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American National Standards Institute Editorial Guidelines:
Print and Electronic Media
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All editorial content published by ANSI shall adhere to guidelines for
impartiality, accuracy and integrity as addressed in this document.
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Introduction
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit
organization that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary
standardization and conformity assessment system. Its mission is to enhance
U.S. global competitiveness and the American quality of life by promoting,
facilitating, and safeguarding the integrity of the voluntary standardization
system.
Media
The Institute's primary communication vehicles for news and editorial content
are its website, ANSI Online (www.ansi.org)
and its weekly e-newsletter, What's New?
Readership
What's New? is each distributed to a diverse audience comprising
corporate, organizational, government and consumer interests in the United
States and around the globe. The Institute's website receives on average more
than three million hits per month.
Content
Content typically addresses the development, promulgation and usage of
voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment programs, related
policy matters and products and services of the Institute. Periodically,
content will include legal, regulatory and international information impacting
the U.S. standardization community.
Submission of Editorial Content to ANSI
Most of ANSI's editorial content is written by the Institute's staff or by the
volunteer members of ANSI or professionals in the standards development
community. Bylined articles and contributions, including "Letters to the
Editor," are encouraged for all ANSI news media. A clear distinction shall be
made for the reader between news reports and opinion. Articles that contain
opinion or personal interpretation must be clearly identified. Viewpoints
expressed will be those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views
or the policies of the American National Standards Institute.
Exclusivity and Copyright
Unless otherwise agreed, all contributions submitted to ANSI must be original,
unpublished work, not submitted for publication elsewhere. Submission of a
manuscript for publication by ANSI signifies the author's agreement to assign
copyright or grant a license to ANSI. [NOTE: Return of a written form
indicating author's permission for ANSI to use, and reuse, the text as it
chooses may be required.]
Upon requests for reprints of articles that appear in ANSI’s publications, ANSI
will make contact with the original author. If the original author cannot be
reached, or fails to reply to contacts made, ANSI reserves the right to grant
permission to reprint the article.
Acceptance for Publication
Submissions are published at ANSI's discretion. Editors will review all
contributions and accept, return to the author for revision, or reject the
article. All submissions accepted for publication by ANSI will be acknowledged
in writing to the original author (either hard-copy or via e-mail) prior to
publication.
Deadlines
Authors working under agreement with ANSI will be assigned a story deadline.
Any author unable to meet this story deadline for any reason must contact his
or her assigned editor immediately. Deadline extensions may be possible, but
advance notice is required so that the editor has time to fill the space held
for the subject article.
Style
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Length for feature articles should be approximately five (5) to seven (7)
double-spaced typed pages (1500-2000 words)
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Include a title and subheads
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Write in the third person, not first or second (no I, you, or we, except in
quotes)
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Avoid the passive tense
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Use clear, straightforward English
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Spell out acronyms or abbreviations the first time you use them
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Include all titles of standards, in addition to standard designations
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Define all jargon
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Double space copy
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Single space between sentences
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Pull out items of interest in sidebar material
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Articles must not appear to promote the products or services of authors who
represent vendors of said products
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Every effort must be made to assure that news content is accurate, free from
bias and in context, and that all sides are presented fairly
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Editorials, analytical articles and commentary will be held to the same
standards of accuracy with respect to facts as news reports
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All bylined submissions should be accompanied by a author's biography of no
more than 75 words
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Include charts, graphs, diagrams, photographs, illustrations, cartoons, etc. to
break up text
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Suggested captions and credits should accompany suggested artwork
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A permission statement for use must accompany original photographs or
illustrations
Quotations and References
Readers should be able to assume that every word between quotation marks is
what the speaker or writer said. ANSI will correct spelling, capitalization and
grammar errors within a quotation and will provide definitions for
abbreviations and initializations. If a subject's grammar or taste is
unsuitable, quotation marks should be removed and the awkward passage
paraphrased. Unless the writer has detailed notes or a recording, it is usually
wise to paraphrase long comments, since they may turn up worded differently on
television or in other publications. Attribution Facts gathered by any other
organization must be attributed to that organization. Credit shall be given to
the source of any material referenced by an author, including any material from
newspapers, magazines, books and broadcasts, as well as news agencies.
