Thank you for your interest in ArcNews magazine (distribution is more than 700,000 per issue) and ArcNews Online. About two-thirds of the articles in each issue of ArcNews magazine and ArcNews Online are written by our users and business partners. We look forward to receiving yours.

Expanded Online Content—To keep up with the ever-increasing number of articles about successful GIS implementations across the globe, ArcNews Online now publishes exclusive Web-only articles as well as the entire content of the paper version of the magazine. The Web-only articles will be clearly outlined in each paper issue of ArcNews magazine.

All articles received will be reviewed and considered by the ArcNews Editorial Review Committee for possible publication in either ArcNews OR ArcNews Online or both. Please read closely these guidelines BEFORE writing an article to submit to ArcNews magazine and ArcNews Online.

In order for your article to be considered for publication, you must follow these editorial and graphics guidelines, and you must give ESRI and ArcNews permission to use your materials by reading and agreeing to the copyright policy on the ESRI Web site. Articles (with NO embedded graphics) are submitted to the magazine by attaching the Microsoft Word file (or pasting the text) containing the article to a completed copyright policy form and clicking on the Submit button. All articles received by the deadline date for a specific issue will be reviewed by the ArcNews Editorial Review Committee and considered for that issue or possibly a later issue.

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The Difference Between ArcNews Magazine and ArcUser Magazine

It is important to understand that ESRI publishes two magazines for the GIS community.

The mission of ArcNews magazine is to provide news of ESRI and its products, services, users, and business partners; to broaden awareness of GIS; and to promote the countless and varied uses of this multifaceted technology. Beginning more than 30 years ago, ArcNews magazine is the longest running continuously published periodical devoted to GIS. It is distributed free of charge to both registered users of ESRI software and to tens of thousands who have demonstrated an interest in GIS.

The goal of ArcUser magazine is to provide specific, technical information directly to users of ESRI software to help them work more effectively and efficiently. Registered ESRI users receive the magazine free of charge. Article submission guidelines for ArcUser magazine can be found at www.esri.com/arcuser.

Though there is naturally some overlap, the focus of each of these two publications is different. Articles written for one will not work in the other. In any case, the same article will not be published in both.

Contact Information

Thomas K. Miller
ArcNews Magazine and ArcNews Online Editor-in-Chief
ESRI
380 New York Street
Redlands, CA 92373-8100
USA
E-mail: tmiller@esri.com
Telephone: 909-793-2853, extension 1-2217
Fax: 909-307-3051

Advertising in ArcNews Magazine

To place an advertisement in ArcNews magazine (paper version only), please review our advertising information and contact Teng-Hsiu Sovyanhadi (ads@esri.com) at 909-793-2853, extension 1-2189. Please include your company name and return e-mail address in requests sent by e-mail.

Deadlines for Article Submission and Issue Distribution Schedules

Article submission deadlines are subject to change. In addition, please send articles when they are ready—regardless of deadlines.

Issue	Submission Deadline	Distribution Begins
Winter 2007/2008	Passed	March 2008
Spring 2008	Passed	May 2008
Summer 2008	March 31, 2008	July 2008
Fall 2008	June 9, 2008	September 2008
Winter 2008/2009	August 25, 2008	December 2008

Text Guidelines for ESRI Users

It is very important to follow these guidelines. Deviation will only cause long delays in the consideration of an article.

