Commentary Contributor Guidelines

Purpose

Commentary is the Institute’s short-form online blog, targeted at non-specialised readers. Published several times a week, it provides a timely and intelligent response to unfolding world events. While articles may analyse broader issues and trends, they should be focused on an event in the current news cycle that is of national or global significance.

Articles should aim to be opinionated, advancing a distinct and clear idea. Bear in mind the following questions: What is the hook? What is your argument? Why should people care? Is your analysis original? What evidence is there to support your argument? Is your article easy to understand?

Submission Process

If you are interested in writing a Commentary, you should first submit a pitch to the editor, Dr Jonathan Eyal, for consideration. Your pitch need not be longer than a few short paragraphs, covering the main themes that will be discussed and the arguments that will be made. It should also mention the specific recent event or development that the article is responding to. This preliminary consultation stage is important, because a similar article to the one you are proposing may have already been submitted or commissioned.

Once your pitch is approved, a timeframe for submission will be agreed. Please note that approval of a pitch does not necessarily guarantee that the final article will be accepted for publication.

Articles should be submitted in Word doc format and should be no more than 1,500 words in length. 

All submissions will go through an editing process, and are seen by at least two pairs of eyes. You will be notified of when you can expect to receive the edited copy of your article for approval. Please note that you may be asked to approve edits within a relatively short timeframe – often on the same day – so that your article can be published in a timely manner.

Due to the volume of articles received, there may be some delay before your article can be published, especially during busy news cycles. Articles that are focused on responding to a specific recent event/development are more likely to be given priority. You will normally be provided with an estimated publication date; however, this may be subject to change, as the Institute sometimes needs to respond to immediate developments.

Please adhere to the submission guidelines. If you have agreed to deliver by a particular date, please stick to it. If you are late, your article may be rescheduled, but given the pressure on space, the delay could be lengthy.

If you have any questions about the process, please contact Dr Jonathan Eyal.

Writing Guidelines

• Your title should be as punchy as possible, and no longer than 75 characters (including spaces) in length. Questions or assertions are best.
• Titles are key to maximising readership; while they should be original and even entertaining, they must also be explicit in describing your argument, or at least provide a good idea as to what your article is about. A title such as ‘Squaring the Circle in Defence’ is unlikely to be picked up by any online search engine, nor is a title that attempts to make a pun on a culture-specific term such as, for instance, a British TV sitcom. 
• Make sure to include a standfirst – a brief introductory summary that appears immediately after the title. This should be no longer than a couple of short sentences, and ideally under 250 characters (including spaces).
• Paragraphs should be kept short, and subheadings should be used to break up the text –around three is a good number. As with the title, aim to make subheadings short and sweet.
• References should be inserted as hyperlinks in the text, rather than using footnotes. You should aim to provide hyperlinks to back up any claims, quotations or statistics included in the article; news sources may be used for this.
• Bear in mind that Commentary is aimed at non-specialised readers, and so the tone should be less academic than that of a research report or Journal article. Your writing style should be engaging and straight-to-the-point, similar to that of a newspaper op-ed.
• Be sure to explain any terms or concepts that a non-specialised reader may be unfamiliar with. Acronyms should be spelled out on first use, except well-known ones such as UK, EU, NATO etc. Acronyms should never be used in titles unless, again, they are well-established.
• RUSI uses British English for all its publications (colour rather than color; defence rather than defense, etc).