USREA Contributor Guidelines 20202020-01-01T22:00:09-05:00

USREA Authorship Contributor Guidelines 2020

The United States Renewable Energy Association, LLC (USREA.org) selectively accepts outside writing contributions from industry professionals, dedicated renewable energy enthusiasts, and journalism students. Our Authorship Contributor Guidelines 2018 follow this outline.

You could become a U.S. Renewable Energy Association Contributor!

If you have an idea, a project, or particular expertise and information that renewable energy enthusiasts could benefit from, consider putting together an article for us. Here’s what you need to know before you get started.

USREA prefers submissions from contributors who are leaders in and knowledgeable about topics involving renewable energy, clean technology, electric vehicles, and energy efficiency.

Articles submitted for consideration should be of interest to readers of the USREA.org website, our newsletter “RE-Action” and related publications, have a tone that is appropriate for USREA, and be written by a person, not a PR department. We prefer articles that introduce new ideas and advance conversations around topics and trends in the renewable energy industry. We appreciate writing that balances research or news with fun and memorable anecdotes or examples that help illustrate your point of view or industry knowledge. We look for contributions that inform our members about interesting concepts regarding renewable energy, promote advanced technologies, new products that are cleaner, more energy efficient, more innovative, and promote distributed energy. We also appreciate groups like Community Solar and Wind. We Do Not have a heavy emphasis on techno-speak but generally prefer to appeal to the average enthusiast reader who wants to learn more about clean technology. To get an idea of the types of stories USREA wants to publish, please read relevant postings at https://www.usrea.org or About USREA https://www.usrea.org/about-usrea/

We discourage over-the-top self-promotion, although we do allow links to individuals and companies relevant to the submitted article. We allow and encourage Author Biographical links and related information that help the reader to understand the background or credibility of the writer.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Submitted articles must be 750-1200 words. We cannot offer to pay for contributed stories, but if they’re engaging to read and useful to our audience, we will work to actively promote them. Each page is about 600 words. Articles should be in Microsoft Word, and should be submitted via e-mail. In the case of unsolicited features, we will contact you about when we plan to run a story. We cannot guarantee any story will run at any specific time. We won’t use every article pitched, but we may decide to share them with our readers on the websites, or in one of our e-newsletters.

Images

All graphics should be provided in separate high-resolution 300 dpi, EPS, JPEG or TIFF files at 4×6 inches in size in either RGB or CMYK format. Typical image file sizes are 1 MB or larger.

Image capture guidelines:

  • Capture images at the largest size resolution possible with highest pixel depth your equipment can produce. (Within reason. We are not producing billboards here)
  • Previously scanned high resolution files are acceptable.
  • Files should be submitted uncompressed (TIFF format) RGB color mode with no embedded color profile.
  • EPS files are also acceptable in Photoshop or Illustrator programs.
  • JPEG files should be high resolution.
  • Please include photo credit information if applicable.
  • Unless otherwise requested, font type or logos should be included as separate files.

Artwork. If available, Drawings or sketches can be helpful. Please let us know if the artwork you supply needs to be credited to someone else. Also, drawings should be provided in high resolution.

How to Submit Videos

Videos will be considered for posting if they substantially promote the interests of the renewable energy industry.

Specifications for video file to post: Video, 5 minutes or less, may include a 5-sec introduction screen featuring your company or project name and information and a 5-sec closing screen with your contact information (e-mail, URL, phone, etc.). Use file names for the video that contains descriptive keywords identifying video content for SEO purposes.

• File should be at least 320 px by 240 px and be proportioned to a 4:3 ratio.

  • The preferred video format is MP4. We cannot accept .swf or .fla files. (The ratio/pixel width can be larger but will be constrained within a player that accommodates a 4:3 Video. Videos are placed on the site at 320 px by 240 pixel resolution.)

How Videos are Displayed

• Videos will be embedded on pages with related content for SEO.

  • Videos can be loaded from YouTube and hosted on our pages.

Send via email complete, unpublished articles only, intended strictly for USREA.org’s News section, to Editorial Assistant at usrea dot org at gmail.com .

If you feel you have a story that’s well suited for another section, please contact us and send your pitch or completed article to the editor for consideration.

WHAT TO EXPECT IF WE ACCEPT

Submissions are reviewed approximately once a week, and the process is selective. We are unable to respond to all submissions. If you don’t receive a response within one week of submitting, it’s safe to assume that your piece was not selected for publication. Following up will not speed our review or improve the likelihood of a story’s acceptance.

For stories we do choose to publish:

  • All articles are subject to editing.
  • Headlines and subheads are subject to change.
  • Content may be edited for style, tone, or substance.
  • Links may be added for context.
  • Art will be added at the discretion of USREA staff.
  • Articles may or may not be promoted across USREA‘s family of sites, on our homepage, in our newsletters, and via our social feeds.

USREA requests that contributed articles remain exclusive to our site for three to five business days, after which time they may be reprinted in part or full on other sites, with a link back to the original article on USREA.org. To repurpose or use USREA articles for commercial purposes, please contact USREA.org reprints.

If you become a site contributor, you must read and accept the USREA User Material Submission Guidelines which are included within our Privacy and Terms of Use Policy and provides additional information you should read and accept before submitting articles or materials to USREA. If you are not in agreement with these terms and policies you should not submit to USREA : https://www.usrea.org/privacy-policy-and-terms-of-use/)

When You submit a User Submission, You understand that USREA will have the sole discretion as to its use or modification in perpetuity including for advertising and promotional purposes by USREA and its related entities. If USREA makes use of any of the foregoing rights, You understand and agree that You shall not receive any other consideration, or payment, notification or credit, nor will You have any approval over how USREA uses the foregoing rights.

Regulatory Compliance and Take Down Procedure:

USREA cooperates with any law enforcement authorities and complies with any judicial order requesting or directing USREA to disclose any information we have about the identity of anyone uploading, downloading, or posting materials, or otherwise using the Website in violation of any applicable federal, state, or local laws. USREA respects the intellectual property of others. If You believe that Your work has been copied in any way without Your permission (including as part of a User Submission), please provide the following information (i.e. invoke the “Take Down Procedure”) to our Agent to Receive Notification of Claimed Copyright Infringement identified below. Your notice must contain the following:

* An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner whose work You claim has been infringed;

* A description of the work You claim has been infringed;

* Identification of the work You claim infringes the copyrighted work and a description of where it is located on the Website;

* Your address, telephone number and email address;

* A statement by You that You have a good faith belief that the infringing use is not authorized by the copyright owner, the copyright owner’s agent or by law; and

* A statement by You, under penalty of perjury, that the above information in Your notice is accurate and that You are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.

SEND TO: Claims or concerns of infringement should be directed by email to support@usrea.org and concurrently in writing to:

USREA, 4349 Gratiot Avenue, Fort Gratiot, Michigan 48059. Att: Trademark Administrator

Hints for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Titles and subtitles

  • Use identifying keywords that relate to the content of your article title as those keywords are integrated into URL.
  • Subtitles should be 2-4 sentences and refer to the content covered in the article.
  • If there is a company name include it in the subtitle.
  • Include pertinent information referring to the full content in the subtitle.
  • Include relevant deep links to content that is hosted on your source as well as content hosted on the publication’s site

 

Gerry Zack