What we look for in editorials for Science
Stay away from promoting specific efforts
The editorial page of Science is a high-profile and influential spot for commentary that serves the scientific community of the world. We are always striving to publish the views and opinions of those whose voices have not been adequately represented in our pages, so we welcome submissions to this page. Although we mostly publish pieces that we have commissioned, we take a close look at everything that comes in unsolicited. We don’t take most of what we get. To save everyone time in preparing an editorial for consideration, here are some guidelines that can help your commentary get a second look.
Don’t promote a specific effort. This is the most common reason that we pass on editorials. Lots of people want to send us an essay about a particular effort that they are involved in, such as a new kind of multi-investigator grant they received, a conference they chaired, or a very successful effort at their institution. We almost always pass on these. The primary reason is that this page is read by scientists across the world. Most don’t want to hear about a specific effort. And the editorial page is not a platform to advertise.
Don’t tell us about a problem without proposing a new solution. It’s also common for us to get essays about a specific problem without new, specific ideas for addressing the problem. These solutions can’t be ones that have been written about in the past but not realized. “Let’s make every scientist a communicator,” is topic we see a lot. After 40-50 years of saying this, it’s time to move beyond just making this suggestion.
Don’t send us a personal narrative. We use pronouns sparingly on the page, so if there’s a specific story you want to include, it has to be pretty short. The whole piece can’t be a first-person account. Those may be appropriate for Working Life, but not the editorial page.
No more than two authors. Sorry about this, but we rarely make exceptions.
Telling us what new kinds of research need to be done often works. Young scientists read Science. Pointing them in the direction of new and exciting areas with specific research that needs to be done often works well. Also, addressing how the issue you’re writing about could impact research that is already ongoing or will be done in the future can be compelling.
The limit is 720 words. We still publish these in print, and we know that a lot of their impact comes from print readers. It has to fit on one page, so 720 words is the limit.
No references, no new data. These are not research papers. We don’t allow references, although we do have hyperlinks on the online version. We don’t allow unpublished data; research that is discussed should have already been in the literature.
Think globally. We do run a lot of pieces that are US-focused (and carefully noted as such), but topics that are more internationally relevant or focused on other countries besides the US are of great interest to us.
Don’t cover something we’ve already done. If we’ve covered a subject a lot on our page or in Policy Forums, we’re unlikely to take another one. Yours might be “better” than the one we just published, which can be painful for us both, but we’re still unlikely to cover the same topic in close succession.
Say something. It’s an opinion column. If it’s not going to stir up some debate, spark some meaningful conversation, or even make somebody mad, it’s not much of an opinion. If you try to please everyone, we’ll figure it out. You don’t have to push it as much as I do, but we want you to have something to say that will provoke further discourse, including disagreement.
The author should contact us directly. Lots of important people write for us. Hearing from a communications person or other representative usually dooms a piece.
It has to be an exclusive piece for Science. If you’ve already published your viewpoint elsewhere, or have something similar in press elsewhere, then we are not interested. Find the best place for your opinion piece. If you think it is Science, we’d like to take a look.
We really love seeing what people send us. These thoughts are meant to make it more efficient and useful to write for us.