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Modified on May 8, 2008
Every year, HR Magazine receives more manuscripts--and offers to write manuscripts--than it can possibly publish. Only the best manuscripts--those that truly add to the fund of knowledge for HR professionals and advance the profession--are accepted.
Is your manuscript likely to be accepted for publication? By reading these guidelines, hopefully you can answer that question for yourself.
Mission statement
HR Magazine helps HR professionals perform their jobs more effectively. It offers practical solutions to current workplace problems, discusses new approaches and innovative best practices in all areas of HR management, and prompts readers to consider new models or ways of thinking.
Our audience
HR Magazine is the monthly flagship publication of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). SHRM, the leading voice of the human resource profession, has more than 180,000 professional and student members in countries all over the world.
Our primary readers are HR generalists who hold positions as executives and managers in private-sector companies in the United States and Canada.
Our audience includes HR professionals from both large and small organizations. The largest concentration of readers works for firms that employ between 100 and 499 people. The next-largest group works for firms that employ 5,000 or more workers.
How to get an assignment
We prefer that potential authors send us article outlines before they begin writing. This helps us focus potential articles to our specific needs, and avoids repetition and wasted effort.
Outlines should summarize the main points of the article, as well as the evidence, potential sources and subtopics to be covered. Outlines should be submitted via the HR Magazine web site. (See the end of these guidelines for contact information.)
Due to the number of queries we receive, we are unable to respond to all queries that are rejected.
If your article idea is accepted, you will receive a letter or e-mail asking you to submit your manuscript; this does not guarantee that the completed manuscript will be accepted for publication.
HR Magazine also reviews unsolicited, completed manuscripts. These manuscripts may be accepted, rejected or tentatively accepted pending satisfactory alterations and rewrites. (Again, see the end of these guidelines for contact information.) Authors of completed manuscripts--or their representatives--will be notified of the status of their submissions within 45 days of receipt. Accepted authors must sign the standard HR Magazine copyright form.
What type of articles do we want?
HR Magazine accepts manuscripts and queries for three types of articles: features, certain departments and columns, and agendas. All three are explained below. All submitted articles, regardless of type, must be original, unpublished works.
FEATURES. These are in-depth articles--approximately 2,200 to 2,500 words in length--on a fairly narrow topic. The goal is to provide readers with enough information so they can deal adequately with an issue.
HR Magazine's goal is to investigate topics as fully as possible within our space constraints. As a result, we prefer articles that have a narrow focus, rather than those that take a broad overview. For example, an article on how to avoid age discrimination would probably be too broad; a better, more narrowly focused article would examine how to avoid age discrimination when conducting layoffs.
DEPARTMENTS AND COLUMNS. HR Magazine accepts freelance written manuscripts for the following departments: Legal Trends, Management Tools, HR Technology, Court Report and HR News.
Legal Trends articles should be written by experts--such as attorneys, regulatory experts and law professors. These articles analyze employment law issues and offer guidance to help readers better understand how to: comply with new laws and regulations; comply with existing laws and regulations that intersect in confusing ways (such as when multiple statutes create complex or even contradictory requirements for HR professionals); minimize liability for situations that are particularly sensitive or legally risky (such as conducting a mass layoff or reclassifying workers as exempt or nonexempt); or help readers better manage general HR practices that can affect legal risks (such as ways to conduct record keeping to avoid common legal problems). Legal Trends articles are 1,600 to 2,400 words long.
Management Tools columns offer practical, hands-on HR tips for front line managers. The goal is to provide information that HR professionals can share with supervisors to ensure that effective HR is practiced at all levels of an organization.
Tools columns are the only section in HR Magazine that offers general management advice.
A sample of potential Management Tools subjects includes: how to deal with conflict, how to run a meeting, interviewing tips for non-HR professionals and how to inspire and motivate subordinates.
Management Tools articles are approximately 1,800 words long. HR practitioners or management consultants interested in contributing to this section may contact Contributing Editor Adrienne Fox at afox@pointcs.com.
HR Technology columns cover technology issues related to human resource management. These articles analyze significant industry trends and offer practical advice and solutions on technological problems.
Potential HR Technology subjects include: establishing and managing an HRIS system, selecting vendors, making the best use of intranets and protecting electronic privacy.
HR Technology articles are 1,800 to 2,100 words long.
Court Report summarizes appeals court cases of significance to employers. Practicing employment law attorneys interested in contributing to this section may contact Workplace Law Content Allen Smith at asmith@shrm.org.
HR News is primarily produced by staff reporters, but professional freelance writers may send queries to Managing Editor Steve Bates at sbates@shrm.org.
AGENDAS. Agendas are similar to features but are shorter and narrower in focus, with heavy emphasis on providing practical hands-on, how-to information.
For example, while a feature might deal with the new trend in consumer driven health care–discussing what it is, why it is becoming prevalent and how employers stand to gain from using it–an agenda might deal specifically with the ways HR professionals can help educate and prepare employees so they can make more informed decisions when purchasing health care services.
While agendas may include charts, they generally do not include photographs or sidebars. Agendas are 1,800 words long.
Criteria for accepting manuscripts
Articles have the best chance of being accepted for publication when they:
- ...provide new, cutting-edge information. Our readers are savvy, knowledgeable professionals. They already know the basics; they look to us for advanced information. Good articles give readers information they did not otherwise possess by, for example, making them aware of a new problem or showing them a new way of dealing with an old problem.
