Publishing Process
New Lines staff will perform a preliminary review, including a literature review. Due to coordination between our staff and reviewers, it could take 2-3 weeks for a decision to be made. New Lines Institute is not responsible for delays in the decision process.
After a submission is accepted, reviewers may make suggestions to help shape the piece and make sure it adheres to New Lines’ unique institutional approach to analysis. This could take several days.
After the author responds to the reviewers’ feedback, the submission will go to Analytical Development for editing, copy editing, and, when needed, graphics and layout. The editors may provide further feedback and ask questions for clarification and/or to strengthen the piece further. Authors should address each question or suggestion from the editors. Make sure that any changes you make, even in response to reviewer or editor comments, are tracked.
The speed of the editing and copy editing process depends on the manuscript’s length and complexity and the degree of editing needed. The more organized and clear a piece is, and the more thorough source citations are, the smoother production will be. Analytical Development endeavors to complete edits on Net Assessments and Terrain Analyses within three days; longer pieces will, by their nature, require more time. Delays can cause complications that prolong the process, so please honor schedule commitments.
After the author responds to all questions or concerns and final edits are made, we will schedule the piece for publication.
Notes on Style
Avoid jargon and academic tone; our content is meant to be accessible to a broad audience.
Do not indent paragraphs; rather, leave space between paragraphs. (See analyses published on our website.)
Run spell check and grammar check, with U.S. English as the proofing language, before submitting your piece.
Titles should be pithy.
All sources must be cited, either by mention in the text (“In ‘The Elements of Style,’ Strunk and White argue that …”), hyperlinks (for Net Assessments, Terrain Assessments, and Dossiers), or endnotes (for Policy Papers and Intelligence Briefs). Endnotes should be formatted in APA style. See guidance here.
We don’t use footnotes. Sources can be cited in the text. Any elaboration that might be considered for a footnote can also be worked into the text.
Do not use Wikipedia as a source for anything.
Make sure your thesis is stated early and clearly and that the rest of your piece supports that thesis. Readers should know immediately why they should read the rest of a piece, and the promise of that “why” should be fulfilled in the analysis.
Any recommendations given should follow from the thesis and analysis and, where possible, provide detailed steps for following those recommendations.
Avoid the overuse of acronyms. If an acronym will only be used once or twice in a piece, don’t use it, unless the acronym is commonly known (e.g., OPEC, NATO). Don’t use two-letter acronyms (with the exceptions of U.S., U.N., and EU).
Avoid the passive voice when possible.
Pay attention to the word count recommended for the kind of piece you are writing.
Pay attention to paragraph length and organization.
