PCLinuxOS Magazine

Submission Guidelines

1. Articles may be of any length. The magazine has needs for articles of varying lengths, both long and short.
   
   
2. The deadline for article submission will be 10 days prior to the end of the month preceding the month of publication. So, the deadline for the May issue will be April 20, since April has only 30 days. Likewise, the deadline for the April issue will be March 21, since March has 31 days.
   
   
3. Artwork submissions will also be bound by the same deadline as for article submissions.
   
   
4. The PCLinuxOS Magazine is published using American English, since PCLinuxOS is a Linux distribution originating in the United States.
   
   
5. Articles should be written using proper grammar, to the best of your ability. Take extra care to insure that spelling is correct, especially when dealing with proper names and code examples.
   
   
6. The "official" route for article submission is Google Documents. Google Documents allows the magazine staff to collaborate on the editing of magazine articles, and keeps the magazine production process in the open. By doing so, we feel as if we are embracing the "open source" concept, where many "sets of eyes" are able to inspect the articles, which helps to further insure the accuracy of the articles.
   
   As such, any article submissions made through Google Documents need to be made in such a way that the magazine staff may edit or comment on the articles. Therefore, do not submit articles to the magazine staff with the "To View" permissions set. Rather, the magazine staff must have the ability to edit the articles, so you must set the permissions to "To Edit."
   
   
7. While Google Documents is the official and preferred method for article submission, the PCLinuxOS Magazine will accept article submissions in other formats. OpenOffice.org Writer files work well, as do annotated plain text (*.txt) files.
   
   If you choose to use OpenOffice.org Writer to submit your articles, please do not use columns. You may use any common font (the PCLinuxOS Magazine is published using the open source font Liberation Sans, 10 point size, for the article body text), but you should avoid using any uncommon or decorative font that may not be commonly installed on other users' computers. Bear in mind that any formatting in your OpenOffice.org Writer document will be lost when the magazine is laid out in the assembly stage of production. The magazine staff may use your original formatting to guide them in formatting the article in the magazine's assembly.
   
   You may choose to use an annotated text file to submit your articles. Annotated means to include place holders (e.g., [image1.png]) where images and graphics should be placed. The image place holder should specify the file name of the image file that is to occupy that space in the article.
   
   Submission of both formats should be compressed as either a *.tar.gz or *.zip file, that includes the article and all supporting graphics and images, as well as any other files.
   
   
8. Articles may be submitted to any member of the PCLinuxOS Magazine staff via email, and it will be their responsibility to forward the article to the magazine's Chief Editor.
   
   
9. The PCLinuxOS Magazine reserves the right to refuse to publish any article, at any time, for any reason. Additionally, articles for the PCLinuxOS Magazine are subject to being edited for a) style, b) content, and c) length, at the discretion of the PCLinuxOS Magazine Chief Editor, the PCLinuxOS Magazine staff, the PCLinuxOS Forum moderators or administrators, or by Texstar.
   
   
10. Articles submitted should be specific to topics of interest to the Linux community, and whenever possible, specific to PCLinuxOS in particular.
    
    
11. Submitted articles should be in good taste, and should avoid the use of profanity, slang terminology, or potentially libelous statements. Articles portraying PCLinuxOS in a negative light are not allowed.
    
    
12. Submitted articles should avoid plagiarism, and should be an original and unique article written by the cited author.
    
    
13. Submitted articles and artwork should be either original works, or be free of copyright encumbrances, to the best of the submitter's knowledge. Other articles and artwork may be published, provided permission is granted for use, in writing. An email from a verifiable email address of the original author or creator will be sufficient to serve as written permission.
    
    
14. The PCLinuxOS Magazine, and any and all works appearing in it, are published under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share-Alike 3.0 Unported license. With the exception of articles and artwork published with the written permission of the original copyright owner, submission of your article or artwork implies agreement with and adherence to the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share-Alike 3.0 Unported license.
    
    
15. These submission guidelines are subject to change, without prior notice.
    

Style Manual

1. The use of the term "PCLOS" is discouraged when referring to PCLinuxOS. The only exceptions to this style rule are for original songs and poems about PCLinuxOS, and in individual instances as decided by the PCLinuxOS Magazine Chief Editor, on a case-by-case basis.
   
   
2. Unless specified otherwise, the PCLinuxOS Magazine will consult the Associated Press Style Manual for guidance in writing style issues. The previous link points to an abbreviated version that should be capable of resolving most issues.

July 17, 2010
Paul Arnote, PCLinuxOS Magazine Chief Editor