Editorial flow

Our editorial approach is, above all, conversational. Civic Quarterly pairs authors with editors and illustrators (and, when appropriate, subject matter experts) to collaborate throughout the writing process. Over a period of six-to-eight weeks, you’ll conceptually develop, hone and publish your piece by discussing, outlining and drafting your thoughts. We’ll provide feedback every step of the way.

Deadlines

The following deadlines are placeholders, only. Exact deadlines will be communicated via email. This page will be updated to reflect any changes.

1. Outlines are due on February 13th
2. First drafts are due on February 26th
3. Final drafts are due on March 9th

General notes

Many contributors want to know our thoughts on article length, originality, etc. Here are answers to the questions we get most often.

• Length. Articles appearing on Civic Quarterly will likely range in length between 1,200 and 2,400 words. Long-form pieces may be as long as 6,000 words, for example.
• Point of view As much as possible, we prefer first-person and third-person plural (“we” and “they”) pronouns. Any narrative you tell about yourself should be in first person (“I” and “we”), but we tend to avoid second person (“you”) altogether as it creates an unnecessary boundary between an author and their audience.
• Research. While we expect and encourage authors to tell stories, we also expect them to provide research or additional perspectives in support of the theories they suggest. Please provide links and footnotes whenever possible. If your article discusses data analysis, consider providing readers with a dataset upon which they can conduct their own analysis (we’ll gladly host the data on Github in a publicly available repository).
• Advertorial. Civic Quarterly is definitely not the place to showcase your cool new product. It is, however, the place to share the thinking that led to the creation (and sustainability) of your cool new product.
• Originality. Unless otherwise agreed to beforehand, drafts submitted to Civic Quarterly must be original. Your article may not have been previously published elsewhere. See our Copyright page for more information.

Article structure

Civic Quarterly is a relatively new publication and our articles don’t necessarily have a recurring structure. Nonetheless, we’re confident that most articles will contain the following elements in the following order:

1. Lede + thesis. The first paragraph in your article should grab the reader’s attention. It should let her know: (1) what your article’s about, (2) how it relates to her work, and (3) how she might change or inform her approach going forward. The first paragraph should contain your thesis (your premise or argument).
2. Introduction. Immediately following the first paragraph, consider introducing yourself, re-stating your argument, and summarizing the evidence you’ll present. An introduction effectively functions as a map, preparing readers for what’s to come.
3. Main points. Main points will support your thesis and comprise the body of your article. This is the place for storytelling. Consider discussing the background or history informing your work. Consider providing alternate perspectives.
4. Next steps. Articles are only as good as the conversations and convictions they inspire. Instead of conclusions, Civic Quarterly encourages authors to provide readers with “next steps:” suggestions or discussion questions that will help readers think critically about their work.

Writing a good introduction

As you think about the content comprising your introduction (see “Article structure,” above), consider providing readers with answers to the following questions:

• Who are you? Are you writing from the vantage point of a government official, a civic technologist, a designer, a developer, a researcher, a citizen? Introduce yourself, as this helps readers follow your narrative. Speaking of…
• What’s your narrative? Stories are the best way to marry theory and practice. While readers will ultimately apply the theories (or tools, frameworks, etc.) you share, it’s your story they’ll remember. Recall a time in which you turned an unfavorable situation into a favorable one. How did you think about that change? What actually worked?
• Who is your audience? Are you writing for civic technologists, government officials or someone else? Explicitly identify the people who can make the most use of the advice you’re about to share. Consider how your audience will likely understand your piece, and what they’ll want from it.

Considering next steps

As you think about the content comprising your “next steps” (see “Article structure,” above), consider providing readers with answers to the following questions:

• If your article suggests a certain way of going about a process, what are that process’s most salient aspects? What, if any, are the discrete steps that readers might take to reproduce your results (or produce similar results)? What, if any, are the interactions that readers might consider (re)designing?
• If your article concerns a technological interface to government, how might that interface be made more humane? more accessible?
• If your article addresses an ambiguity in governance, how might publicly available data or future research be brought to bear on that ambiguity? Consider devoting part of your article to the direction that you’d like for this space to evolve.
• If your article raises a moral or ethical quandary, how might readers better understand the entire spectrum of opinions or positions that they might take on the issue?

Getting in touch

As mentioned above, our approach to the editorial process is conversational. If for any reason you need to get in touch with us, feel free to reach out to me directly:

• Andrew Maier
  andrew@civicquarterly.com

We look forward to working with you as we publish our second issue!
– Andrew Maier