Author Guidelines for The Officer Magazine
The Officer serves the Reserve Officer Association. The magazine does so by: • educating the U.S. government and public about the roles and missions of the seven uniformed services' Reserve Components and the issues concerning Citizen Warriors and their families; • providing a forum for presenting ROA's positions and programs; • educating ROA members on Association activities, programs, plans, and the accomplishments of fellow members[PU1], ROA's industry partners, and Citizen Warriors; and • educating prospective Association members and Department of Defense and Homeland Security authorities of ROA's mission, relevance, and vitality. In the above list, the last word and first word carry equal importance within the construct of the magazine: "vitality" and "education." Other key words are "mission," "relevance," "issues," "forum," and the three cornerstone words: "citizen," "warrior," and "families." Education, by its very definition, means interesting as well as informative. It means we will stretch our imagination. It can be fun, and it can be controversial. Content The Officer is the only magazine dedicated to ALL Reserve Components. The magazine leverages this status to forge a unique, original product that speaks to and for serving Reservists and ROA members on topics related to national security. Though it is a forum available to members of Congress, the president's administration, and national security authorities, The Officer maintains its editorial independence and integrity. Each issue of The Officer features the following: • Commentary by the ROA president, the ROAL president, the ROA executive director, and the REA executive director, along with readers' feedback; • Expert analysis, insights, and news from the four ROA departments: Legislative Affairs, Army, Air Force, and Naval Services; • Features on missions involving Citizen Warriors, various issues concerning Citizen Warriors and their families, and topics and profiles of specific interest to Citizen Warriors and their families; • The National Security Report, a thesis on topics related to national security; • Reviews of books, videos, and movies relevant to Citizen Warriors; • Law Reviews on legal issues specifically concerning Citizen Warriors and their families; • Spotlight on Citizen Warriors, with reports on accomplishments and activities of Citizen Warriors; • Family Matters, with reports on family programs and issues concerning Reservists' spouses and children; • ROA News, with reports on ROA programs, activities, and members; • STARs Industry News, with reports on the accomplishments and activities of ROA's STARs partners.
Articles The Officer welcomes submissions from members, freelancers, and government and military authorities. ROA offers no compensation for publication of material submitted to the magazine. ROA will own first rights to all published material. All material should be original. The Officer will on rare occasions accept articles or essays previously printed in a publication with limited, localized circulation. Notify the editor upon submission of any previous publication or simultaneous submission. Articles should be submitted in MS Word documents attached to an e-mail or pasted into the email window. Articles may also be submitted on disc. All submissions will be reviewed by the editor, and may also be reviewed by the ROA Communications Advisory Board, which may ask for revisions or reject the article outright. Please allow 60 days for a response to your submission. Approved articles will be edited for grammar, punctuation, and to fit ROA style guidelines, and may be subject to revision by the editors. Character Counts Instead of word count, The Officer uses character counts (with white spaces) to measure length. You can determine character counts in MS Word by going to "Tools" in the top menu and selecting "Word Count." The fourth item in the window that appears is the "Characters (with spaces)" number that you should use. Following are typical MAXIMUM character counts: Departments 1 page 3,700 characters 2 page 6,500 characters Features 2 pages 6,200 characters 4 pages 14,000 characters (including sidebars) National Security Report The National Security Report is published in coordination with the Defense Education Forum of the Reserve Officers Association. Whereas the rest of The Officer is journalistic in nature, the National Security Report is a thesis or essay covering some aspect of national defense or global security, with citations where appropriate. The ideas contained in the National Security Report are not necessarily those of the Association, but are raised so that these important issues can be discussed and debated. It is also printed and distributed in its own right to schools, think tanks, and other organizations.
Because of its separate print run, the National Security Report is limited to four printed pages. Length is16,000 characters (including footnotes). All National Security Reports are reviewed by the ROA Communications Advisory Board, which may ask for revisions or reject the article outright. Approved articles will be edited for grammar, punctuation, and to fit ROA style guidelines, and will be copyfitted if it runs over the allotted space. Photos and Graphics The Officer strives for professional-quality artwork in the form of photos and graphs. Digital photos, either JPGs or TIFFs, must be at least three megapixels and 300 dpi. Original prints are also accepted. The Officer will not accept photos that have been scanned from other publications, imbedded in PDFs or MS Word documents, or captured from websites. Avoid "grip-and-grin" or posed pictures, unless the latter is done in a unique way or environment. Strive for candid photos at events. Make sure photos are well lit. Graphics may be submitted as TIFFS, PDFs, or in PowerPoint. Graphs imbedded in MS Word documents are not accepted. Feature articles should be accompanied by art in the form of photos or graphics. Submissions Email submissions to editor@roa.org or mail to Editor, The Officer Reserve Officers Association One Constitution Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002-5618