e-CIVICUS Editorial Guidelines

 

CIVICUS has been distributing its electronic newsletter, e-CIVICUS, to network partners and CIVICUS members since 1999. This free weekly electronic publication is keeping tens of thousands of people, organisations and programmes informed of the many developments taking place within civil society organisations around the world, the many factors that are affecting them and the impact they are having on creating a more just, equitable and sustainable world.

 

e-CIVICUS is now available in English and French and in a number of different electronic formats such as html, word, pdf and text. It is disseminated to over 72, 400 subscribers worldwide, and is attracting +-3,000 new subscribers every month.

 

The overall aim of e-CIVICUS is to develop and share knowledge with the goals of raising the profile of civil society around the world and building civil society’s reputation. e-CIVICUS hopes to strengthen independent civil society reportage through its contribution of civil society news. e-CIVICUS is published with the assistance of CIVICUS programmes, members and network partners. The production of e-CIVICUS is overseen by the editor-in-chief and assistant editor-in-chief. The editor produces a weekly draft in consultation with the editorial team and e-CIVICUS readers and network partners.

 

In order to maintain a broad coverage of global civil society issues, e-CIVICUS seeks contributions from around the globe and across all divisions of civil society.

 

General requirements:

1.       All contributions must be civil society focused or have a civil society angle. For instance, a resource must be about civil society, for civil society and/or from civil society. There are no restrictions with regard to geography or issues to be covered as long as they fulfill the civil society mandate or requirements.

2.       Text should be written in clear simple language and should be between 100-200 words.

3.       All contributions should include a link to a website where the reader can receive more information. If further information is not available on a website, you can send the information with your submissions for posting on the CIVICUS website.

4.       At the moment, contributions must be submitted in English.

5.       Submissions of pictures or logos to accompany contributions are encouraged.

 

Section specific guidelines:

1. Guest Column
1. Guest columns are accepted from representatives of civil society writing on topics with which they have personal and/or institutional experience. Research columns or articles are also welcome.
2. Columns should be opinion pieces. They can be on a broad range of topics and be focused on specific issues but should retain an interest for civil society in general.
3. Columns cannot be used to promote a specific organisation or its programmes.These can be mentioned but only in the context of a broader discussion of issues and best practices.
4. Columns should be between 750-1500 words. Note that all columns will be posted on the CIVICUS website (www.civicus.org) as well as the CIVICUS blog (http://civicus.civiblog.org) or any other CIVICUS programme websites. 
5. Columns can appear on other websites/publications so long as copyright restrictions do not prevent the column from appearing in e-CIVICUS or on the CIVICUS blog or website.
6. A brief summary of the column must first be submitted to editor@civicus.org for approval before submission of the complete column.
2. e-CIVICUS Dialogues

In this section, we publish comments we receive from readers. The skillful exchange or interaction between e-CIVICUS subscribers develops a shared understanding as the basis for building trust, fostering a sense of ownership, facilitating genuine agreement and enabling creative problem solving. This section seeks to engage e-CIVICUS community in dialogue. Comments and questions should be addressed to the editors at editor@civicus.org.

3. Civil Society News
1. Contributions in this section are accepted from all sectors of civil society. They can include news items of international importance or interesting regional and national news.
2. Contributions must be timely. Any news item more than 7 days old at the time of submission will not be considered.
3. e-CIVICUS tries to maintain broad regional and topical coverage. Therefore regular submissions from the same country or on the same topic will not be accepted. Generally, at least a month should pass between an update on a specific topic, unless there are major developments.
4. Millennium Development Goals and Global Call To Action against Poverty Perspectives
1. Contributions for this section must relate in some capacity to the Millennium Development Goals, including the Global Call to Action against Poverty, and the Millennium Declaration.
2. Contributions can include news items, resources, campaign announcements/profiles and conferences.

5. Civil Society Activism on Global Institutions
This section seeks to highlight major new accounts regarding activism in civil society and its ever-more important global [PC1] role in public, economic and political life. Comments and questions can be directed to editor@civicus.org.

6.       Donor Profile

a.       Donors profiled in the section can include international foundations, regional or local grant makers, and government aid agencies.

b.       Profiles should include the donor’s mission and areas of interest. In addition, the profile should mention the types of projects and organisations the donor funds as well as the general size and scope of funding.

c.       The link for more information should be to the Donor’s website. If no website is available, an email address or a link to a third party website with more information may be considered.

7.       Member Profile

a.       Only current CIVICUS members will be profiled in this section. No contributions are accepted.

b.       If you are a CIVICUS member and have not yet submitted a profile, please email a brief (100-200 words) description of your organisation to editor@civicus.org.

8.       Capacity Building

a.       This section profiles capacity building resources that are available online. In particular, contributions are sought that describe toolkits that can build the capacity of civil society organisations.

b.       Toolkits can cover a wide range of topics including non-profit management, fundraising and specific programme/issue development.

c.       Ideally, resources profiled in this section should be available online. If not, they should be easily accessible to a large component of civil society around the world.

