as the hyperlink.

Endnotes

If the source is not available as a link an endnote can be used. The endnote should contain (at a minimum) the title of the work, the author, date of publication and the page number.

Factual Verification

• Source, verify and double-check all the facts in your piece. Wikipedia, hearsay heard on the radio, and rumblings from the blogosphere are not definitive sources.
• If you quote a reliable blogger be sure to hyperlink his article.
• Do not write your speculations without explicitly defining them as such, and then only if you have expert knowledge in the field.

Style Guide

• Write clearly and directly rather than passively and avoid run-on sentences.
• Focus on authoritative or objective facts and logic.

Bombast

You’d better have your facts lined up BEFORE resorting to this. Remember: your perspective is best when it gives others the information needed to make up their own minds. Be your best self.

Less is more when it comes to rhetoric.

Ramparts360 will not consider material containing anything that could be construed as a threat, a call to violence or any other illegal activity. Write as if it will be reproduced in front of a judge in court.

Pronouns

• Avoid overuse of the personal pronoun “I”.
• Writers need to avoid the excessive use of pronouns like “this,” “it,” “that,” and “they.” To be clear and easily understood, synonyms should be used whenever possible in place of pronouns.

Here is an example of an improperly affirmed antecedent:

“Jane and Mary watched the cars. They were racing.”

Notice that the reader is left wondering who or what is racing. The writer forces the reader to guess the referent of the pronoun “they.”

These sentences would be properly written (assuming the cars — not Jane and Mary — are racing): “Jane and Mary watched the cars. The autos were racing.”

Focus on the Reader

Get to your point as clearly and as soon as possible. Tell the readers what the article is about and why they should care in the lead sentences. Modern people are impatient and have a world of choices a click or two away.

Thank you for your interest in being published on Ramparts360.