Contribute to In Compliance

In Compliance Magazine serves an audience of electrical engineers working in the electronics manufacturing industry. These engineers are concerned with the compliance of their products to worldwide standards and regulations. We’re interested in publishing detailed, specific, accurate, and immediately useful design and compliance-oriented articles. We also provide our audience with articles that capture the interest of our readers in relation to education, and special interests related to the field of electrical engineering.

Send all editorial correspondence to: Lorie Nichols, Editor

In Compliance Magazine has several requirements for the editorial we publish. We’re committed to providing interesting, innovative, and informational articles. Articles considered for publication will provide the reader with valuable solutions to challenges they face in designing and manufacturing products to meet current and upcoming standards requirements worldwide.

How-to types of articles are well received by the In Compliance audience. A conversational, peer-to-peer tone using an active rather than a passive voice is our most successful writing style.

Articles should be unbiased and avoid commercial content. Our authors gain credibility and respect for the expertise they convey.

Articles covering the history of electrical engineering or a special interest intended to capture the engineer’s imagination to provoke innovation and creativity in the field of electrical engineering are also encouraged for possible publication.

We look for new information, not material that can easily be found in textbooks or has been previously published. You should submit your articles for our consideration exclusively, not to multiple publications. If your article is not appropriate for our audience, we will let you know promptly, and you will then be free to submit it to other publications.

The Proposal

We encourage our authors to prepare a brief summary of a proposed article and a detailed outline. Crafting an article summary and outline in advance will require organized ideas. Consider the following questions when preparing your article summary and outline:

• What will this article tell the reader that they don’t already know?
• Why would readers want this information?
• Are the applications new?
• Do the article’s lessons extend beyond the obvious?
• Does the article cover the parameters and the problems?
• Are alternative solutions, with pros and cons covered in the article?
• We may also ask you to submit a sample of your written work along with your article summary or outline. This will help us assess the level of assistance that may be required in preparing your article for publication.

If we find merit in the proposal, we will ask for a complete article. It is important to note that final decisions regarding the publication of an article are based on the actual article, not the proposal.

The Article

The typical In Compliance article averages between 2500 and 3500 words, with a maximum length of 4000 words. When estimating the length of your article, please add approximately 100 words to the length of your draft for each figure and table that you include. For example, if your draft is 3200 words in length and includes 5 figures, the total estimated length would be 3700 words.

If you feel it is necessary to provide the reader with additional information and your draft runs over our 4000-word limit, we can opt to run your article in multiple parts if necessary.

The deadline for editorial material is typically four months in advance of the intended month of publication. We will confirm with you in advance a specific deadline for the submission of your completed article. We request that once committed, you follow through with your commitment. If you are unable to provide the promised article as planned please contact us as soon as possible.

Articles submitted for consideration must use the following formatting standards. Articles not following the standards may be returned to the author for reformatting, or may be rejected for publication.

• Use Microsoft Word or other standard word processing software in preparing your draft.
• Set margins at .5” at the top and bottom of the page, and 1.0” on the left and right sides.
• Use Times New Roman font, 12 point, for all text.
• Left-justify all text, including titles and headings. Do not use columns
• Use single-spacing throughout the draft, double space between paragraphs.
• Use bold text for first-level heads, bold and italicized text for second-level heads, and underlined and italicized text for third-level heads.
• Do not add any headers or footers to your document.
• Avoid using footnotes whenever possible, or place them at the end of your draft.
• Make clear reference in your text to all figures, tables or graphics.
• Provide graphics with a minimum resolution of 266 dpi.
• Provide a brief (one or two sentences) biography and include your email address

Writing Tips

Write clearly and simply, as though you are explaining your topic directly to the engineer. Write to express, not to impress. Use active, rather than passive voice as this helps to eliminate ambiguity and encourages the reader to act.

Readers are pressed for time. Tell them, up front, why they should read your article. Readers will decide whether or not to read on within the first five seconds of reading. Put the most important information in the headline and first paragraph.

We use The Chicago Manual of Style and the IEEE Computer Society’s Style Guide as the basis for decisions regarding punctuation and style. An additional reference for technical writers is the “Handbook of Technical Writing,” by Gerald J. Alred, Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu, St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY, ISBN 0-312-5751-22.