BLOG ENTRY GUIDELINES
Planetizen Interchange is a blog designed to host opinions and commentary from leading authors, scholars, and professionals in the fields of urban planning, design and development.
Our aim is to provide readers with exposure to new viewpoints and ideas, encourage discourse that cuts across disciplinary boundaries, and expand and inform the community of people working to improve the built environment. Hopefully we'll all learn something from each other too.
Here are the guidelines for contributing to Planetizen Interchange.
Be relevant. Your post should be broadly related to the issues of society and the built environment covered on Planetizen, and be of interest to Planetizen readers. That said, drawing on lessons from other fields is encouraged.
Be original. Posts to Planetizen Interchange should be original and not have been previously published elsewhere. Quotes from other sources should comprise no more than 50 percent of any post. If you do include quotes and excerpts in your post, make sure to clearly cite the material you have taken, and provide a link to the source if possible.
Be fresh. Try to have a different point with each post, or a fresh angle on a previous idea. Avoid posting similar messages on the same topic. While contributors may on occasion want to follow up on another contributors post with some related thoughts, contributors should avoid using Planetizen Interchange as a discussion forum. If you would like to respond to a post on Planetizen Interchange, please add a comment to that post.
Be brief. Conciseness and brevity are conducive to good blogs. While the minimum post length is 100 words, don't feel that you need to write a thesis. In fact, if you have a long statement you'd like to make (say over 800 words), submitting it as a Planetizen Op-Ed might be more appropriate.
Be polite and respectful. A good rule of thumb is to comment on ideas, not people. Avoid defamatory comments which might damage the reputation of a person or organization. Avoid posting inflammatory or meritless comments intended to provoke emotional responses. (Not to be confused with a meaningful and congenial expression of a sincerely held belief or opinion that may differ from the norm.)
Use descriptive titles. Make sure you clearly describe what you are writing about. Instead of a title like ‘My thoughts this month', try telling readers what your thoughts this month were actually about by writing a descriptive headline such as ‘Dealing with stormwater and parking lots'. If you can be clever and descriptive, all the better.
Avoid jargon. Try to avoid technical language that may impede others' understanding.
No commercials. Please do not use Planetizen Interchange to advertise about products, events or services. While we understand that contributors will write about their own work on occasion, self-promotion is discouraged.
Don't forget to use common sense. While the blog medium allows authors to be uninhibited, please remember that your name will appear under everything you write and you will be responsible for your own words. Note that each post on Planetizen Interchange will appear with a disclaimer stating that the views expressed are solely those of the contributor, and do not represent the views of any group or organization that he or she is affiliated with unless clearly stated, nor the views of Planetizen.
Don't forget to spell check.
Planetizen reserves the right to moderate posts. While the editors of Planetizen have no intention of moderating posts, we reserve the right to edit or delete posts at our discretion. Note that vulgarity, profanity and discriminatory remarks are not allowed.
If you have any questions about these guidelines, please Planetizen's managing editor at editor@planetizen.com.