writing for healthmatters
We are always happy to receive unsolicited material for publication. But read this first
What we publish
Before going to a lot of trouble, check that your article is suitable for healthmatters. The focus of the magazine is on health policy and politics. We don't publish articles on clinical issues or consumer health issues, unless there is a clear policy angle.
If you have an idea which you think might interest us, it is always worth sending us a brief email outlining it, before setting pen to paper, so we can discuss it with you.
Style
healthmatters aims to be accessible to a wide range of people with an interest in health issues, so we ask all our writers to avoid academic, political or technical jargon in their text. If specialist terms are necessary, then they will need to be explained.
Explicit or implicit discriminatory language in articles will not be accepted. Where reference to either sex is intended, gender non-specific language should be used.
In general, we follow the Guardian style guide.
As a general readership magazine, healthmatters does not encourage extensive use of references. However, where references are essential to the argument or likely to be of interest to readers, they are acceptable, up to a limit of seven in all.
References should be given as a number in the text, with a numbered reference list at the end of the article. The Vancouver style of journal referencing should be used, as follows:
- Authors. Title of article. Journal name Year; Volume: Pages.
All material may be revised by the subeditor to bring the text into the healthmatters house style and fit it to the space available. Any major revisions are discussed with the author prior to publication.
Your article should end with a short biographical sentence about the author(s).
Length
A single page feature amounts to 900 words. A double page feature is 1300-1600 words, and a three page feature is 2,000 words. News items may be from 200 to 400 words. Book reviews should be from 250 to 400 words.
We are unlikely to be able to publish anything longer than 2,500 words, even if we really like it.
Photos and illustrations
Photos or pictures which might illustrate the text are always welcome, especially if you can email them. If you need to send us original paper versions, we will scan and return them.
Deadlines
If we commission a piece from you, we will give you a deadline. If you think you may miss the deadline, please let us know straight away. We may be able to extend it, or we may have to hold your article over to a future issue. Either way, we prefer to know.
Sending us your text
If possible, we'd like your article to arrive by email. (If you plan to send it now, use the online form to contact us and get our editorial email address, or just paste it into the form if you can't wait.)
If you don't have email, sending your text on a 3.5" PC disk or a CD is also fine. We can't reliably read Mac disks, so if you work on a Mac, either email us or send a good quality hard copy which we can scan.
If you send text on disk, include a paper copy. If you are sending us paper only, make sure it is clearly typed in at least 12 point Times or Arial/Helvetica, with double line spacing.
Payment
We run on a tiny budget. So, unfortunately, we are unable to pay you for writing.
Copyright
Copyright will be held by healthmatters, unless agreed otherwise. Permission is normally given for non-commercial re-publication elsewhere, or for duplication for teaching, research or campaigning purposes. If you'd like to re-publish an article, please contact us for written permission.
