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Interested in writing for The Chronicle of Higher Education? We welcome pitches and submissions to our Advice and Review sections. You’ll find more information about each section’s focus and guidelines below.

We pay for all writing that we publish. Our rates are competitive, and vary depending on a piece’s length and complexity.

What is the Advice section?

We publish first-person and advice columns on a wide range of career-related topics for faculty members, administrators, and staff members. The Advice section features essays on the job market and the hiring process in academe; the graduate-school experience; tenure and promotion; the administrative career path; the staff career path; professional challenges in research, publishing, teaching, and service work; academic culture; and balancing work and life.

Here are a few pieces that demonstrate our style and approach:

We also publish in-depth, interactive advice guides on topics such as:

How to pitch to the Advice section

We welcome both pitches and essay submissions. Ideal pitches are one to two paragraphs and convey the topic and argument of the essay and why you are well positioned to write it. Please keep the following guidelines in mind:

  1. Pieces are typically 1,000 to 1,800 words.
  2. Pieces should offer practical, how-to, what-to-do, what-not-to-do suggestions for solving a particular problem. They should not be philosophical or theoretical in tone.
  3. Pieces should be written in a conversational, journalistic style — as jargon-free as possible. No footnotes, please. Include links to and titles of sources you cite within the piece itself.
  4. Pieces must be factual and truthful — no narrative liberties, no altered facts.

Direct pitches and submissions to the senior editor Denise Magner (denise.magner@chronicle.com).

What is the Chronicle Review?

The Review is the opinion and ideas section of The Chronicle of Higher Education. We publish op-eds, book reviews, profiles, long-form reporting, and essays that deal with academic, intellectual, and cultural affairs. We seek clear, lively writing that has a definite point of view. Here are a few pieces that demonstrate our style and approach:

How to pitch to the Review

Before pitching, please read through our recent essays to get a sense of our style and focus. An ideal pitch is one to two paragraphs and clearly answers the following questions:

  1. What type of piece are you proposing? (A non-exhaustive list of possibilities: an op-ed on X topic; a review essay considering several recent books; an extended piece of reporting; a profile of an intriguing thinker. Please also suggest a rough word count.)
  2. What is your angle or argument? (If you’re engaging with an issue that’s been previously written about, how are you extending or refreshing that conversation? If you’re suggesting something that hasn’t been written about previously, tell us why it’s important and potentially interesting to our readers.)
  3. Why does this make sense to publish now? (Is it timely or newsy in some way?)
  4. Why are you the person to write it? (Do you have relevant experience or expertise with the issue at hand?)

Points 1 and 2 are essential; 3 and 4 are helpful, but may not be relevant to every pitch. If you have published writing elsewhere, definitely mention that and include a link or two to past work. If you haven’t, don’t worry about it — we’re excited about publishing new writers, too.

Please email your pitch to opinion@chronicle.com with the subject line “Pitch: [a few words about your specific pitch].”

Here is some general guidance on writing effective pitches. Bear in mind that we reject most pitches, often for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the idea (we just published something similar; the angle isn’t quite right for us, etc.). If we pass on your pitch, feel free to pitch us again in the future.

Who’s reading Review pitches?

Your pitches will be read by the Review’s editorial staff: Evan Goldstein, Len Gutkin, Evan Kindley, and David Wescott. You are welcome to write directly to any of us, though we discuss pitches as a group. Emails addressed to opinion@chronicle.com are the quickest way to reach all of us.

What’s the Review’s editorial process?

We decide collectively which pitches to accept, then assign each piece to a single editor. That editor will be in touch with you to agree on a rate and a deadline for an initial draft. After you send the initial draft, the editor will reply (usually within a few days) with edits and queries. Writer and editor will then go back and forth through several rounds of edits.

When editor and writer have agreed on a final draft, the essay will be copy-edited and fact-checked. Writers will have the opportunity to review and approve the final text before publication. Editors decide where and when the piece is published: Some articles will appear in print and online, while others will appear only online. (There is no difference in pay.)

The time scale varies. Sometimes we move from pitch to published article in just a few days; other times, it’s more like a month or two. If you have specific time constraints — i.e., you’ll be on vacation or very busy during a specific week or two — let us know upfront; we can usually work with that.

Terms and conditions for contributors

An overview of our terms and conditions for contributed articles (“Content”) is provided below. In most cases, The Chronicle and writer (“Contributor”) will execute a Contributor Agreement which will specify the agreed-upon terms. In other cases, such terms may be specified in email exchanges between the parties.

Content – Contributor agrees to write Content as specified in email exchanges between the parties. Contributor warrants that such Content is original, that all the facts contained therein are true and accurate, that it does not infringe another’s copyright or proprietary rights, that it does not violate any person’s right of privacy, and that it has not appeared in any other publication, in whole or in part. Contributor also warrants that the Content contains no libelous or other unlawful material. Contributor agrees to cooperate fully with The Chronicle in responding to and defending against any third-party claims relating to the Content.

Payment Terms – The Chronicle agrees to pay Contributor one fixed amount for each piece of published Content as specified in email exchanges between the parties. Contributor must submit a Form W-9 for The Chronicle’s files. If the parties cannot reach agreement on a final version of the Content, or, for whatever reason, The Chronicle chooses not to publish it after it has been submitted to The Chronicle, then Contributor shall be entitled to one-half of the agreed upon amount. Payment will be made approximately two weeks after publication.

Chronicle Copyright - In exchange for The Chronicle’s one-time payment, and for 30 days from the publication date, Contributor grants The Chronicle the exclusive right to publish and to sell through syndication, directly or through others, the Content in any form. After 30 days and without further remuneration, Contributor gives The Chronicle a nonexclusive and irrevocable license in perpetuity to republish the Content in print, online, through syndication, or in any other form, manner, format, or medium, whether now known or hereafter developed, throughout the world and in any language, directly or through others, and to include the Content in electronic archives and databases, whether maintained by The Chronicle or by third parties. The Chronicle will approve requests to make limited numbers of copies of the Content available for use by students or for custom reprints. After 30 days, Contributor has the right to republish the article anywhere else Contributor chooses.

Libel claims and indemnification

The Chronicle extends to you any insurance coverage it may have for libel claims that may arise with respect to your article published by The Chronicle. It is understood that, in offering to extend this coverage, The Chronicle retains the exclusive right to control the handling of any claims with our insurance carrier and to decide on settlements, if any. The Chronicle agrees, however, to keep you advised and consult with you on any such matter, and you agree to cooperate with The Chronicle in the process.

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold The Chronicle harmless from and against all claims asserted by a third party and related damages, losses and expenses, including attorneys’ fees arising out of or resulting from the services performed or neglected to be performed by you, provided that any such claim, damage, loss, or expense is caused by your negligence or willful misconduct.

You will be deemed to have accepted all of the above terms upon submission of your article and/or upon accepting payment from us. If you do not accept these terms, you need to notify us.