1. All submitted articles will be considered for publication in either ArcNews OR ArcNews Online or both.
2. ArcNews magazine and ArcNews Online feature articles are written in the third person (he, she, they, it) using Microsoft Word or plain text. They should be 750-1,000 words long (1,200 is the absolute maximum). Please note that due to space limitations, the longer articles are often shortened significantly.
3. Do not send a summary or abstract of your article via conventional postal services as your initial contact with the ArcNews magazine/ArcNews Online editor. If you wish to run your idea past the editor before writing the article, feel free to phone or e-mail Tom Miller for a quick response. Otherwise, sending the completed article is preferred.
4. At the end of each article, please include the sentence, "For more information, contact ..." and then include the appropriate names, titles, affiliations, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail addresses, and Web URLs for the contact(s). Please see any recent ArcNews magazine and ArcNews Online article for proper format.
5. Use of a byline is optional, but if you do use one, please include title and affiliation.
6. If you choose to use a byline, just above "For more information," please insert "About the Author(s)" and one or two sentences describing each author.
7. We prefer real-life, solution-based, objective, and factual USER STORIES showing real people and organizations doing good work with ESRI products and services. The user is the focus of the article. At the beginning of the article, clearly describe in a colorful manner and in some detail who the user is and what the user's problem or need is. Approximately 250-350 words into the article, please show how GIS software or services from ESRI helped, explaining how or why the user selected an ESRI solution. This should be your first mention of ESRI or its products. ("Why" means: Is it government mandated, or the result of an intense request for proposal, or the user has used ESRI products for many years, or it was proposed by a consultant? That sort of thing.) Please structure the article in chronological order: user, problem, selection, solution, conclusion. Please note that ESRI and its software products or services must have a meaningful role in the article and not be a mere mention. (Note to all ESRI business partners—resellers, distributors, consultants, and OEM and VAR developers: Please see Guidelines Specifically for ESRI Business Partners below).
8. Please understand that ArcNews magazine and ArcNews Online avoid printing articles about "planned" applications and "proposed" projects as these things don't always turn out as planned.
9. Articles should be sprinkled with colorful quotes and anecdotes about the project and GIS, but do not quote yourself in the article if you intend to use a byline. Do not mention ESRI or its software or business partners or their software within quotes.
10. ArcNews is an international magazine. Articles need to be written from an international perspective. If a geographic location or public facility is obvious to you, it may not be to our readers in Bangladesh or South America. For example, write "United States Library of Congress Center for Geographic Information," not "Center for Geographic Information."
11. Note to submitters from outside the U.S.: Please remember that organizations, acronyms, and procedures that are taken for granted in your country or language will need to be spelled out and explained clearly for the rest of the world.
12. Articles should NOT be too technical. Assume the readers have some familiarity with GIS, but don't assume they know all the buzzwords.
13. ESRI software products must be discussed in relation to specific use and specific applications. (For example, don't say, "So and so uses ArcView" and then leave it at that. Say instead, "So and so uses ArcView to analyze the operational data, allowing users to view the near real-time position of each subject. This facilitates understanding of temporal relationships, and helps to determine the locations of this and that specific aspects of critical components" and so on.)
14. The term ArcGIS Desktop embodies the ESRI software products ArcView, ArcEditor, ArcInfo, and ArcReader. When discussing ArcGIS Desktop in your article, it is important to specify which of these products or combination of products you are referring to.
15. When discussing ArcMap or ArcCatalog, it is critical to identify the principal ArcGIS Desktop software being referred to. Is it ArcView, ArcEditor, or ArcInfo?
16. As appropriate, mention specific data sources, whether government or commercial.
17. Also as appropriate, mention very briefly what type of hardware is used.
18. Please do NOT use any fancy formatting, styles, or desktop publishing to produce your article.
19. Please send digital copies of your article at the same time you accept the ESRI Submission and Copyright Policy by attaching and uploading your Microsoft Word document or pasting your text document in the box provided.
20. Articles need artwork (see Graphics Guidelines). All user articles require screenshots and/or maps created using ESRI software and also descriptive captions. Appropriate graphics and captions should be submitted separately at the same time as the articles (or follow shortly after) by e-mail, regular mail, overnight courier, or by posting to our FTP site (ftp://ftp.esri.com/pub/incoming).
21. ArcNews is not a scientific journal. Please avoid using citations and references in your article.
22. ArcNews articles cannot be graphic dependent. Please do not use figure references (see graphics guideline number 3).
23. Please follow these guidelines carefully. When you have completed your article, please go back and use these guidelines as a checklist.

Text Guidelines Specifically for ESRI Business Partners

It is very important for ESRI Business Partners to follow these guidelines. Deviation will only cause long delays in the consideration of an article.

