Length

Feature articles should be 3,000 to 5,500 words long. Unit History, Soldier, Tools of War, and Post articles should be 1,500 to 2,500 words. Sidebars to features or other articles should be 250 to 500 words. Museum Spotlight articles should be 500 to 1,000 words

Book reviews should be between 600 and 750 words not including the bibliographic information block on the top of the page. Concentrate on the main arguments and analysis of the book—what you think someone could learn from it and why it is important. Avoid using “I” as in “I thought the author did a great job supporting his thesis.” We do not accept unsolicited book reviews, but if you are interested in book reviewing, email us regarding your areas of interest and expertise to josh.cline@armyhistory.org. Include writing samples.

Here is an example of the bibliographic format for book reviews:

White Hat: The Military Career of Captain William Philo Clark

By Mark J. Nelson. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2018. ISBN 978-0-8061-6122-8. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xvi, 260. $29.95.

Please include your rank (if applicable) and full name, suffix (if applicable), and where you are from (city and state) at the end of your review.

Format

Please send your article via e-mail as a Word attachment to matt.seelinger@armyhistory.org. DO NOT send the article in PDF or PowerPoint format. If you do not have access to e-mail, you may send a double-spaced hard copy. For the article itself, use only standard, double-spaced word processing in Times New Roman or Arial font. Single space after periods.

Please include footnotes/endnotes (preferred), but please note, at the present we use endnotes only in the feature articles that appear in the print edition; all articles include citations in the digital edition. Please refer to the Chicago Manual Style for notes:

Do not insert pictures or graphics in the article; however, you may certainly suggest insertion points for images if they are of importance. Ensure that images are clearly marked so that any references to them are clear.

Photographs and Other Artwork

If submitting electronic images, please make sure they are at least 300 dpi. We require high resolution to ensure quality reproduction of the image in print. We can accept Photoshop EPS, TIFF and JPEG files.

If you are providing images for articles, please provide a minimum of six for Unit History, Tools of War, Soldier, and Post articles; Feature articles should have minimum of eight; Museum Spotlight a minimum of ten (to include exterior shots of museum/outdoor exhibits and indoor exhibits). If you cannot provide images, please provide suggestions as to who may have some to accompany the article.

Please include caption and credit information for each photograph.

Feature Article Titles

We take your suggestions for headlines seriously. Please send titles or suggestions with your article.

Author Biographies

Biographical information should be submitted with the text of the article and should be no more than 200 words.

Submissions

Please do not send us articles that have been submitted or published elsewhere. We do not accept simultaneous submissions.

Electronic Images

–NO POWERPOINT SUBMISSIONS–

Each image must be sent as a standalone graphic file. In other words, if you have image files (pictures) contained in a PowerPoint presentation, don’t send us the presentation, but send us the original image files that were inserted into the presentation. Similarly, please do not embed images in a Word document or send retouched images (like collages or pictures that have had text or other graphics added to them). Accompanying caption information is also critical; see below for particulars.

For the technically inclined, the resolution for photographic images that appear in On Point is 300 dpi. This means that we require high resolution digital images to ensure quality reproduction in print. We can accept Photoshop .EPS, .TIFF and .JPEG files. The following chart is a guide for submitting electronic images for publication in the magazine, and is based on CMYK EPS files. It shows the file size necessary to print at common dimensions in the magazine.

For the layman, a simple rule of thumb is that high resolution image files are at least .5 MB in size, and usually closer to 1 MB; if your image file is smaller than this, then it probably won’t reproduce for print. Or put another way, once compressed to meet resolution requirements, a standard 72 dpi image shrinks to 1/3 its size (so a low-resolution image has to be very large to work, but a high-resolution image will hold its size or can actually be expanded to fit a space).

Captions

To ensure best use, each image should have its own caption. Include all captions in a separate Word file, clearly indicating which captions go with which images. Do not embed photos and captions in a Word document together. Do not use photo software to overwrite captions or to place labels on images themselves. Descriptive file names are helpful, but they are not substitutes for good captions. Avoid acronyms if possible, and spell them out if used. Please make your captions complete sentences and as specific to the image and what is depicted in it as possible—people, equipment, activity, place, etc.

Additional Guidelines

Citations

Please include citations (footnotes or endnotes) with Feature, Tools of War Soldier, Post, and Unit articles. Please use the Chicago Manual of Style for citations:

Citations for Feature articles will appear in the print edition of On Point; citations for all articles will appear in the digital edition.

Numbers

Spell out one through ninety-nine; 100 and above should be written as numerals; one million and above, spell out.

Ranks

Spell out ranks – For example, Private John Doe; Staff Sergeant Jane Doe; Lieutenant Colonel Hap Happablat

States

Spell out states – Virginia, California, New Mexico, Florida, etc.

When in Doubt, Spell Out!

For any other questions, please contact Matt Seelinger at matt.seelinger@armyhistory.org, (703) 562-4166.