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American Society for
Public Administration

EDITORIAL GUIDANCE

Submission of Articles, Commentaries, Book Reviews and Other Manuscripts

Audience: The audience consists largely of public management practitioners at all levels of government – both in the U.S. and other countries – and public nonprofit managers and executives, applied academics, students, trainers and technical & management consultants interested in improving performance in the public sector.

Content/Focus: Focus on the practical, rather than the theoretical; on your experience or observations about practice, rather than on a review of the "literature;" and discuss applications, solutions and tools and techniques, as opposed to issues that simply raise questions or identify challenges and problems.

Length: The ideal length for a single article is 2000-2500 words), including graphics. The managing editor has been known to arrange exceptions (shorter or longer) where warranted. On occasion, much longer articles are divided into a two-part series and published in separate issues, while shorter pieces (c. 800-1200 words) may be better suited for blog posts, brief commentaries or recurring columns.

Production editing: Accepted manuscripts are further edited for style by the managing editor, who will discuss proposed substantive changes with the author when practicable.

Unsolicited Manuscripts: Some of the material we post is solicited by the Managing Editor and/or the Editorial Board.  Unsolicited content that meets our guidelines are welcomed, and articles can be blind-reviewed by two Editorial Board members if so desired.

Style: University of Chicago.

Title: Aim for six words or less.

Subtitle/header: A brief sentence that captures the essence of the article.

Heads: First and second level, at least one per manuscript page.

Notes: Given the practitioner-oriented audience, we encourage authors to use only end note references – limited to 5 per article, if possible. For longer, more research-oriented papers from which an applied article is adapted, we suggest you include a link to the unexpurgated manuscript as part of a brief bio-line at the end of the piece.

Illustrations: Tables, graphs and photo art must be included in conventional electronic form (e.g., Word table, Powerpoint figure, JPGs, etc.) – either as part of the document or as a separate file. While we prefer the author’s photos – either original or obtained from public domain Web site – we can occasionally assist with this matter to make the manuscript more readable to the site visitor.

Web Site Links: Include full Web site URLs where applicable (http://www...) – either hyperlinked in the manuscript or placed in parentheses directly after the referenced item (e.g., the American Society for Public Administration – ASPA).

Article Abstract: 100 words or less

Author biography: Two to three sentences, with focus on current position/title and other information germane to the manuscript’s topic.

E-mail address (and Web site if applicable): So that readers may contact you or your organization for further information.

Submission of manuscript: Submit all articles (along with illustrations) electronically to Dr. Howard Balanoff, Editor in Chief at: hb02@txstate.edu.

Guide for Featured Bloggers

In order to ensure your work is included on all ASPA Good Governance Worldwide pages, and that your biographical information is included, please make sure you follow these common social media processes.

1. Include your biographical information as well as any links to additional information about your work or organization, at the bottom of your post

2. Add appropriate tags:
a. Here are two posts on "How-To: Use Tags Like a GovLoop Rockstar" and "How-To Add Tags to Appears on GovLoop Topics Pages."
b. Tag, “Good Governance Worldwide”.

If you have any questions or need any additional information, please contact Dr. Howard Balanoff, Editor in Chief, at hb02@txstate.edu 512/694-7864.