INFORMATION FOR INTENDING CONTRIBUTORS TO ELECTRONICS AUSTRALIA

Electronics Australia is Australia's largest selling technical magazine, reaching almost everyone in Australia who has an interest in electronics -- from hobbyists and college students right through to engineers, scientists and academics. It's also one of the longest running technical magazines in the world, having been established in August 1922.

We welcome submissions of contributed articles, to augment those written by our staff writers and editors, to help produce a magazine with the widest possible appeal. The following notes are to assist those wishing to submit articles for the Editor's consideration, so that they can ensure their articles have the greatest chance of being accepted and published.

1. CONTENT

Electronics Australia is a general-interest technical electronics magazine, and we try to cover as many different subject areas as possible rather than a small number of subject areas in great depth. This means that the kind of article we're most likely to accept is one which deals with a subject in a broad sense - so that it is of potential interest to, and understandable by, as many of our readers as possible.

We're NOT a 'learned journal', able to publish highly technical and mathematical papers which delve deeply into a specific area, and are only capable of being understood and appreciated by a handful of scientists and engineers working in that area.

But with the above in mind, we're able to publish articles on most main areas of electronics - semiconductor devices, audio and hifi, television and video, RF, amateur radio, computers, circuit theory, testing and measurement, recording, and so on. So we're always interested in general-interest articles in any of these subject areas, dealing with aspects such as new developments, understanding interesting theory concepts and historical reviews.

Of course we're also very interested in articles describing build-it-yourself construction projects for the technician and hobbyist. Our readers have a voracious appetite for novel and ingenious designs, but especially those which are inexpensive and not too complex -- so that as many people as possible can both afford to build them, and be confident that they can get them going without the need for a lot of fancy test equipment.

How much is 'too expensive', and how complex is 'too complex'? Well, the price of the parts for a project is generally a good guide. Currently the most popular projects are those where the parts cost less than $100-150.

2. PHYSICAL FORMAT

(A) TEXT:
Articles submitted to us for consideration should always have at least a typed or printed 'hard copy', preferably with double line spacing to allow rapid reading and addition of comments if necessary. Handwritten manuscripts will be considered, but are much less likely to be accepted due to the difficulty of reading by both editor and copy typist.

Preferably, the manuscript should be accompanied by a floppy disk, with a text file copy of the article. We can handle just about any popular word processor file format, but the best approach is to save your article as a plain text or ASCII file on a PC formatted disk. We can also manage with plain text files on Apple Macintosh disks as well.

Note that if your file is prepared on a word processor (and we hope this is the case!), please RESIST the temptation to 'dress it up' with fancy fonts for headings, bolding, italics, multiple column layout and so on. If the article is accepted, we will only have to REMOVE all of your formatting, before adding our own when we prepare it for publishing. An absolutely plain text file format (like this document itself) is what we prefer, as this will require the least amount of preparation time and effort.

NOTE: Never send us your original word processor file or disk - only a COPY, in case it should get lost in the mail, etc. The same applies to original illustrations, pictures, negatives and so on. Always keep your originals for safety.

We are also able to accept files sent via email. Preferably as an attachment to your cover letter, and again, preferably in plain text format. If you have email access, then this is probably the fastest and cheapest means of submitting your article. All initial email correspondence should be made to our Reader Services department at elt@fpc.com.au, while submitted articles can be sent directly to the Editor at gcattley@fpc.com.au.

(B) ILLUSTRATIONS:
Circuits and other diagrams may be either printouts from a CAD/drawing package, or copies of your CAD files, or at least clearly drawn in pen or pencil in a form which will allow our draftsperson to re-draw them in the magazine's normal style.

Photographs should be supplied as either normal glossy prints (say 150 x 200mm), or normal colour transparencies (50mm square or 35mm slides).

DO NOT SUPPLY SCREENED HALFTONES. Our production system produces these, using a special scanning/screening process designed to produce optimum results with the printing presses and paper used in producing the magazine. Please ensure that all photographs submitted are in sharp focus.

For construction projects involving a PCB (printed circuit board), you should provide an actual size or scaled-up printout of the PCB pattern, as viewed from the copper side. If possible, and assuming your PCB pattern has been produced using a CAD package such as Protel's Autotrax or Easytrax, please also provide a printout of the top overlay layer, so that we can use this to publish an 'component overlay diagram' for your PCB. This should be printed at say 150% of actual size - and if you can provide a 'flipped' image of the copper layer as well, to the same scale, this will also help us to produce the PCB 'overlay' diagram.

Note that if you don't have a laser printer or other high-quality printer to produce the above diagrams, you can alternatively send us a copy of the Autotrax/Easytrax PCB file itself - so we can produce them ourselves. This file can be on the same disk as your article's text file.

If your article needs drawings, diagrams or schematic circuits, and you are able to draw these using a CAD package such as CorelDraw! (V3, 4 or 5), Protel Schematic for Windows or Autotrax/Easytrax, by all means do so. However in addition to sending us a printout of these diagrams/schematics, please ALSO send a copy of the drawing files. This will allow us to make any minor changes that may be required to use the diagrams for publication, without having to completely re-draw them. Again, drawing/schematic files can be on the same disk as your other files.

