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Contributor Guide
Want to write an article for the University News? You’re in the right place! Before you start writing, read our contributor guide below.
Only active members of SLU’s community (Undergraduate and Graduate students, faculty and staff) can contribute to our newspaper. That being said, we do not accept articles to be published anonymously or under pseudonyms. We will be using your name to verify your identity. However, if you use a preferred name or nickname, please also list it.
Articles have a semi-strict word count of 500-2,000 words. Certain exceptions can be made, but must be done so by either your section editor, the Managing Editor or Editor-in-Chief.
Paragraphs should be no longer than four sentences (or around 60-80 words), following typical journalistic style guidelines. Our writing guide can be found here.
Because we are SLU’s only newspaper, our content must have a connection to SLU or the greater St. Louis area. However, we understand that things happen outside of our city and campus that impact SLU students/staff and are more than willing to accommodate those ideas (for example, an album review, political protests, science advancements, etc.).
Your work must be fact-checked and cited appropriately. Unless it is an Opinion article, it must also be unbiased and neutral. You cannot have a conflict of interest in your work, meaning you can’t cover an event an organization you are involved in is holding. If you are conflicted on any of these things, please reach out!
The University News utilizes and follows the SPJ’s Code of Ethics, found here. Our Copy Guide can be found here, where you can find basic AP style rules.
Below are our different sections and their respective writing guides.
Opinion: “You can write about whatever topic you want to write about – it can be about SLU, the St. Louis area or anything that is happening anywhere in the world. Really, the only requirement is that you have to have a strong, fact-based opinion about it! Your stance, for or against, condemning or supporting, angry or joyful, whatever it is, should be clear to the reader.”
News: News articles inform readers on events relating to the SLU campus and the broader St. Louis community. This includes features, breaking news, investigations and more. They provide essential information, covering details like what happened, when, where and why. All news articles should be clear, unbiased and precise.
Arts & Life: Articles cover a range of topics, from song and movie reviews to concert summaries, event coverage and more. Articles may also feature events happening on SLU’s campus or in the St. Louis area. While these pieces are often lighter and can include more personal opinions than News articles, they should remain objective and unbiased (excluding reviews), especially when reporting on events or organizations.
Sports: Sports articles cover SLU’s athletic teams as well as any major sports events that SLU students may want to hear about! The articles feature game recaps, player and coach profiles, and broader pieces on the overall state of SLU athletics and sports as a whole. Similar to Arts & Life articles, sports coverage should remain neutral.
Photography: Photos or photo-based articles of SLU or the broader St. Louis area. All photos are accompanied by captions according to AP style, and for photo stories, a description of the event with interviews of the people in the photos. Anyone is welcome to send in campus photos for publication, but the process remains the same as written stories.
Before submitting an article, any contributor or writer will be asked to sign a writing agreement that affirms you have read our guidelines and understand them. This is simply a formality to ensure that both parties understand the process and are not misled.
After you submit your article to a section editor, they will present edits for you to accept, followed by a Copy editor, and either our Managing Editor or Editor-in-Chief.
Our contributor articles are published online on a rolling basis.
We reserve the right to reject work if we deem it inappropriate, offensive, harmful, containing hate speech or isn’t factually correct. However, The University News is an organization that wants to amplify student voices; we will try our best to publish any work at the discretion of the Editorial Board. That being said, all articles are held to the same standard, and are to be edited as such.