How to propose an article for publication

If you have already written the article, send it to the Editor as an e-mail attachment along with a concise description of the scope of the article and a short introduction to yourself. The Editor will then contact you to tell you whether or not the article has been accepted for publication and to indicate the next steps.

If you have not yet written the article, then it is best to send an e-mail to the Editor first with a concise description of the scope of the proposed article and a short introduction to yourself. The Editor will then contact you in due course to tell you whether or not the proposed article has been accepted for publication and to indicate the next steps.

If the proposed article is based on an academic or research paper, you can send the paper to the Editor as it will make it easier to decide whether or not an article based on the paper would be suitable for publication.

Useful points to know when submitting an article

• Deadline: This is the date by which you should send the text and accompanying photos and graphics to the Editor. The date is agreed between you and the Editor when you get the go-ahead to submit the article. Deadlines for ISO Focus+ may be several months in advance of actual publication because time is needed to edit the articles and to have them scheduled for an upcoming theme.
• Length: The length of the article is agreed between you and the Editor when you get the go-ahead to submit the article. Articles in ISO Focus+ range from around 150 words for news items, to 1200 words for longer articles. When writing an article, the basic rule of thumb is to tell your story simply and directly, without adding complicated details.
• Editing: Few contributors are professional writers and many are not of English mother tongue. This should not discourage you from proposing an article because the information you have to share may be very useful to our international readership. We will edit your article and return it to you for agreement before publication.
• Format: Please do not attempt to submit your article formatted as you think it should appear in the magazine. Layout is our job. A simple Word document with headline and subheads works just fine.
• References and footnotes. ISO Focus+ is not an academic or technical journal. Please keep references and footnotes to an absolute minimum (if needed at all). Including in brackets the Web site addresses of the principal organizations mentioned is usually sufficient for readers who want more information.
• Photos and graphics: Relevant illustrations are welcome (including your own photo, as author of the article). For print publication, photo files need to be in 300 dpi resolution. Graphics, such as PowerPoint illustrations, will almost always be redrawn and improved by our graphic artists. As graphics processed separately, it speeds things up if you place them in a separate Word file from the text, or as e-mail attachments.
• Captions: Please remember to include captions for photos and graphics. You can place them at the end of the text or place them in the text at the approximate place where the illustrations should go.
• Copyright: Please indicate the source of the illustrations, including any photo credits necessary. You cannot just take photographs off the Internet without obtaining permission from the copyright holders.

What happens on publication

When your article is published, we will supply you with a PDF file of the article itself plus 5 copies of the issue in which it appears in. We can discuss requests for more copies if you can make a useful distribution of them (for example, at a conference). You are welcome to distribute the PDF file, or to post it on a Web site with which you are associate, on condition that you indicate ISO Focus+ magazine as the source and include a link on the Web site to www.iso.org/isofocus+ .