Newspaper Article Writing Instructions

1. You can write about any topic ranging from current global issues to recent news and debatable topics but you should avoid topics that might be too sensitive or controversial.
2. In general, we will not publish articles on repeat topics, so check our previous editions to see if someone has already written on your topic.
3. Your article should be 500-700 words but it can be longer if necessary. However, please do not exceed 1,000 words, if you do, it will be part of our consideration against your article.
4. Your article must include at least three sources. They will not be included in your word count.

5. All articles must be original and written solely by the author. Plagiarism is not permissable and any article we suspect of being plagiarized will be rejected. This includes articles that take the majority of their ideas or use the wording of an outside source.

6. Please grant editing access to your Google Docs file so our editors can view, comment on your article, and review its version history.

7. No AI use besides generating ideas is permitted in any articles submitted to us. In addition, we will not consider any subsequent papers submitted by those whose article was detected to have used AI before for any purpose other than generating ideas.
8. The submission deadline will be the 23rd of each month. An article submitted after that will have to go into the following month’s edition and you might have to wait a while to see it published.

After your first article is submitted through the Submission portal on our website, you will receive an email with instructions on how to log in to your IYJ account.

If your article is submitted on or before the 23rd of each month, it will be reviewed and feedback provided through your IYJ account by our editors within the first two weeks of the following month. For example, if your article is submitted on or before May 23, it will be reviewed and feedback provided by our editors within the first two weeks of June.

9. Common Mistakes

a. Grammar and spelling: Do basic proofreading before submitting. Your article may be well structured and interesting, but if it has typos it shows us that you did not really care.

b. We publish articles in a professional tone. Try not to make the writing in your article too casual, and make sure to follow professional writing conventions.

c. Pick a good topic: Make sure your topic is unique (our most common topics we receive are climate change and AI) and has some nuances for you to go into. Avoid topics that are common knowledge. Some examples of not so great topics would be: “The Effects of Climate Change” or “The Implications of AI” or “Why We Need to Stop Plastic Pollution”. Changing these into better topics could look like: “The Effects of Climate Change on Islands in the Pacific”, “The Implications of AI on the Job Market for Writers”, and “What Psychological Research Says on Getting People to Care About Pollution”.

10. We may randomly select writers to conduct interviews regarding the article prior to publication.

11. Review articles on books or media that are not nonfiction works addressing philosophical topics or global issues, nor works by our distinguished partners, will not be accepted. Please contact us for approval prior to proceeding.

12. We do not republish articles that have already been published elsewhere in any form or language (partial or full).

13. If your article has been published in Inspire Youth Journal (IYJ), please do not publish it elsewhere in any form or language (partial or full). Violations of this policy may result in the removal of the article from IYJ.