illuminem Submission Guidelines

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Welcome to illuminem Voices, the world's largest expert network in sustainability, hosting 2000+ Thought Leaders, shaping the future of our planet.

This guide is designed to help you adhere to our editorial guidelines and craft high-quality, impactful content for our platform. It ensures every article published on illuminem meets the standards expected by our growing international audience of sustainability professionals, business leaders, and policymakers. 

NB: The overwhelming majority of content on illuminem is non-commercial (over 99%), community-driven, and independent. At the same time, to support our operations, we selectively offer value-creating promotional opportunities. You can explore those explore our promotional packages here.
All publications (non-commercial and commercial) strictly adhere to illuminem’s editorial guidelines to ensure the highest standards of quality and thought leadership.

For any additional questions, please also refer to our FAQ section.

illuminem Editorial Guidelines

At illuminem, we are dedicated to delivering the most comprehensive, accurate, and high-quality information on sustainability and related topics to our readers. To maintain our reputation as a leading source of information & data in this field, we ask that all Thought Leaders contributing to illuminem adhere to the following editorial guidelines when creating content for our platform.

Articles

• Address or explore topics of interest within the sustainability community

• Captivate and engage audiences through exceptional writing and originality

• Demonstrate clear purpose and integrity

• Are written with clarity and pre-edited for readability and style. Authors in need of assistance with English language editing or formatting should request this before submitting an article

• Adhere to our formatting policy (details provided below)

• Follow our no advertising policy

Readability and structure

Authors are asked to pre-edit pieces for readability before submission. To this end, please follow these guidelines: 

• Readability and style: To maintain content quality, please use active voice, be concise, maintain consistent verb tenses, apply proper punctuation, utilize bullet points for lists, and always spell-check before submission

• Abstract: Please include a short 30-80 word abstract at the top of your article that summarizes your article succinctly

• Introduction: Begin with a brief introduction that engages the reader and provides an overview of the topic being discussed. This should be concise and enticing, setting the stage for the rest of the article

• Body: Divide the main content into clear, logical sections using headings and subheadings. Each section should address a specific aspect of the topic, providing relevant information, data, and analysis

• Conclusion: Summarize the key points of the article and offer any concluding thoughts or recommendations. This section should wrap up the content and provide a sense of closure for the reader

• Length: Please aim for a length between 1,000 and 1,800 words, though we might accept shorter or longer pieces

Headings and Subheadings

Headings and subheadings are essential for structuring content and making it easier for readers to navigate. Follow these guidelines for creating effective headings and subheadings:

• Style: Use clear, concise language that accurately represents the content within each section

• Capitalization: Use sentence case for all headings and subheadings. For example, use "Understanding the impact of renewable energy sources" instead of "Understanding The Impact Of Renewable Energy Sources"

• Paragraphs: Include at least 5 sub-headings in your article (our experience shows that the optimal number is around 8-12). Also, make sure that the paragraphs are well-developed

Images & Graphs

Images are a highly efficient way of conveying messages or illustrating narratives. There are two types of images: banners & inside-article images/graphs. Please follow the below guidelines to ensure an optimal experience for the user:

• Banner image: Please share separate image files of high-quality pictures in landscape format (resolution 1080p) taken from a stock website or with the express permission of the owner

• Inside-content images: Please share separate image files of high-quality pictures & graphs in landscape format (resolution 1080p)

• Relevance: All images and graphs must be directly relevant to the article's content and purpose. They should enhance the reader's understanding of the topic, and illustrate points made within the text

Originality

Published articles will be available exclusively on illuminem.com:

• If your post is published in our illuminem Voices section, we kindly request that you do not republish the article on any other website, including your own site or blogging platforms such as LinkedIn or Medium. This maximizes visibility, as Google and other search engines do not index content that is published across platforms. By keeping the content exclusive, we ensure it gains maximum diffusion

• We do however, encourage you to share the link with your network

• We may consider republishing existing content on a case-by-case basis. If you would like to submit non-exclusive content, please share the link to the page where the content is currently hosted

Citations and External Links

Citing sources and including external links is crucial for establishing credibility and providing readers with additional resources for further exploration. Adhere to the following guidelines when citing sources and including external links:

• Submission Format: We prefer submissions in editable Google Docs format. If you must submit in PDF, please attach a separate document listing the links you'd like to include in the article

• Footnotes: In-text citations should be numbered, and ordered sequentially as they appear in the text, tables, boxes, etc.

• Sources: Always cite the source of any data, statistics, or quotes used in your article. This includes research studies, news articles, and other reputable sources

• Links: Use in-text citations in the form of hyperlinks, embedding the link within the relevant text

• Authority: External links should be relevant, authoritative, and directly related to the content being discussed

By following these editorial guidelines, we can maintain the high quality and credibility our readers expect from illuminem. If you have any questions or concerns about these guidelines, please contact your editor for clarification

Thank you for your contributions to illuminem. We look forward to creating impactful and informative content together

Promoting your article

• We encourage all Authors to share their articles on LinkedIn and across their broader communities. Every click counts for the annual ranking of the Most Read Sustainability Thought Leaders of the Year, also visible live on all author pages.

• We also welcome our Authors to share on LinkedIn the position as Columnist at illuminem (see how to). We are proud to have you represent our global community, and we are glad if this can further strengthen your credibility and reach. 

• For further visibility, we offer all illuminem Club members our best support to boost their reach with prioritized visibility on our pages, newsletters, and social media (on top of networking opportunities and insights). We are also open to exploring commercial opportunities.

Important disclaimers

• We reserve the right to refrain from publishing content that does not adhere to our guidelines

• illuminem editors reserve the right to edit the title and content of any piece for readability & clarity. For any material modification, we will first seek the permission of the author

• illuminem has never published commercial content without clearly informing our community. We reserve the right to amend articles to ensure compliance with this policy. Please explore here commercial opportunities or contact our corporate engagement team for any information

Examples of articles adhering to guidelines

• The definitive reading list: illuminem’s recommended sustainability classics
• Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Race to zero in Asia and the Pacific: our hopes in the climate fight
• Erin Remblance, Climate action: the time for incrementalism is ove

Are you interested in becoming a featured author on illuminem? Please submit your article or send us a message.