The following constitutes a list of elements that are important for articles submitted to Constant Content. In general, much of what is included is also important for high-quality writing that presents information in a clear manner – the only type of writing that Constant Content is looking for. Included are links to references which help describe and demystify writing concepts and problems. Some information about the submission process, and what types of content Constant Content accepts, is also included.
The short-and-sweet version of our guidelines for submission can be found here: Submission Guidelines.
If you have questions about submitting to Constant Content, check out our Quick Start Guide for Writers.
Table of Contents
Part I – Aspects of Writing
Article Clarity
- Coherent/Cohesive Writing – Please seek to write in a cohesive, coherent manner. Cohesion and coherence make your writing readable. These concepts concern the flow of ideas and passage unity. If your article lacks cohesiveness and coherence, it will also lack the quality of readability.
- Organization – Articles, and paragraphs within articles, must be well organized.
- Focus – Please make sure your article is well focused and contains a clear main idea that is supported throughout the article. Exclude irrelevant information.
- Introductory Paragraph – Every article must begin with an introductory paragraph. Introductory paragraphs present the main idea of your article, orient your reader, and prepare him or her for what information the article will provide. Without an introductory paragraph, your reader will become lost or you will lose your reader.
- Audience – Please write with an intended audience in mind.
- Wordiness – Articles must be written in a concise manner. Please do not use more words than necessary to convey your message.
- Awkward Wording – Awkward wording can include awkward word order, unclear/wordy phrasing, and phrasing that does not sound natural to a native English speaker’s ear. Please try to make your point in a concise, grammatically correct manner.
- Pronouns and Antecedents – Please make sure all pronouns clearly refer to their respective antecedents and agree with them in number.
- Word Choice and Spelling – If you are unsure about the meaning of a word or how it is used, look it up in a reputable dictionary or choose another word. In addition, please use your spellchecker or look up words you do not know how to spell.
Grammar
All basic grammar rules must be followed. The following list is not comprehensive and outlines only frequently seen grammar problems.
- Verb Tense Consistency
- Conditional Tense (Could/Would) – The conditional tense may only be used under certain circumstances. Incorrect use of the conditional tense can be awkward and confusing for your reader.
- Verb/Noun Confusion – Please avoid confusing the verb- and noun-forms of words like the following:
- breakout/break out
- breakdown/break down
- cleanup/clean up
- Setup/set up
- hangout/hang out
- Payoff/pay off
- It’s/Its – These words are not interchangeable. Please do not confuse them. If you aren’t sure when either word is appropriate.
- Other Homophones/Homonyms – Articles with incorrect use of words like their/they’re/there, your/you’re, who’s/whose and other homophones will be rejected.
Punctuation
Please properly punctuate sentences. Questions require question marks. Exclamation points should be used sparingly.
Semicolons, colons, apostrophes, commas, dashes, hyphens, and quotation marks must be used properly.
- Punctuation Resources – Check out this punctuation resource.
- Commas – Please observe rules for comma usage and apply these rules consistently.
- Oxford Comma – Use it or remove it. Either is acceptable, but please be consistent.
- Punctuation Marks and Spaces – A space should not appear before a period, question mark, exclamation mark, or comma. Please observe standard spacing rules for punctuation.
- Sentence Structure – We do not accept content with run-on sentences or unnecessary/confusing use of sentence fragments.
- Sentence Structure Variation – We cannot consider articles that contain no variation in sentence structure. Please vary your sentence structure to give your writing rhythm and to avoid sounding monotonous.
- Dangling Modifiers – Make sure your articles contain no dangling modifiers. A dangling modifier describes a word or phrase not clearly stated in the sentence.
- Parallelism/Parallel Construction – Parallelism helps to convey ideas in a concise and clear manner using similar grammatical forms. Parallel construction also enables the creation of grammatically correct sentences.