Fact-Checking
Writers submitting work to ANSI are accountable in the first instance for their
own accuracy and may, in some cases, be solely responsible for fact-checking.
Writers are responsible for verification of all facts prior to filing their
story with ANSI, unless deadlines prevent completion of the fact-checking by
the article's due date. In these cases, authors are responsible for identifying
for ANSI's communication staff that fact-checking is required prior to
publication.
Manuscripts submitted for publication by ANSI must include a complete contact
list for the fact-checker, specifying the names, titles, locations and
telephone numbers of everyone quoted or cited in the article. Sources must be
identified fully, including their credentials, titles or reasons they are
qualified to comment, and provide full references for any publications used as
sources. Any special instructions to the fact-checker must be identified at
this time.
Research materials (e.g., publications, news clips, specialized journals, etc.)
used in the creation of the manuscript should be identified (include date and
name of publication) and keyed to the respective section of the article. These
files may be required by ANSI during the fact-checking process, though they can
be returned to the author after fact-checking is complete.
Revisions
All contributions are subject to editing for space, clarity and conformity with
ANSI's house style.
The editors reserve the right, when necessary, to request manuscript revisions
from the original author or to incorporate revisions directly. Editors will
send edited articles to the author for one final review before publication.
Response deadlines will be dependent upon the relevant publication schedule. If
an author is unable to respond by the identified deadline, ANSI reserves the
right to be able to move forward with publication of the edited article.
Corrections
ANSI recognizes an ethical responsibility to correct all factual errors, large
or small, brought to its attention. Significant known errors of fact, as well
as errors of omission, will be corrected promptly and prominently. If a
correction is warranted, it will be published immediately. In case of
reasonable doubt or disagreement about the facts, ANSI will acknowledge that a
statement was "imprecise" or "incomplete" even if ANSI is not sure it was
wrong.
Rebuttals
ANSI shall seek and publish a response from anyone criticized for editorial
content published by the Institute. When the criticism is serious, ANSI has a
special obligation to describe the scope of the accusation and let the subject
respond in detail.
Payment and Expenses
The Institute generally does not offer payment for the publication of editorial
content. On exception, paid writing assignments shall be at ANSI's discretion
and the subject of a contractual agreement between an author and ANSI.
Technical requirements
To facilitate production, all editorial contributions to ANSI shall be
submitted in electronic format. Contributions submitted via e-mail should be
sent as an attachment to the e-mail, not in the body of the message.
Contributions submitted via disk or CD must be formatted for use on a PC (i.e.,
no Macintosh formatted media will be accepted) and indicate which
word-processing program was used to create the manuscript. Your disk will not
be returned.
Include the name and contact information, including e-mail address, of the
original author (and source, if different) when submitting manuscripts to ANSI.
Reprints
Articles or stories that appear in What’s New?
or in an archived issue of the ANSI Reporter may be reprinted only with written
permission of the American National Standards Institute. In the case of
contributed articles to the ANSI Reporter, additional permission of the author
may be required.
To receive permission to reprint an article, please send your request via e-mail
(pr@ansi.org), fax (212.398.0023) or surface
mail to American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Attn: Communications
Director, 25 W. 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036
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The request must include the following information:
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Title of the original article
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Author of the original article (if identified)
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Date/issue where the article or story first appeared
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Specifics of how and where the reprinted article will be used
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Contact name, address, phone, fax and e-mail
Permission for reprints is granted at ANSI’s discretion. Reprinting an article
or story without written permission is a violation of ANSI’s copyright.
Contact Information
Contributions can be submitted to via e-mail (pr@ansi.org),
fax (212.398.0023), or surface mail (American National Standards Institute,
ATTN: Communications Director, 25 West 43rd Street - Fourth Floor, New York, NY
10036)
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