FORUM Editorial Requirements & Guidelines

Revised August 2006

Thank you for your interest in the new FORUM magazine, redesigned and resized in December 2004. FORUM is published 11 times a year and our mission is to provide Forum members and readers with practical resources and information they need to change the world.

Reader profile

FORUM's 7,000+ readers are Association Forum members and prospective members. Sixteen percent are chief staff executives while 45 percent are vice presidents, directors, managers, supervisors, or staff specialists. The remaining 39 percent of Forum members comprise supplier partners.

More than half of the readers have been in the business for more than 10 years (59%) and just under half (41%) have less than 10 years of association management experience. In fact, more than one-quarter (36%) have over 15 years in the business. FORUM readers are well educated, with 87% having a college degree (43% have earned a graduate degree of some kind).

Thirty percent are 31–40 years old; and one-third are 41–60 years old. Sixty-three percent of Association Forum members represent national/international organizations; 23% work for trade associations; and 10% percent work for a combination of trade and professional organizations. The largest number of CEOs (22%) work for smaller associations. Number two staff members, as well as directors, managers, and staff specialists mainly work for associations with budgets of $10.1 - 30 million.

Who may write?

Authors are not required to be Association Forum members, however they must stress the applicability of their topic to the profession—as well as describe their expertise in and relationship to the association industry.

Original submissions should be offered exclusively to FORUM ; however, finished manuscripts and texts of speeches are also considered.

All authors are required to sign an Author Agreement form prior to their articles being published in FORUM .

Why write?

Publishing an article in FORUM . puts your name in front of your peers, establishes you as an expert in the field, enables you to exchange ideas with colleagues, and allows you to earn CAE points.

How to submit an article

1. Call the editor or write a query letter outlining the highlights of your proposed article. Please include the subject area of association management to which your article applies. (e.g., Human Resources, Governance, Membership Recruitment, etc.)
2. If your topic meets FORUM's editorial needs, you will be asked to prepare a detailed outline for consideration.
3. Once the outline is approved, you may write your article. All article submissions are given equal consideration for publication. The main criteria are:
   · relative value of information,
   · recently published articles on a similar topic,
   · perceived reader interest, and
   · preparation of the manuscript (how well the author follows the requirements and guidelines).
4. Consideration for publication may take several weeks, depending on the volume of articles received. Several months might elapse before an accepted manuscript is assigned a publication date. We attempt to accommodate most submissions; however, space is limited.
5. Submit text via e-mail to cook@associationforum.org. You will be notified once a publication date is determined. While FORUM tries to publish articles in designated issues, they may be pulled or bumped to later issues.

Copyright and reprints

The Forum obtains first North American serial rights for any published manuscript. While every effort is made to preserve the author's style, FORUM reserves the right to edit articles. The Forum also reserves all rights under the copyright laws of the respective countries, including without limitation, book edition, electronic versions, general publication, transcription, translation, sound version, video, or any other version or media now existing and/or later to be created.

Authors receive two complimentary issues and .pdf if requested. Article reprints may individually be arranged through the FORUM editorial staff.

GUIDELINES: A CHECKLIST FOR SUCCESS Your article will have a better chance of being published if you follow these guidelines: Keep your colleagues in mind. Remember, you are writing to a sophisticated audience. FORUM readers have several years of experience, albeit in many different levels and areas. Follow a journalistic style. Keep your writing tight, provide adequate detail, and follow a logical progression of ideas. Make sure your facts are correct. Use as many quotes and scenarios from association professionals as possible in supporting your topic. This will ensure that your article is not only credible, but appeals to various associations, not just those in your field. Capture reader attention by using a brief, catchy headline, and lead sentence or paragraph that is relevant to the topic. Write in the active voice, and use specific examples and case histories to illustrate points. (Do not promote an individual, company, product or service. Articles with such material are immediately dropped from consideration.) Address readers in a friendly, conversational tone. Avoid complex vocabulary, clich&#eacute;s and excessive jargon. Add subheads to signal topic changes, and use bullets to make your points easier to understand. Credit your sources within the article. Do not use footnotes. End your article as memorably as it began, with effective concluding remarks. Use sidebars for related and pertinent facts or data that do not fit within the main body of the article. Provide supporting tables, figures, charts or artwork along with your article. Accompanying information should be supplied on separate pages. Titles should be self-explanatory, and the reader should not have to refer to the text to understand. Likewise, the body of the article should not rely on supplemental material. Add captions to photographs. Photographs are returned upon request. Give your article a final edit to eliminate unnecessary words. Make sure paragraphs flow smoothly and logically. And be sure to double-check facts and figures.

To view the Editorial Calendar, click here.

Direct all inquiries and completed articles to: Jacqui Cook, Editor, FORUM, c/o Association Forum of Chicagoland, 10 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60606. Fax to (312) 924-7032, or send an e-mail to cook@associationforum.org