Writer Guidelines ...

JOURNAL of COUNTERTERRORISM & HOMELAND SECURITY INT'L WRITER GUIDELINES
The Journal's mission. The objective of the IACSP is to provide a forum within which security professionals can learn about terrorism trends and counter-terrorism solutions, including security strategies, management techniques, and new technologies. The Journal also provides analysis of past terrorism events and offers possible solutions to those events which may appear down the road.

A prospective author should keep these goals in mind when developing story ideas. Our Journal is a mix of analysis and hands-on information. Our readers come from several areas: Law Enforcement, Government, Military, EMS/HAZMAT, Fire Chiefs, and Corporate Security.

When choosing a subject and preparing an article, remember that the story will be read by these industry peers throughout the world and by those who subscribe to the Lexis Nexis data base which is highly respected and international in scope.

Articles should be detailed enough to interest specialists in the particular industry segment discussed, but an author should define terms that would not generally be known by security professionals in other industries.

The best articles are provided by security practitioners who write about their everyday experiences and/or their current research about a particular topic.

The key is to select a topic about which details and specific solutions can be provided. Security professionals know what their problems are and know generally how to solve them; a successful author goes beyond the general and gives the reader unique, useful, up-to-date, accurate information.

Lengths and deadlines. Articles should range from 2,500 to 3,500 words. It helps to conceptualize how the article will fit into the magazine. It takes about 1,000 words to fill one printed magazine page. If the topic you have in mind doesn't merit 2,500 words, it is probably not appropriate for a feature article. Shorter articles may be used as sidebars to longer pieces; however, not many sidebars are accepted. The Journal usually publishes up to three sidebars/columns per issue.

Tips Do not dwell on introductory or historical material. Think of the magazine page as a classified ad, where each word costs. Don't waste space on old news or information that is general knowledge. Give the reader the main points and a clear idea of the story's goals early on, then fill in the details. Close with a quick summary. Where appropriate, include legal and legislative developments affecting the topic.

Fact checking. It is okay to rely on newspaper and magazine articles as a starting point for research, but this information should be regarded as background that leads to primary sources and not as the information on which the article will be based.

Authors have sole responsibility for the accuracy of the material in their articles. All facts should be verified at the source.

Since the Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security Int'l. is not a technical or scholarly journal, footnotes should be avoided when possible. Information or ideas that are original to the cited publication should instead be attributed to the source within the text. For example, in an article about the pros and cons of employing security officers, an author could write "According to a study done by Forbes and published in its August 1993 edition, 99 percent of workers feel safer when security officers are present."

Use footnotes if you aren't sure how to fit the information into the article. Editors will use that information as needed and will make adjustments to fit the magazine's style.

Anything that is common knowledge doesn't need to be sourced. Also, consider that most of the story should be original information.

When typing an article, provide all footnotes on a separate sheet of paper at the end of the article.
Do's and Don'ts. A magazine article should take the readers from one idea to the next in a logical, easy-to-understand way. Avoid long sentences, jargon, obscure references, and tangential information. Use bullets and lists sparingly to highlight important points. An article full of bulleted or numbered points is nothing more than an outline.

When making a point, support it with facts and examples. This not only makes reading more enjoyable, it adds to the credibility of the article.

Pictures. Making a point visually--using charts, graphs, and photos is a quick way to get a reader's attention and ensure his or her understanding of dry material, such as statistics. The author should supply as many supplemental materials as possible to provide the editorial and art staff flexibility in developing the best presentation of the story's ideas.

Photographs can be submitted in either color or black-and-white as 35mm slides, prints, or transparencies.

Charts, diagrams, and graphs must be simple and concise. If self-produced by a computer program, send a copy on disk and a hard-copy printout. Let the editors know what computer program was used to create the files. If a chart is copied from another source, be sure to cite that source completely. If a work is copyrighted, permission to use it must be obtained.
All visual materials should be identified. Any material to be returned should be clearly marked.

A short biographical sketch of the author and any co-authors should be included with the manuscript. Each bio should include name, title, and company, as well as any IACSP posts each author holds.

Make sure the name, address, telephone number, and fax number of the person who should receive all correspondence regarding the submission are on the cover page.

The IACSP holds first copyright rights which will be designated to the writer one year after publication of the article in question.All article submissions should be sent to: Steven J. Fustero, Dir. of Operations at: iacsp@erols.com or mailed to: IACSP/Articles/PO Box 10265/Arlington, VA 22210 USA

All articles should be available to the IACSP electronically.