Submission Guidelines

Many articles that appear on the STC Canada West Coast website are written by volunteer technical communicators looking to hone their craft, gain valuable writing experience and feedback, and make contacts with other technical communicators.

Article Length

We recommend 500 to 700 words, but we’ll consider longer articles if the subject matter warrants. Longer articles might be serialized into parts. STC Canada West Coast chapter retains the right to edit all submitted material.

Topics

Topics should be of interest to people in the technical communications industry or those looking to join the community for the first time. Write about one of our suggested topics, or suggest something else that you think might be interesting. Check with us to discuss your topic before you start. 

Tone

Use a positive, upbeat style, without being overly perky. Our audience includes potential employers, work colleagues, and newcomers to our field. We want to show that the chapter is a fun and rewarding place to learn, network, volunteer, share job leads, and socialize with professional peers.

Use a conversational tone to build rapport with your audience and make the article easier to read.

Be careful using humour. It can be effective, if used sparingly, but it can also confuse or offend people who don’t understand the context or purpose.

Format

All articles are published on the Word Press platform using the styles dictated by the CSS for the site.

  • Follow the STC Canada West Coast Style Guide. (PDF)
  • Submit articles as Microsoft Word files.
  • Use up to two levels of headings, set up using Word default headings.
  • Use a font that’s easy to read (such as Calibri, Times, Arial)

References

All references to other works (books, magazines, websites, and so on) should follow the Chicago Manual of Style citation format.

Graphics

If your article includes graphics, submit them in .jpg format with the final draft. File size should be less than 1MB.

Your images will be cropped to 210 x 210 pixels.

Make sure you have the necessary permissions or licences for all graphics that are not your own original work. Include the permissions with your final draft submission.

Submission

Email your article to the Chapter Administrator.

Publishing Rights

Authors retain all rights to submitted and published work. We do not accept previously published material.