9.       Resources

a.       Contributions can include books, reports, websites and other resources available either online or in print.

b.       Resources can be on a wide range of topics and issues. However, resources should be about civil society, developed for civil society, and/or developed by civil society. While resources can be on specific or local issues, they must include an element of interest for a broad range of civil society, whether as an example of best practices, lessons learned, and other knowledge sharing benefits.

c.       For resources not available electronically, the contribution must include a link to information on how to obtain the resource.

d.       While resources that are available free of charge are preferable, resources available at a reasonable cost will also be considered.

10.   Conferences/Events

a.       Announcements regarding conferences/events organised by or for civil society will be accepted.

b.       Conferences must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the event or, if there is a registration deadline, two weeks prior to the deadline. Conferences can be submitted up to a year in advance.

c.       Conferences are included in e-CIVICUS in order of their occurrence with some rearrangement to ensure sufficient geographical and topical diversity in each issue. Therefore, a conference may not be included in e-CIVICUS until several weeks after it is submitted.

11.   Funding Opportunities

a.       Contributions in this section can include awards, scholarships, funding programmes, fellowships and other funding opportunities.

b.       Funding opportunities should be for civil society practitioners/organisations or for projects/programmes related to civil society.

c.       Funding opportunities must be submitted at least two weeks prior to any application deadline. 

12.   Courses/Workshops

a.       Announcements regarding courses/Workshops organised by, for or about civil society, its organisations and/or its practitioners will be accepted.

b.       Courses can include anything from accredited academic programmes to day-long workshops.

c.       Courses must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the event or, if there is a registration deadline, two weeks prior to the deadline. Courses can be submitted up to a year in advance.

d.       Courses are included in e-CIVICUS in order of their occurrence with some rearrangement to ensure sufficient geographical and topical diversity in each issue. Therefore, courses may not be included in e-CIVICUS until several weeks after they are submitted.

13.   Call for Papers/Submissions/Proposals/Nominations

a.       Calls for papers/submissions/proposals/nominations are accepted from all civil society organisations and partner organisations.

b.       Calls must be submitted at least two weeks prior to deadlines and can be made available on a yearly basis.

14.   Appointments

a.       Job announcements are accepted from all civil society organisations.

b.       Announcements must be submitted 2 weeks prior to the closing date.

c.       A link must be provided to where an applicant can find further details on applying for the position. If no link is available, the details must be provided to CIVICUS for posting in the classifieds section of www.civicus.org.

 

Sources:  e-CIVICUS content depends heavily on information and resources in electronic publications and websites. All contributions must include a link to the original source/s of information.

 

Editing: The e-CIVICUS editors retain the right to edit and revise any contribution to e-CIVICUS as they see fit without approval from the contributor, with the exception of guest columns where the author must approve any content changes. 

 

Acceptance: The e-CIVICUS editors retain the right to refuse to include any contribution or accompanying image they feel does not meet these guidelines or is in any way inappropriate for e-CIVICUS. In addition, the e-CIVICUS editorial team retains the right not to publish an otherwise suitable contribution due to space constraints.

 

Deadline: e-CIVICUS is published every Friday. For inclusion in an issue, contributions must be received by the end of business on the preceding Tuesday. For events or items with deadlines, the contribution must be received at least 2 weeks before the event or deadline.

 

Submission: All submissions should be submitted electronically to editor@civicus.org by the deadline. For guest columns, please send a query with a brief summary of your column to this address for approval before submitting your completed column.

 

Cost and Compensation: All announcements and classifieds in e-CIVICUS are included free of charge. Similarly, contributions to e-CIVICUS are not remunerated. However, all contributors will receive recognition in e-CIVICUS using the phrase ‘Submitted by [name]' after the item. In the case of guest columns, the author will be recognized in e-CIVICUS using ‘[Title] by [name]’.  All other recognition of authors will be included on the web page to which the contribution is linked.

 

e-CIVICUS Subscription: It remains a challenge to reach our target of 100, 000 subscription by the end of 2006. At the moment we send out invitation letters to 1800 e-mail addresses inviting subscription to e-CIVICUS on a weekly basis. The feedback we receive strengthens this publication and requires that we recognise its diversity. For a free subscription to e-CIVICUS, please fill out the form at www.civicus.org/new/content/ecivicussubscription.htm. To subscribe or unsubscribe your mailing address, please e-mail: subscriptions@civicus.org.

 

Draft

Eric Muragana and Jessica Hume

2006 - 03 - 28

 

This draft reviewed by Eric Muragana
- after consultation with few selected CIVICUS staff
Vivian Flowers, Julie Middleton, Margaret Fish, Volkhart Finn Heinrich, Henri Valot and Vicente García-Delgado, Esq
2006 - 08 - 24