Part II – Article Submission
Submission Format
Short Summaries
Please keep the following in mind when you are composing your short summaries:
- Short summaries must be free of the first-person POV and all autobiographical information. This section of the submission form must describe only the article being submitted. Please use your author profile, not the short summary, to share information about yourself.
- Short summaries must be free of errors and follow all writing rules and standards. Please proofread your short summaries for punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar before you submit your article.
- Short summaries must be free of promotional language. In addition, do not include information about how your article is “original,” or “unique.” Our checks determine if an article is original. If your article isn’t original, then we don’t want it.
- Short summaries must describe the article being submitted in a manner that is useful to the potential customer and must be at least 30 words in length. This is the first thing after your title that the customer sees. Make it count.
Titles
Titles must be properly capitalized and punctuated, and they must be free of spelling and grammar errors. Do not include your byline in the title. We cannot accept submissions with titles in all caps. Consider the following examples:
Bad
- TITLES: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY
- Titles; the Good, the Bad, the Ugly
- Titles the Good the Bad the Ugly
- Titles: the good, the bad, the ugly
- Titles: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly!!
Good
- Titles: T/the Good, the Bad, the Ugly
- Titles – The Good, the Bad, the Ugly
Content
- Useful Information – Articles submitted to Constant Content must always contain information that is useful to the reader and present that information in a useful way.
- Opinion-Based or Editorial-Style Pieces – We do not accept opinion-based or editorial-style pieces.
- First-Person POV/Personal Narratives – We do not accept these for various reasons. Please avoid use of the first-person POV and do not submit personal narratives/accounts. Please note that we do not accept content that uses the first-person plural when it refers to the author.
- Other POVs – Using the second person, or “you,” to address the reader is acceptable. Using “we” when it refers to the reader and writer, or humanity in general, is acceptable.
- Creative Writing – We do not accept fiction (including novels, novel chapters, or short stories), poetry of any kind, or memoirs.
- Lists – If you wish to create a list of tips, steps, or items, each list item must be accompanied by an explanation. We cannot accept submissions that are simply lists.
- Series – Articles must be able to stand alone and may not reference other articles, published or unpublished, by the author. We cannot accept series of articles.
- Professionalism – Articles that contain unprofessional use of language, punctuation, or font will be rejected. We do not accept content with smileys. Please exhibit tactfulness in your writing. Treat your subjects and your readers with respect.
- Prejudiced Language/Stereotyping – Use inclusive language and avoid the use of prejudiced language and pejoratives. We will not accept content that includes racist, sexist, homophobic, or other prejudiced language. The use of class-based references and stereotyping will also result in rejection, as will language that is denigrating to any religious or ethnic group.
- Rhetorical Fallacies/Alienation – Using rhetorical fallacies or alienating a set of readers will result in article rejection. Avoid judging a set of readers or taking a negative stance against them. Ex: Parents who allow their children to watch TV on the weekends are lazy.
- Rights – Do not include language anywhere on your submission form or in your article about licensing or rights. Our licensing structure, which you were asked to review upon registration, determines how customers may use your article.
- Paragraph Structure – Articles must be organized and formatted into properly structured paragraphs. Articles submitted in a single paragraph, or articles that are made up of mostly single-sentence paragraphs, will be rejected. Strong paragraphs help create strong articles.
- Capitalization – Please observe all capitalization rules, avoiding erroneous use of capitalization, and using proper capitalization where necessary. Not sure if a word is capitalized? Look it up!
- Brand Names – Please properly spell and capitalize names of brands, or use the generic term for the product. If you are unsure how a product name should be spelled or capitalized, please refer to the company’s website for clarification.
- British English/American English – We accept either, but please be consistent throughout the piece.
- Format – Please professionally format your articles in 12 pt. Times New Roman or Arial font, black font color, with single spaced paragraphs and a double space between paragraphs. A full space between paragraphs helps the reader to determine where one paragraph ends and another begins. You should also observe this formatting rule for the content details section of the submission form.