Submissions

Submission Guidelines

Audience

Our readers are the general public with a general interest in international affairs topics, including foreign policy, trade, environment, security policy, defense operations, international relations, globalization, terrorism, global public health, cybersecurity, gender, genocide, law, and peace.  

 

1) Focus: geopolitics and security issues

     We have the following sections-

  1. a) Usanas Global Eye- South Asia, Middle East, and North Africa, Africa, Eurasia, Europe, Americas, Indo-Pacific, and East Asia
  2. c) Usanas Vyomantrix discuss developments and innovations in cyber, space, intelligence, defense, and Artificial Intelligence

Though we focus on geopolitics, intelligence, and security affairs, we are also interested in publishing pieces on the transforming trends such as pandemics, race issues, public health, migration, refugee issues, domestic political and development issues, right-wing populism, science and technology, and environment. However, the authors need to analyze them in terms of their broader impact in the region under discussion and beyond, and their implications for public policy and international relations.  For example, While writing on a public health issue, we are interested in its impact on geopolitical trends and public policy matters. 

 

2) Our authors- Our writers are subject matter experts with relevant educational and professional credentials. They come from a wide-ranging background that includes diplomats, young researchers, scholars, development professionals, academics, journalists, and armed forces veterans and intelligence professionals.

 

3)Editorial Content Standards-

 

3.1) Pitching and submitting- First, send a pitch(max 200 words), with the subject as "Pitch," to (opinion.usanasfoundation@gmail.com/info@usanasfoundation.com) outlining the theme of the piece and the author's experience and credentials, including previous publication records. We will respond in three business days. If we do not, please send a reminder email. Once we approve the pitch, send us your final draft with "article submission" as the subject. Approval of the pitch is no guarantee that your piece will be published. We are a small team, so we cannot devote much time to your piece if it requires substantial editing.

 

Create a specific title for your submission and a sub-title, do not use broad titles such as "UN in Focus." The title should convey the key theme of the write-up. The document has to be in Times New Roman and 12 point font with 1.5 line spacing. Please indent the start of each new paragraph, and it has to be single-spaced. You also have to justify the document.

All abbreviations used in the text should be spelt out when the first time. For e.g. The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) was established in 1957. • No periods should be used in writing abbreviations or acronyms. For e.g. US, UK, ASEAN, IMF, NATO. 

 

3.2) No jargon, as our audience include general readers along with the subject-matter experts. If you want a wide readership for your pieces, avoid using jargon words that make sense only to academics, intelligence professionals, diplomats, and military people. We suggest you explain the concepts and context while writing because our audience is international. Suppose you are writing about South Asia, then merely mentioning Lashkar will not suffice. While discussing it, give a proper explanation of the context- "Lashkar-i-Taiba, a Kashmir-centric terrorist organization, reportedly sponsored by Pakistan." Also, no colloquial language. This is not a journalistic portal. We are looking for serious, formal, and academic write-ups.

3.3) Avoid passive voice and write in clear and simple language. Long and complex sentences are difficult to understand. Avoid monotony by interspersing long sentences with short sentences.

3.4) We publish under different categories, so consider the nature of the category before you write. Opinion pieces can be anywhere between 800-1200 words. The author has to introduce the issue, the debate surrounding it, and give his/her opinion, but it has to be based on systematic analysis. An analytical and forecast piece can be anywhere between 1500 words to 2500 words. It has to be an objective analysis based on facts and logical reasoning. Also, give a conclusion and recommendation at the end. You can use structural analytical techniques and other tools like game theory and statistical methods. Insert your data, graphs, and figures. Do not use first-person sentences. For all the pieces up to 2500 words, use hyperlinks for referencing. If you do not know how to use hyperlinks, please provide the website links in brackets next to the fact/word you want to insert hyperlinks into. In case you are citing from a book, please give its amazon URL as a hyperlink and proper reference in footnotes or mention the page number and the book's name in brackets.

We suggest you write in US English and use spell-check. Before you send the draft, please check it for grammar and spelling. You can use Grammarly for the necessary spelling, sentence structure, and grammar issues. Do not expect us to correct spellings and commas. Please have a look at Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, War On The Rocks, Diplomat, and Stratfor. It will give you an understanding of what kind of articles we are looking for, in terms of the quality of writing and the standards of analysis and research. You can also have a look at how they use hyperlinks for opinion pieces, commentaries, and analytical pieces.

3.5) We also accept long-form pieces( above 2500 words) – world politics style essays, policy papers, review papers, issue briefs, and reports. For the long-form pieces, use the Chicago manual of style 17th edition (Full Note) for citation.

3.6) While analyzing a piece, try to analyze in terms of its broader impact on geopolitical and global trends. The general audience must easily understand your writing style, but it should also spark subject matter experts' interest.  We aim to educate and engage using clear language and thoughtful and compelling analysis. Your articles should be well structured and must have a flow. Support claims with evidence- do not make assumptions and avoid logical fallacies.

The inferences should follow the facts. Also, your facts should support your analysis. Flooding your article with numerous irrelevant facts can make your piece lose focus. So be thrifty and strategize before writing, in terms of facts, analysis, structure, and flow. We are not strictly for a domestic audience. Try to focus on your expertise – area or subject expertise. Bring original research based on open sources, your fieldwork, and your own analysis.

3.7)The names of newspapers and magazines and unknown foreign words have to be italics.

3.8) Our editors will review and get back to you with their edits in the track changes.  We take around three to five business days to get back. Our editors will ask questions and explanations in their comments. After revising the document with the suggested changes, please send it back with the track changes function on. Please do not delete our comments.

3.9) Send your two-three line bio and a pic. If you have a twitter handle, please mention that, and in case of a personal website, provide a link.

4) Plagiarism is something that we can never tolerate. You can check the plagiarism guidelines of academic institutions in the US and the UK. Broadly, it implies producing others' thoughts, ideas, words, opinions, and other forms of work without citing. Even if you are quoting from your article published elsewhere, you have to cite. If you are quoting verbatim, use inverted commas. If you are reproducing someone's opinion, then paraphrase. Also, mention the name of the source and insert a hyperlink.

5) Republishing: We occasionally republish articles published on other platforms; however, preference will be given to fresh articles.

6) Time-sensitive pieces: Write "Attention" in the subject of the email that you send, and also explain why the piece is time-sensitive.

7) Key Words: Make a list at the bottom of your piece of keywords that you would like to have included on our lexicon page.

8) Format: Send your article in the following format-

Title (Bold and larger font size)

Sub-title (unbold and smaller font size)

Category-Commentary/Analysis/Forecast

Author's name and date/time

Image (if you have any, but please make sure there are no copyright issues)

Main body of the article (It should have subheadings)

Tag words-four-five tag words

Author bio- two-three lines

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