Submission Guidelines

Next Deadline: November 5, 2007!

The a-Rab will thrive on contributions from people around the world. If you are interested in submitting something for publication, you can do so by sending it in an e-mail to contribute@a-rab.net with the text/cartoon/photograph/whatever, as well as a suggestion for the headline. PS: We are not really as scary as the guidelines below suggest.

Please take these guidelines into consideration before e-mailing us:

1) Fact-check. Once, twice, and then another time for good measure.

2) Proof-read. We will read every submission before posting it, but will probably give up if there are too many serious spelling or grammatical mistakes.

3) Be simple. Do not be pretentious, convoluted, or unnecessarily verbose.

4) Be specific. Do not make sweeping general statements that are not supported by facts and examples in your article. A reader should be prepared to walk away convinced without feeling the need to perform further research. There are certain things we can take for granted, given the nature of this publication. But you will need to explain other things yourself.

5) Be focused. Do not talk about more than you can handle in one article.

6) Be critical. Praise is boring. In most cases, we won’t publish it, no matter who it praises.

7) Be original. No lists of talking points, no arguments that have been beaten to death. No plagiarized ideas or material.

8) Be independent. Do not be subservient to any political figure or organization. Swear allegiance to no one.

9) Be humble. Do not sound so certain and do not write your article as if it is a divine revelation. The world has had enough of these.

While it is preferred that submissions be published under the full name of the author, we will consider publishing them under pseudonyms as well. However, in all cases, for integrity purposes, we must know your identity, even if we decide not to publish it.

By submitting an article you are giving us the right to publish it or an edited version in the a-Rab and on a-rab.net in its entirety under the Creative Commons license. Under this license, you may use your submission as you please, and others may redistribute it as long as they attribute it to you and do not profit. You are responsible for everything that you write and for all claims that you make.

Please note that by submitting an article, there is no guarantee that it will be published in its original format, if at all. We will not make drastic or manipulative edits.

Finally, we do not guarantee a response to every submission. If it is not published, then please do not persist in asking about or re-submitting it. However, we will contact you if we decide that your submission is appropriate for an upcoming issue.