ARChway Editorial Policy

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Introduction

This editorial policy provides information about the submission requirements, production schedule and style and imagery guidelines for the Australian Research Council (ARC) external newsletter, ARChway.

The newsletter is published bi-monthly and is intended for consumption by key stakeholders, the media and the general public. It is written and produced by ARC Stakeholder Relations. The ARC also welcomes submissions from institutions/researchers for the newsletter.

The newsletter provides an informative overview of ARC activities and will also report on ARC-funded research and research outcomes.

Our goals through this newsletter, in conjunction with the media pages on the ARC website, are to:

• inform our key stakeholders and the broader public about ARC important dates and upcoming events or scheme/program commencements;
• facilitate the dissemination of information about our programs and schemes
• promote ARC-funded research projects that are underway and ARC-funded research outcomes; and
• create interest in the ARC, its research schemes, and the benefits ARC-funded research projects are producing for the Australian community.

Content

The external newsletter includes:

• CEO column
• ARC important dates, upcoming events, scheme/program commencements and deadlines;
• information and articles on ARC events and announcements;
• feature articles on ARC-funded research and research outcomes (written by ARC Stakeholder Relations and/or submitted by researchers).

Content may be submitted to communications@arc.gov.au.

More information about submitting an article for ARChway is in the submission policy below. 

Delivery method

ARChway is to be distributed electronically each month via a subscription mailing list and will also be made available on the ARC website at www.arc.gov.au > Media Centre > Publications > ARChway.

There is a ‘subscribe’ option on the ARC website to receive the newsletter for anyone wishing to be on the mailing list. There is also a subscribe link at the bottom of ARChway in its electronic form.

Current and previous editions will be available on the ARC website.

Deadlines and production schedule

Deadlines are not flexible. To allow for graphic design, approvals and to meet the delivery deadline, articles must be received at the ARC no later than two weeks before the distribution date (unless otherwise specified by the ARC).

It is intended that ARChway will be issued in the last week of the publishing month, however, this timeframe may change from time to time due to competing priorities and workloads within the ARC.  

Submissions for ARChway will be accepted by the ARC at all times, however, articles accepted for publishing are at the Editor’s discretion. It is the intention of the ARC to publish as many submitted articles as possible, however, the ARC cannot guarantee all submitted article will be published.

Example of production schedule

Date	ACTION
Week 1–2	Submissions open Story List prepared
Week 3–4	Submissions remain open
Week 5–6	Submissions closed Approval process Production commences
Week 6–7	Newsletter distributed and published to ARC website

Submission policy

• when an author submits any material for publication, it is presumed that:
• the material is original, his/her own work and is not under any legal restriction for publication in print or online;
• the author allows the Editor (the ARC) to edit the work for clarity, presentation, and style without extensive consultation;
• the author gives the Editor permission to publish the work and make it accessible in the magazine's archives indefinitely after publication;
• copyright remains with the ARC unless specifically stated otherwise. If a copyright statement is to accompany an article, it is published at the end in the following format: Copyright © 2008 Mary Smith; and
• moral rights (for material in ARChway, the personal rights of the creator of a literary, dramatic or artistic work to protect his or her reputation and to be identified as creator of the work) have not been infringed.
• articles or story ideas should be submitted to communications@arc.gov.au.
• after submissions have been edited (if required) to comply with this policy, the Editor will provide authors with a copy of the changed article for approval. 
• the final acceptance of an article for publication is up to the Editor. The Editor has the right to reject material up until the time of publication, or not to publish material even after editing and clearance.

Approval process

Material prepared for ARChway will go through an approval process internally within the ARC executive, commencing with the Director of Stakeholder Relations.

Feature articles prepared by Stakeholder Relations on ARC-funded research will be prepared in consultation with researchers to ensure accuracy of content. Researchers will be given a draft of the story to approve before publishing.
Please note, however, that Editorial discretion remains the responsibility of the Director of Stakeholder Relations.

Articles submitted to the ARC for publishing will be revised internally at the ARC, and if changes are made, it will be sent back to the original author for approval.

Style guidelines

In general, the Australian Government Style Manual applies. Additional requirements are as follows:

1. the tone of the newsletter is insightful, research orientated and factual;
2. articles should be written in a narrative style with the most important information at the top of the article and least important at the end to allow for the article to be cropped from the end, where necessary;
3. use of magazine-specific language and style, and Australian Government style as set out in the Australian Government Style Manual. Please contact ARC Stakeholder Relations on 02 6287 6711 or communications@arc.gov.au  if you do not have access to a copy of the Manual and require assistance;
4. word counts for each article will be set and should be adhered to. The general word limit for submitted feature articles in this newsletter is 600; requests for larger articles to be published is at the discretion of the Editor;
5. format and layout of each article and the newsletter as a whole is entirely at the discretion of the Editor;
6. where applicable, articles should have an accompanying intranet/internet address (or URL);
7. only simple URLs will be published. If a simple URL is not available, click-paths should be described;
   • a simple URL comprises the domain name and one navigational step, e.g. www.arc.gov.au/grants
   • a click path is the domain name followed by a list of links for the user to follow, e.g. www.arc.gov. au > About Us > Committees > College of Experts > Biological Sciences and Biotechnology (BSB).

Photography and imagery guidelines

1. the ARC encourages the submission of illustrative photographs or images with articles or story ideas, together with advice about acknowledgements in line with the following guidelines:
   • do not submit images in a Microsoft Word document, Powerpoint presentation or any other Office product;
   • .jpg is the preferred image format. Other image formats may be submitted at the discretion of the Editor;
   • images must be of high-resolution;
   • the Editor reserves the right to refuse to publish any image; and reserves the right to crop or position the image appropriate to the design, layout and flow of the newsletter;
   • all images must be supplied with a caption. Where relevant, captions must include the
     • names of people in the photograph, from left to right;
     • name or title of the event; and
     • location and date (if applicable to accompanying article);

1. • photos of people will only be published with their or their organisation’s written consent.
2. clipart will not be published in ARChway.
3. the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 must be considered:

• authors must not submit images that are obtained from the internet and downloaded without appropriate permissions;
• copyrighted images will only be published if appropriate copyright clearance has been sighted by the Editor;
• images can be credited, as deemed appropriate.