- ...are broadly applicable. Articles that deal with a situation or issue faced by most–or many–HR professionals stand the best chance of making it into print.
Articles that deal with a narrower aspect of human resource management or with a particular industry (such as manufacturing or hi-tech) are acceptable only if they apply to most readers within those areas. For example, an article that applies only to specific types of manufacturers is less valuable than one that applies to all manufacturers.
- ...are well focused. The best stories make one or two major points convincingly. Before writing you should be able to clearly describe your topic in a sentence or two. If you can't, you may need to rethink your topic.
For example, an unfocused description might be: This article will deal with the legal aspects of sexual harassment. (There are many legal aspects of sexual harassment–which ones will be discussed in the text?)
A better description would read: This article will help HR professionals create a program for eliminating retaliation in sexual harassment cases.
- ...provide information from a number of sources. The best stories quote many sources–both subject matter experts and HR practitioners–or discuss how several companies have approached the same problem. Case studies of individual organizations are acceptable, but they must offer information and insights that are broadly applicable to other organizations, and quote multiple sources within the organization.
- ...quote knowledgeable, credible sources. Quotes can come from experts in a field, HR professionals with special knowledge of the topic being discussed, and participants in events or case studies being written about. Quotes should be concise and should further the discussion of the main points of the story. Quotes should not be excerpted and repeated from other publications and books, with rare exceptions that should be clearly attributed.
- ...offer enough information. Articles must give readers enough information to come to a conclusion, take action or be able to intelligently conduct further research on the topic. No article will ever answer all of a reader's questions. Good texts, however, anticipate and answer readers' most important questions and suggest resources for additional guidance.
- ...add significantly to the information already published in HR Magazine and elsewhere. HR Magazine does not reprint material previously published elsewhere.
- ...can be easily illustrated. Articles that are accompanied by charts, graphs or photos are more likely to be accepted and given favorable placement in the magazine.
Avoiding promotional writing
Our readers expect articles that are unbiased, even-handed and non-promotional in nature. As a result, HR Magazine does not dedicate full-length articles to any single, specific product. Doing so would be a disservice to our readers, who want several objective options for solving their workday problems.
Our desire to avoid self-promotional articles does not preclude us from accepting informative manuscripts from experts and knowledgeable practitioners in the field of human resource management-such as consultants, attorneys, vendors and service providers. We understand that such authors naturally will be inclined to write about the topics they are most familiar with. However, to be accepted in HR Magazine, articles must be objective, offer advice that is broadly applicable and include information about competing products or services.
Vendors and manufacturers who wish to share news of new products and services may submit them via the HR Magazine web site (contact information is listed at the end of these guidelines) to What's New-a special section dedicated exclusively to new products and services. Items for this section are chosen solely at the discretion of the section editor, and publication does not imply endorsement by SHRM or HR Magazine.
Suggestions on writing style
- Write clearly and concisely. Use simple language; make your point in as few words as possible.
- Use the active voice, not the passive voice. For example, writing "it was decided" leaves questions in the readers' minds. (Who decided?) Writing "Smith decided" is stronger and more informative.
- Define terms that may not be well known. Avoid jargon and clichés that may confuse readers or send them running for the dictionary. On first reference, spell out abbreviations or acronyms. If in doubt, define.
- Make sure all direct quotes are accurate and are clearly attributed to a source. Be aware of what constitutes libel.
- Do not submit academic-style papers with footnotes and numerous references to other publications. Such articles are not appropriate for HR Magazine.
- Use subheads. Subheads can help you organize an article and can facilitate transitions from one idea to another.
- Whenever you name a company or organization in an article, include the city where that company is located or headquartered and a brief description of the nature of its business or mission.
- Follow the Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual.
Payment
Payment for articles is offered only to professional freelance writers commissioned by our editors. Experts in the field, such as attorneys, consultants and professors are not normally compensated for articles in which they share their expertise. Rates for paid freelancers vary, and payment is made upon acceptance of the final manuscript.
Formatting
Articles may be submitted in Microsoft Word or some other popular word processing format. Charts and illustrations should be included at the end of the article or on a separate file. Do not place charts and illustrations within the main text.
Final manuscript checklist
When writers submit a final manuscript they also should send:
 Any sidebars. These are short, stand-alone items that appear in boxes next to the original story. These items offer information that is relevant and pertinent, but not central, to the main story.
Any relevant charts or graphics that help to illustrate the story. Let us know if photos or photo opportunities exist, and we will try to acquire the photos or arrange for a photographer to take the appropriate pictures. If interviewed sources are willing to have a photo taken for the article, send us this information with your manuscript.
The names, addresses and phone numbers of sources interviewed for the story. We will send each source a complimentary copy of the issue in which the article appears.
An invoice, if applicable, that includes your name, phone number, Social Security number, date and a brief description of the article.
Biographical information. Include the name, address and telephone number of the author(s), as well as a short biography (title, organization and city). The biography should include any information that illustrates an author's experience (especially in HR related matters) and credibility.
Contacting HR Magazine
Queries and unsolicited articles must be sent to the HR Magazine web site at www.shrm.org/hrmagazine/contact.
This is the only mechanism for submitting manuscripts. This eliminates duplication, allows us to screen manuscripts by topic, and is the most efficient means available for us to provide potential authors with a rapid decision regarding their articles.
Articles and queries sent by any other means will not be entered in our article review system and will not be considered for publication. |