1. Please conform to ALL the guidelines above for ESRI users.
2. In addition, please remember that ArcNews magazine and ArcNews Online do NOT publish press releases, product announcements, advertisements disguised as articles, or long rundowns of how fabulous a product is. With rare exception, ArcNews magazine and ArcNews Online are only interested in receiving objective and factual user stories (or case studies) from business partners.
3. User stories provided by business partners must be written in three tiers. In the first paragraph or two, discuss the user in some detail and the problem or need the user has. Approximately 250-350 words into the article, mention how the business partner helped solve that problem or satisfy that need, explaining how or why the user selected the business partner. This should be the first mention of the business partner. ("Why" means: Is it government mandated, or the result of an intense request for proposal, or the user has used ESRI products for many years, or it was proposed by a consultant? That sort of thing.) Finally, explain how ESRI helped the business partner help the user. Do not mention ESRI before the business partner. Please note that ESRI and its software products or services must have a meaningful role in the article and not be a mere mention.
4. At the risk of being repetitive, it must be emphasized that articles from business partners must conform to all ArcNews magazine and ArcNews Online submission guidelines above. Deviation will only cause long delays in the consideration of an article. The user is the focus of the article, not the business partner nor the business partner's product or service nor ESRI. Mentioning your company and product name(s) a couple or a few times is appropriate. Filling the article with your company and product name(s) constitutes hardsell and is not acceptable. Tell the facts in an objective, factual, and straightforward manner without tooting horns or beating chests. Use no (zero-nada-none) superlatives or hyperbole. In the beginning, the user had a problem or need. The business partner helped solve the problem or satisfy the need. ESRI was involved in thus and so manner.
5. At the end of each article, please include the sentence, "For more information, contact ..." and then first include the appropriate names, titles, affiliations, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail addresses, and Web URLs for the contact(s) for your client(s). Then list the same sort of information for yourself. Please see any recent ArcNews magazine and ArcNews Online article for proper format.
6. Please follow these guidelines carefully. When you have completed your article, please go back and use these guidelines as a checklist.

Graphics Guidelines

Please review all these graphics guidelines before submitting your article.

1. Please provide ArcNews with graphics that, as far as possible, succinctly "tell a story." When readers look at your map or screenshot, the map itself should tell a story. For example, if the article is about a real estate user, provide graphics that show the best site selections. If your article is about helping the environment, then the map should show the serious problem being dealt with and illustrate it. Though we want colorful maps, they should also show your application in action—they should show the information that helps decision makers. Maps can communicate focused, clear, and simple messages even with complicated information (i.e., maps show property value increases, pockets of crime, changing and moving populations, and so forth). In other words, please submit the kind of map(s) that newspapers might print to tell an editorial story—not simply a map of documentation for decoration. The "story" of the map should be clear from the map itself. Please understand that ArcNews may crop out screenshot interfaces at its discretion.
2. Please, do NOT embed your final digital graphics in your text, document, or word-processed file. Such graphics cannot be accessed by ArcNews magazine and ArcNews Online. Digital graphics must always be sent as separate media.
3. ArcNews magazine and ArcNews Online style, format, and design do NOT allow for either exact placement of graphics relative to text nor publication of all submitted graphics.
4. Graphics can be sent to the editor by e-mail, regular mail, overnight courier, or by posting to our FTP site: ftp.esri.com/pub/incoming. If graphics are posted to this site, Tom Miller must be notified IMMEDIATELY and given file names. Multiple graphics may be "zipped" or "stuffed."
5. Whenever possible, please send original digital screen shots or images.
6. All graphics, maps, and screen captures REQUIRE a caption—one or two sentences clearly describing the image or presenting your message. ALL CAPTIONS MUST BE SENT DIGITALLY as Word, text, or e-mail. Do not embed captions into the graphics. Captions must also be attached to the hard copies of the appropriate graphics (see below, Graphics item 8) (file name identification alone will NOT work since the graphics media go to the graphics department and the captions stay in the editorial department).
7. Please make certain the editor knows which captions go with the images. If the graphics are sent via e-mail or FTP, please e-mail copies with captions to Tom at the same time.
8. We prefer screenshots (96 dpi) and photos (300 dpi) to be 10-15 inches wide in digital formats such as TIF (TIFF for Mac), PICT, PCX, EPS, BMP, Sun raster, JPG, or GIF (please note that GIF images are of low resolution and therefore don't print very well). Any ArcView GIS TIF or ArcInfo EPS files must be saved in CMYK mode. If the files are saved as RGB or Index color, they may print in black and white or not print at all. See Formats for Digital Files [PDF-46.2 KB] and Making Screenshots [PDF-60 KB] for more details.
9. We accept graphics on the following media: 3.5-inch floppy diskette, 8-mm tape (Sun or IBM), 4-mm tape (SGI), Bernoulli, Syquest, optical disks, CD-ROM, "jaz" discs, and "zip" discs. We can also use slides, transparencies, prints, and hard copy, if need be. IMPORTANT: Any compressed files on diskette or files sent on any tape medium need to have attached step-by-step instructions to help us access the necessary files (i.e., software/version used to create or save file, file format, etc.).

If you would like to submit an article to ArcNews magazine and ArcNews Online for consideration by the ArcNews Editorial Review Committee, please submit the article via the ESRI Article Submission and Copyright Policy page.

Again, thank you for your interest in ArcNews magazine and ArcNews Online.