Submission Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in submitting an article to the Esri News for State and Local Government newsletter.

Please thoroughly read and follow the article and graphics guidelines before submitting an article for consideration. Articles must follow these guidelines to be considered for publication.

Articles should describe how a problem was solved using Esri software. Esri products or services must have a meaningful role in the article, not merely be mentioned. Articles in this publication are not highly technical. They should be understandable to someone who has only some familiarity with GIS.

• Articles should be provided in Microsoft Word files (.doc or .docx). Do not use any fancy formatting, styles, or desktop publishing to produce your article. Do not send articles in PDF format.
• Do not send drafts. Send the final, polished article that has been signed off by all applicable persons or departments in your organization.
• Newsletter stories are written in the third person (he, she, they, it) and are at least 700 words and no longer than 800 words.
• The newsletter is not a journal. Do not send papers. Instead, send articles written in a lively and engaging manner. Do not use figure references. Do not use footnotes. If a source should be referenced, do so in the body of the article parenthetically and if needed, in quotations. 
• The Newsletter does not publish press releases, product announcements, articles about planned applications and proposed projects, or advertisements disguised as articles.
• The Newsletter does publish real-life, solution-based stories that describe how real people and specific organizations are doing good work with Esri products and services.
• TIP 1: Discuss Esri software products in relation to their specific use. For example, don't just say, "So and so uses ArcGIS." Say instead, "So and so uses ArcGIS to analyze operational data, allowing users to view the real-time position of each subject.". For a complete list of Esri products, see Products A-Z.
• TIP 2: Make sure that your ROI is a featured component of your article. GIS has a positive ripple effect on organizations. When a problem is solved or a challenge overcome using GIS, organizations realize a return on their investment (ROI) – save time and money, increase accuracy and efficiency, etc. For ideas on how to describe your ROI, see Measuring Up: The Business Case of GIS, Vol. 2.

Engaging articles need artwork. Send at least two, high-quality graphics with each article. These graphics can include screenshots, maps created using Esri products or Partner solutions, photographs, diagrams, and other visuals that can help tell the story.

• You must either own or have permission (in writing, which you include with the submission) for each graphic submitted.
• Send original screenshots and other graphics saved with little or no compression in TIF, BMP, PNG, or JPEG format. Do not send images that have been embedded in a Microsoft Office product (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Send a caption of each graphic in a Microsoft Word document (.doc or .docx) correlating the graphic file name with the caption. Send graphics separately but at the same time as the article. E-mail them or request assistance from the newsletter staff to upload them. Word documents and graphics can be bundled in a zip file format.

Please review this checklist before submitting your article:

• Include the name, title, and affiliation of all authors.
• Use the full name of any organizations and spell out acronyms on first reference.
• Do not quote yourself in the article.
• Include graphics to illustrate the article and write a caption for each graphic

When your review is complete, please submit the article and graphics to statelocalarticles@esri.com.

Advertising in Esri News for State & Local Government Newsletter

To place an advertisement in the newsletter, please contact statelocalads@esri.com. Please include your company name and return e-mail address in requests sent by e-mail.