Skip to Page Content

HRMA Policy on Newsletter Publications

    HRMA Policy on Newsletter Publications

    (Revision Approved by HRMA Board, 5/18/04)

    Mission: According to the HRMA bylaws, the mission of HRMA is to "foster the professional development of its members, and the advancement of the field of human resources management and administration." Further stated, the organization is to "provide opportunities for networking and the exchange of knowledge, information, practices and procedures which mutually benefit all members, to encourage and facilitate the operating effectiveness of human resources administrators, to improve the standards of performance in the human resources management profession and to do any act or thing incidental to or connected with the foregoing purposes or in advancement thereof."

    Purpose: The purpose of the Newsletter is to assist in the mission of HRMA by providing a medium for dissemination of knowledge, information, practices, and procedures, which provides benefit to all members. Further, the Newsletter provides opportunity for sponsorship, which helps to offset organizational expenses such as the cost of Newsletter publication.

    Articles: The HRMA Newsletter contains 3 types of articles: Feature, committee report, and sponsorship/advertisement. Feature articles are generally less than 2000 characters in length, and are usually focused on a single topic of interest to the HR community. Committee reports are either event driven (e.g., reports from committee meetings, announcement of upcoming events, etc.) or informational (i.e., focused on topics germane to a specific committee). Sponsorship/advertisement articles are addressed in the "HRMA Policy on Advertising and Sponsorships by Members, Vendors and Supporters" and will not be addressed here.

    Acceptance for Publication: HRMA reserves the right to refuse any article for publication. The Newsletter Committee, the Communications VP, and/or the HRMA Board will determine appropriateness and format requirements for articles submitted for publication to our membership.

    Criteria for accepting manuscripts (Adapted from SHRM’s Writer’s Guidelines):

    Feature articles have the best chance of being accepted for publication when they:

    • ...provide new, cutting-edge information. Our readers are savvy, knowledgeable professionals. They already know the basics; they look to us for advanced information. Good articles give readers information they did not otherwise possess by, for example, making them aware of a new problem or showing them a new way of dealing with an old problem.
    • ...are broadly applicable. Articles that deal with a situation or issue faced by most–or many–HR professionals stand the best chance of making it into print. Articles that deal with a narrower aspect of human resource management or with a particular industry (such as manufacturing or hi-tech) are acceptable only if they apply to most readers within those areas. For example, an article that applies only to specific types of manufacturers is less valuable than one that applies to all manufacturers.
    • ...are well focused. The best stories make one or two major points convincingly. Before writing you should be able to clearly describe your topic in a sentence or two. If you can't, you may need to rethink your topic. For example, an unfocused description might be: This article will deal with the legal aspects of sexual harassment. (There are many legal aspects of sexual harassment–which ones will be discussed in the text?)
      A better description would read: This article will help HR professionals create a program for eliminating retaliation in sexual harassment cases.
    • ...provide information from a number of sources. The best stories quote many sources–both subject matter experts and HR practitioners–or discuss how several companies have approached the same problem. Case studies of individual organizations are acceptable, but they must offer information and insights that are broadly applicable to other organizations, and quote multiple sources within the organization.
    • ...quote knowledgeable, credible sources. Quotes can come from experts in a field, HR professionals with special knowledge of the topic being discussed, and participants in events or case studies being written about. Quotes should be concise and should further the discussion of the main points of the story. Quotes should not be excerpted and repeated from other publications and books, with rare exceptions that should be clearly attributed.
    • ...offer enough information. Articles must give readers enough information to come to a conclusion, take action or be able to intelligently conduct further research on the topic. No article will ever answer all of a reader's questions. Good texts, however, anticipate and answer readers' most important questions and suggest resources for additional guidance.
    • ...can be easily illustrated. Articles that are accompanied by charts, graphs or photos are more likely to be accepted and given favorable placement in the Newsletter.

    Avoiding promotional writing (Adapted from SHRM’s Writer’s Guidelines):Our readers expect feature articles that are unbiased, even-handed and non-promotional in nature. As a result, HRMA’s Newsletter does not dedicate feature articles to any single, specific product. Doing so would be a disservice to our readers, who want several objective options for solving their workday problems. Our desire to avoid self-promotional articles does not preclude us from accepting informative manuscripts from experts and knowledgeable practitioners in the field of human resource management-such as consultants, attorneys, vendors and service providers. We understand that such authors naturally will be inclined to write about the topics they are most familiar with. However, to be accepted in the HRMA Newsletter, articles must be objective, offer advice that is broadly applicable and include information about competing products or services.

    Suggestions on writing style (Adapted from SHRM’s Writer’s Guidelines):

    1. Write clearly and concisely. Use simple language; make your point in as few words as possible.
    2. Use the active voice, not the passive voice. For example, writing "it was decided" leaves questions in the readers' minds. (Who decided?) Writing "Smith decided" is stronger and more informative.
    3. Define terms that may not be well known. Avoid jargon and clichés that may confuse readers or send them running for the dictionary. On first reference, spell out abbreviations or acronyms. If in doubt, define.
    4. Make sure all direct quotes are accurate and are clearly attributed to a source. Be aware of what constitutes libel.
    5. Do not submit academic-style papers with footnotes and numerous references to other publications. Such articles are not appropriate for the HRMA Newsletter
    6. Use subheads. Subheads can help you organize an article and can facilitate transitions from one idea to another.
    7. Whenever you name a company or organization in an article, include the city where that company is located or headquartered and a brief description of the nature of its business or mission.

    Formatting (Adapted from SHRM’s Writer’s Guidelines):Articles may be submitted in Microsoft Word or some other popular word processing format. Charts and illustrations should be included at the end of the article or on a separate file. Do not place charts and illustrations within the main text.