Welcome!
Community is very important to all of us and sharing our experiences can be a valuable growth and recovery tool for both the author and the reader. Our volunteer City editors have set up some guidelines that we think will help to enrich your journey and that of your peers. Thank you for your interest in City of Voices.
Submission Rules
Your article must be relevant to the City Journal in which it appears.
Text submissions should be typed.
Audio submissions should use mp3 format and include your spoken name, spoken affililation and your topic at the beginning of your audio clip. Include 1-6 photos with your file. A short typed description of your articles (50 words or less) should be included.
Include your full name (no pen names allowed), your affiliation if any, a title for you article and a subtitle (optional)
How to send us your work
Email: cityeditors@neurochallenge.org (text, audio, photos)
Mail: NeuroCity, 4411 Bee Ridge Road #246, Sarasota, Florida 34233 (text only)
Questions: Call (941) 780-2710
In all cases, Include your full name, address, phone number and email address so we can contact you, if necessary.
City of Voices: Writer’s Guide
Length
Articles should be 750 words or less.
Language
Consider the readers who are new to our journals and new to neuro illness. We recommend gently introducing these readers to concepts that affect the community. Avoid generalities, jargon and overuse of acronyms (e.g., DBS, PD, MS, MRI, EEG, SMH, BP, ADLs). If you will be using acronyms, please spell out the acronyms before further use of them. For example, “I had considered the use of a deep brain stimulator for some time. It was not until my tremors became so unpleasant that the idea of DBS somehow became more palatable.”
Opening Paragraph
This paragraph should either state the main idea of your article or offer an example of that idea that captures the reader’s attention. For example, “Multiple Sclerosis patients who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and trangender (LGBT) face discrimination from people who discriminate against those who might display a handicap as well as from people who feel the same way about the LGBT community. We could do much to speak out about this sort of double discrimination.
Passive Voice
Avoid passive voice. Writing “time spent with my physician was restricted” is an example of passive voice. Passive means we watch helplessly without responding either emotionally or through action. If we rephrase and write, “due to cutbacks in Medicare funding, my doctor cannot spend as much time with each patient as she formally did without cutting back on her office staff,” then we know the cause and have an idea how to fight back.
Graphics
Photo prints or graphics are encouraged, especially headshots or other pictures that are relevant to your story. The following computer picture files are supported: jpg, tif, pdf. If you believe we need permission to reprint the graphic, please provide relevant contact information of the source.
Footnotes
You are writing a newspaper article and not a research paper for school. The difference is that in an article, if you are citing information from another source, communicate this as in the following example: “In a Time magazine article from 2004, author Bill Hedges stated that consumers are more often victims of violence that its perpetrators.” City of Voices does not use footnotes, but you should include your major sources in a separate paragraph after the end of your article.
How Decisions to Publish Are Made
The Editor in Chief makes the first decision.
If a writer disagrees with the decision, s/he may request an Editorial Board review.
The Editorial Board’s decision is final.
If the Editor in Chief deems an article controversial then it is immediately sent to the Editorial Board for a decision.
We will not notify you about the decision to publish.
We often work with writers to tailor their articles to City of Voices.
No promotional works will be accepted.