All hard copy illustrations that accompany your article should be clearly marked with your name, the article title and any identification that may be necessary (ie. 'Fig.3', or 'main circuit'), so we can ensure that these are properly mated with the text, captions etc. This ID material should be on the back of all photographs, but on the front surface of diagrams and drawings.

3. CONCEPT & PRESENTATION

In general, your article is most likely to be accepted for publication in Electronics Australia if it presents its ideas in a friendly, easy to understand 'conversational' manner. For examples of this we suggest you look through issues of the magazine itself.

Avoid heavy use of highly technical terms and specialised acronyms, if possible. Where it's important to use acronyms, in order to help the reader become familiar with them, always explain them in words the first time you use them in the text. For example: '...using a PLCC (plastic leadless chip carrier) device...'

Use familiar, commonly used words rather than unfamiliar ones that will have the reader reaching for the dictionary. Also avoid dry 'pedantic' prose written in the third person, passive voice (e.g., 'it is frequently found that...'). Instead try to keep it personal and direct; use the first person if you find this comfortable (eg. 'I decided on this new design because one day I was...').

Broadly speaking, your article should begin with an introduction of about 40-50 words, explaining what the article is all about and endeavouring to gain the reader's interest. Think of this 'intro' as a kind of shop window, whose purpose is to entice the reader to venture inside. No matter how good the article itself may be, if the intro doesn't attract the reader's interest, they may never bother to read the rest of it.

The main body of the article itself should follow a logical format, first presenting introductory material and then working its way through the details towards a summary.

With an article describing a construction project, you'd normally start with a section describing what the project does, how you came about designing it, and why you believe others will find it of interest and use. Then you'd describe how the circuit works, in sufficient detail for understanding by the kind of reader it's intended to interest. After this you'd explain the construction used, discussing any areas where special care or techniques are required. Finally you'd describe the testing, adjustment and calibration (if required), and possibly also the best way to use the completed project.

By all means break up your text with BRIEF subheadings, introducing the various sections. For example 'How it works', and 'Fitting it together'. But don't over-use these, or go to a system of various numbered levels of subheadings (eg. '1.15 - Component substitution'). These are not appropriate in a broad-interest magazine.

With an article describing a construction project, your text should be followed by a detailed PARTS LIST of all the components required. For the general format to be used, see recent copies of the magazine.

If your project calls for parts that are difficult or tricky for the average reader to obtain, this should be discussed in detail in the 'Construction' section of your text. However wherever possible, avoid using components that will present this kind of problem.

Either as part of your article or in your accompanying letter, please give a suggested "by-line" or credit line, indicating if there are any qualifications you'd like included. For example: 'by FRED MULVANEY, B.E., VK3ZFM'.

Note that we always prefer to give a first name, rather than merely initials -- it's friendlier.

Along with your main article, but separate from the main text, you should supply a set of suggested CAPTIONS for the various illustrations (pictures, diagrams, circuit etc.). Wherever possible, we will try to use your captions if your article is published - but please keep them BRIEF and concise. Generally if you provide long wordy captions, these will probably have to be pruned in order to fit...

4. GENERAL

Your article should be ORIGINAL - that is, all your own work, and without material copied from other magazines or books. Your cover letter should indicate if there are any possible copyright problems involved.

If you are offering only certain rights to your article - such as 'First serial rights in Australia and New Zealand', or 'All serial rights in Australia and New Zealand', this should be clearly specified in your covering letter. Normally we prefer to buy all rights, and our publication fees are determined on this basis. But if you wish to offer your material overseas, or make separate arrangements for publication in book form (eg. for a series of articles), we are prepared to buy only limited rights as above - perhaps negotiating separately for book rights.

PAYMENT RATES for articles published vary with the amount of preparation we need to give them in house, to prepare them for publication. Currently we are able to pay from about $120 to $250 per 1000 words, with the upper figure for excellent material that needs very little work by us. 

Material published in Electronics Australia is normally paid for 'upon publication' - that is, within a week or two of their being published. However in SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES ONLY we may be able to arrange for payment 'upon acceptance'. Note that we ourselves receive no benefit from your work for many weeks (often months) after publication.

All material submitted for publication should include a stamped envelope with your name and return address, to allow us to return it if we are not able to accept it. The envelope can also be used to return any pictures or other material you may wish returned after publication.

5. SUMMARY

We hope the foregoing information is of assistance in helping you submit material to us in a form that we will be able to accept for publication, and pay you at the highest rate. We look forward to receiving articles from you, and being able to publish these for the interest of our many readers.

Further information may be available from the Editor, Graham Cattley, by writing to him c/- PO Box 199, Alexandria NSW 2015 or phone (02) 9353 0620. Yet again, you can fax us on (02) 9353 0613, or email us at elt@fpc.com.au.

Last updated 04/09/1999