Writer’s Guidelines

Editorial Calendar
Writing for Earthzine

Our vision

Earthzine is an on-line source for news, articles, information and educational materials about Earth Science, Earth observations and users of Earth information for the international Earth-observing community. Earthzine is updated regularly with news from around the world about the Earth, Earth observations, environmental policy, and new and emerging environmentally-friendly and earth-observing technologies.

Earthzine is a contribution of the IEEE Committee on Earth Observation (ICEO) in support of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and its mission. GEO is an international organization with 80 Member nations, the European Commission, and 56 related organizations established to foster the international collaboration for Earth observations and utilization of Earth information. Visit www.earthobservations.org to learn more about GEO. To learn more about the activities of ICEO, visit its website, http://www.ieee-earth.org/.

On Earthzine, you will find materials that are inspirational to new and future Earth observers and that promote greater awareness of the Earth through its observation. Using the latest web technologies, Earthzine fosters interaction of an on-line community of Earth observers. We envision Earthzine serving as a repository of professional and amateur observations from around the world. Overlaying these resources will be quarterly publications of articles centered on themes relevant to the nine societal benefit areas identified by GEOSS, the Global Earth Observing System of Systems. Visit the Earthzine contributions section for further information on current themes and related calls for papers.

The vision for GEOSS, a GEO initiative supported by IEEE and more than forty organizations, is a future wherein decisions and actions are informed by coordinated, comprehensive and sustained Earth observations and information for the benefit of humankind. To that end, GEOSS represents a major advancement in monitoring our planet for societal benefits and sustainable development. Nine societal benefit areas are identified:

• Reducing loss of life and property from natural and human-induced disasters,
• Understanding environmental factors affecting human health and well-being,
• Improving the management of energy resources,
• Understanding, assessing, predicting, mitigating, and adapting to climate variability and change,
• Improving water resource management through better understanding of the water cycle,
• Improving weather information, forecasting and warning,
• Improving the management and protection of terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems,
• Supporting sustainable agriculture and combating desertification, and
• Understanding, monitoring and conserving biodiversity.

Outreach by the Earth observing community is needed to promote and increase the general awareness of the benefits of Earth observation. Outreach is especially needed for developing countries and to indigenous peoples that face severe impact of environmental changes and don’t have the knowledge base or infrastructure to participate, prepare and respond to projected changes. Although there exists substantial expertise in any given Earth science discipline, the understanding of intricacy with which various Earth systems are connected lags specific disciplinary development. Today the Earth observing community is highly fragmented among its many regional and disciplinary components. Cross-disciplinary community among Earth observers and Earth data users is needed to foster greater awareness and understanding of the linkages between Earth’s vital systems.

The Editorial Calendar

Earthzine’s editorial calendar is a guide to themes and topics that focus attention on particular Earth observations. The Strategic Plan provides further detail. We accept general interest articles at any time. We also accept reviews of books, movies, and art.

Publication Schedule

As a web-based publication, there is continuous updating that occurs on different temporal scales:

Syndicated information from the web is updated daily,

Original articles are updated weekly and monthly,

Over a quarterly period timed with the seasons, articles, reprints, editorials, opinions and resources centered about a common theme are published,

A monthly newsletter for subscribers is sent on the full moon.

Writing for Earthzine

Articles should contribute to greater understanding and knowledge of at least one of the nine GEOSS societal benefits listed above. While most authors are themselves scientists or engineers, that is not a requirement. Essayists and educators are particularly encouraged to contribute to the Opinion and Education sections. Earthzine is also actively recruiting authors from within the Earth observing communities in Africa, Asia, South and Central America.

Earthzine primarily serves three sources of readership: (1) professional and technical readers in IEEE and GEO communities; (2) users and potential users of Earth information in governments, industry and non-governmental organizations and (3) the general public seeking reliable Earth information. Many of the subjects of articles are highly technical, but every effort should be taken to make the language free of jargon and as accessible as possible to a non-specialized reader. For instance, use examples to show how a new technology or application would mitigate or solve a real world problem. The magazine Science, a publication of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, and the science section of the New York Times provide excellent samples of science writing for the non-specialist.

Remember: Every article should answer the “Five Ws and the H” – Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. Articles should be between 500 and 2500 words depending on topic and scope. Please submit articles in a format compatible with Microsoft Word. Use IEEE citation style:

http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs/pubs/transactions/auinfo03.pdf

Submit photos in common formats such as jpg, tiff, bmp, and gif. Graphics should have sufficient resolution to resolve all relevant detail. Image file sizes should not exceed 1 MByte. We suggest including one image for approximately every 500 words. Make sure you obtain permission if you use human subjects. Earthzine does not pay royalties or use copyright material without permission. Submit a completed IEEE copyright form with your final article.

Create hyperlinks within your article to words and phrases that should be defined, are individuals and organizations with web sites, and to other external links pertinent to your topic.

Earthzine solicits and publishes voluntary submissions. Your initial proposal should present your topic, list your sources, and cite your credentials for writing on this topic. Each proposal and article will be reviewed by Earthzine’s editorial staff and volunteer reviewers with relevant expertise.

How to submit

Submit your proposal or article to Maeve Hickok, Managing Editor, mhickok@earthzine.org. If necessary, instructions for ftp will be provided.