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Information for Freelance News Writers for SciDev.Net

Content

News stories should describe a new and significant scientific breakthrough, technological innovation, policy decision or recommendation, or official statement etc.

The subject of the news story should be directly related to the impact of scientific research, technology and innovation on development i.e. health improvement, food security, communications.

Other news stories may focus on efforts by developing countries to build the capacity to deliver such impacts, and on donor agencies to support — or withdraw support for — such activities.

A SciDev.Net news story must have an international — or at least a regional — significance.

Pitching a story

SciDev.Net articles must have been written exclusively for us, and SciDev.Net must be made aware at the time of pitching if you have, or intend to, publish a similar article elsewhere, or if a similar article or material will be or has been published elsewhere, whether or not it is written by the journalist offering the story.

Please use the SciDev.Net pitching template (if supplied by your regional coordinator) when sending an idea for a story, with a clear indication of the subject of your story in the subject line of the email. You might be asked for some additional information, but this is not a commission. If you are commissioned, you will be given a deadline.

Once you have sent us a pitch or been commissioned to write a story, please stay in contact, let us know the best way to contact you, and tell us if you will be out of contact for any length of time.

Writing guidelines

Let us know as soon as possible if it is likely that you will miss a deadline. We reserve the right to not use a story, and therefore not pay you, if a deadline is missed without good cause or prior notice.

SciDev.Net articles should be around 350 words, unless otherwise specified upon commissioning. If you submit too many words we might send the article back and ask you to cut it down.

Your story must be in your own words. Please don't plagiarise (copy significant amounts of text from other sources) even from press releases, unless the press release quotes an important or relevant individual from whom you are unable to get a direct quote.

Phone or face-to-face interviews are preferable to email interviews. Please tell us where a quote comes from: a phone or email interview, press briefing, press release or another news source.

Keep accurate notes of interviews. Such notes, along with relevant emails and any audio recordings, should be kept for seven years in case it is later necessary to refer to them in the case of dispute.

It is essential that names of people and organisations are spelt correctly, including SciDev.Net. Please always give the expanded form of the organisation's name first, indicate the abbreviated (short) version next to it, and say where it is located.

When quoting figures and statistics, please double-check their accuracy.

We need pictures to go with articles — please let us know if you know of a source of free pictures that we can use to go along with your story. Please ensure that we have permission to use any images that you suggest.

Copyright

In general, copyright of all material commissioned and published by SciDev.Net remains the property of the author. However, the terms of publication and payment are that SciDev.Net has an exclusive licence to its use and rights over its reproduction elsewhere. Reproduction is permitted under a Creative Commons licence, which means that other websites are allowed to use our material free of charge, provided they acknowledge the source and permit others to use the material on the same terms.

Payment

When you write your first story, we'll send you the forms you need to fill in to let us know how payment should be made. Please keep track of your individual payments and contact the accounts department ([email protected]) if you have any queries.

You will be paid according to the number of words published at the current standard rate. Your regional coordinator or the news editor can tell you what the current rate is.

If a story is not used for a reason that is not your fault, you will be paid a 'kill fee' of half the original agreed fee or number of words commissioned. However, there are exceptional circumstances in which you will not be paid — for example if you submit a story that is significantly different to that which was agreed at the time of commissioning.

For more information on writing for SciDev.Net please click here.

Using SciDev.Net material

Copyright

Unless otherwise stated, the copyright, database rights and similar rights in all material published on SciDev.Net are exclusively licensed to SciDev.Net. SciDev.Net makes the written content of this website available for use by others under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 licence.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence
On condition that you give the original author and source credit, under the terms of this licence you are permitted to: copy, distribute and display the work; make derivative works.

If you wish to reproduce SciDev.Net material on another website, please make sure that:

The source of the material is clearly indicated as SciDev.Net

You make an active link to our homepage

Wherever possible, the link is accompanied by a small version of our logo (available from the ‘Link to Us’ page)

The title, author, and original date of publication are clearly indicated.

Some documents and photos have been published on this site with the permission of the relevant copyright owners (who are not SciDev.Net). All rights are reserved on these documents, and permission to copy them must be requested from the copyright owners (the sources are indicated within these documents/photographs).

Trademarks

’SciDev.Net’, 'SCIDEV.NET' and 'scidev.net' are registered trademarks of SciDev.Net. All rights reserved.

SciDev.Net is a UK company limited by guarantee. Registered no. 4218234

SciDev.Net is also a registered UK charity. Registered charity no. 1089590

Registered address: 9–11 Richmond Buildings, London W1D 3HF, United Kingdom

Corrections and complaints policy

SciDev.Net seeks to ensure that its news and feature articles, as well as policy briefs, are accurate, truthful and balanced, and that the editorial and opinion articles it publishes discuss issues in a fair way, representing the genuine opinions of the author.

SciDev.Net also seeks to ensure that all external material to which it links is reliable and authoritative, although we do not take responsibility for the accuracy of such material, or the views that it may contain.

Please do not hesitate contact us if you feel that we have failed to meet any of the above criteria.

If you have a comment about a particular article or a differing opinion to one expressed in an article, feel free to comment in the section provided at the bottom of each article. Alternatively you can email your comment directly to the editor ([email protected]), who will consider it for publication as a letter to the editor.

Corrections

All requests for corrections in material published on the website, or complaints about such material should be sent to [email protected]

Please ensure that your communication includes:

• Type of feedback (i.e. comment, factual inaccuracy, etc)
• Title of item (and posting date if possible) that the feedback refers to\
• Details of feedback
• Your contact details

All such suggestions and complaints will be considered promptly, and appropriate action taken at the discretion of the editor.

Where a significant correction is involved, users of the website will be informed that this has taken place.

Complaints

If you are dissatisfied with the way that a suggestion for a correction, a complaint about an item posted on the website, has been handled, the issue should be raised with the executive committee of SciDev.Net. These can be sent to [email protected]

Any formal complaint to the executive committee should be received within three months of the article in question being posted on the website.

The executive committee will decide if further action is required, or — in exceptional circumstances — whether the issue should be referred to the board of trustees. You will be notified of the executive committee's actions within three months of receipt of your complaint.

For other complaints please use the feedback facility on the right hand side of the homepage/screen or email [email protected]