Contribute · The standard
Guest Post Guidelines
The working specification our editors use, published in full. Structure, citation format, what changes in editing, and what happens to a piece after it runs.
Reviewed August 2026 · The Insight Journal Editorial Team
The short version
- 1,200 words minimum, 1,500 to 2,200 typical
- Every non-obvious claim cited to a primary source
- Three sentences per paragraph, maximum
- House byline, always: no contributor bylines
- Paid links carry the sponsored attribute
What these guidelines are for
In short
Most publications keep this document internal and publish a summary. We publish the whole thing, because the alternative is a contributor paying for placement without knowing what standard their work will be held to.
The topic-level rules live on the desk pages. Each of the six desks lists the angles it will commission, the submissions it declines, and the primary sources it accepts. Start with the Write for Us hub and pick one.
Structure and length
In short
| Title | Under 60 characters, states the subject plainly. No colons stacked with a subtitle, no numbers unless the piece is genuinely a count. |
|---|---|
| Opening | The first 100 words name the reader, the decision, and what the piece will settle. No throat-clearing about how important the topic is. |
| Headings | H2 for each major section, H3 beneath any H2 that runs past roughly 300 words. Headings say what the section concludes, not what it is about. |
| Paragraphs | Three sentences maximum, two preferred. No more than about 250 words between structural breaks. |
| Evidence | At least one table, list, or worked example per 1,000 words. A claim about a number is stronger when the number is shown. |
| Close | What the reader should do differently, and how they would know within a defined period whether it worked. |
House style
US spelling throughout. No em dashes, which we remove on sight. No hype vocabulary, no exclamation marks, and no section that opens with the same construction as the section before it.
Write in plain declarative sentences. If a sentence needs a comma-spliced clause to survive, it is usually two sentences that have not been separated yet.
How to cite
In short
Each desk lists the bodies it accepts as primary sources. On the supply chain desk that means CSCMP, ASCM, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics; on the finance desk it means the SBA, the Federal Reserve, and the IRS. Check the desk page before you start drafting.
We never invent a statistic, and we do not accept one. Where no verified figure exists, the correct move is to say so in the piece. Readers trust that more than a number they cannot check.
- Name the organization that produced the data, not the article that repeated it.
- Include the year of the data, and the date you checked it if the figure moves.
- Link directly to the page carrying the figure, not to the publisher home page.
- Where a claim rests on a single study, say so in the sentence rather than in a footnote.
- If a widely repeated figure has no traceable origin, say that plainly instead of repeating it.
- Vendor pricing is cited to the vendor pricing page, with the date checked.
What happens to your draft
Every submission goes through the same four passes, in this order. Expect the piece to come back at least once.
Structural edit
We reorder, cut, and add headings so the piece survives skimming. The argument stays yours; the shape usually changes.
Fact-check pass
Every non-obvious claim is checked against the source you provided. Unsupported claims are queried, then cut if they cannot be supported.
Line edit
US spelling, no em dashes, no hype vocabulary, and no duplicate-phrase openers between sections.
Link review
We confirm each link is relevant and apply the agreed attribute. Links that do not help the reader are removed.
After publication
In short
The piece is maintained
Published pieces carry a reviewed date and are updated when a cited figure changes. That maintenance is ours, not yours.
The byline stays in house
Everything runs under The Insight Journal Editorial Team, because we take editorial responsibility for every published claim.
Corrections are visible
If we get something wrong we correct the page and say what changed. See the editorial policy for the correction standard.
Removal is possible, edits are not
We will consider removal requests. We do not accept later edits to insert links or claims that were not in the accepted draft.
Images and charts
We produce our own artwork, so a submission does not need images. A chart or diagram you built yourself is welcome if you can cite the underlying data and confirm you own it.
We do not publish supplied stock photography, vendor-provided screenshots, or any image whose license we cannot confirm. Everything that runs carries real alternative text describing what it shows.
Pick your desk
Send a pitch
Desk, topic, angle, and the sources you plan to cite. Two or three lines is enough to get a real answer.
Questions