Because not everyone is familiar with article writing we have prepared some guidelines to help you avoid common mistakes and get your article published.
1. Be factual. Please ensure that any claims made in the article are factual and can be supported by evidence.
2. Avoid advertising. Many authors are also practitioners, as such there can be a tendency to include information that is specific only to their own business. Try to take a completely unbiased approach to article writing, concentrating on general facts that apply to the method or technique wherever it may be practiced. This will greatly improve the value of the article and make it more likely to be accepted for publication. Remember, your name and company details will appear with each published article that you submit.
3. Avoid Plagiarism. This is when an author takes the work of another but claims it is their own work. Plagiarism is very serious and could lead to legal action against those who do it.
Some useful notes on avoiding plagiarism can be found at the following websites:
Please note that even when quoting and citing sources, an author can only use up to about 300 words of another's work, before permission must be granted by the copyright holder. This is called fair use.
1. Respect Copyright. Please only submit your own original work, using the work of others without permission from the copyright holder, even when properly quoted and sources are referenced, may be considered a breach of copyright and could lead to legal action.
2. Check spelling and grammar. Wherever possible please run finished articles through a spell check and grammar check.
3. Watch your word count. To be sure that your article is not either too short or too long, we recommend that "what is..?" articles be between 300 and 500 words, and other articles be between 500 and 1000 words.
4. Balanced article content. To be a useful article, the best approach is to write for an audience that has never heard of the subject of your article and knows nothing about it.
5. Good article structure. By dividing your article into three basic sections; Introduction, Message, and Conclusion, your information will be more easily understood and the reader will quickly be able to determine if the article is of interest to them. Ideally, the introduction should provide a brief overview of the article message, the message is your main article, and the conclusion should sum-up the article in one short paragraph.
