AUTHOR GUIDELINES
TOPICS:
Article topics should be submitted to the Executive Editor, in outline form or via consultation, to review for appropriate content. OTR reserves the right to reject any outline, topic or finished article deemed unsuitable for publication for any reason. No article that intentionally or unintentionally promotes a proprietary product or service will be accepted for publication on any basis.
Vendors: OTR welcomes original articles submitted by employees of vendors. OTR will own the exclusive copyright to its articles and will not publish vendor articles being submitted elsewhere, including in its own vendor publication or at its vendor website. If such articles discuss a product, service or method that is sold or utilized by the vendor, promotional language in the text will be edited out. Testimonial content from customers of the vendor will be construed as promotional and edited accordingly. Statistical experience by users of the product, service or method may be reported in a fact-based context absent testimonial opinion supportive of a particular vendor. Statistical experience from only one user is usually less reliable than experience from multiple users. OTR encourages vendors to seek independent review and analysis of such statistical experience prior to submission to OTR. Articles from vendors discussing a product, service or method that is sold or utilized by the vendor will undergo editorial review by senior editors of OTR prior to acceptance for publication. Vendor authors should take editorial review time into account if planning a submission. OTR is published quarterly and cannot guarantee publication in any specific issue.
LENGTH:
Optimal article length is 2,500 words or less. Significantly longer articles will likely be split into two parts and published in consecutive issues of OTR.
REVIEW:
OTR’s Medical Consultant will review medical articles written by non-MDs as referred by the Executive Editor. OTR’s Actuarial Consultant will review actuarial articles for technical accuracy. Content editing suggestions will be provided to authors who will then be given time to review the recommended edits and incorporate them into the article. OTR reserves the right to minimally edit the author’s final text for space, layout, spelling, grammar and punctuation.
SUBMISSION: Articles must be submitted in digital format and include the following:
- Article text submitted with one inch margins, double-spaced, in 12-point font size. Use of bullets, bold print, etc., is encouraged for ease of navigating the article. Highlighting - special formatting of text (bold, italics, graphics captions, etc.) will be reproduced in accordance with OTR’s publication style. Bold print within text paragraphs will be published as italics.
- An executive summary no more than one paragraph and 150 words in length. It will be printed at the beginning of the article and should contain a brief synopsis of the article contents with its key points and conclusions.
- A short biography of up to 150 words to prepare an “About the Author” box at the end of the article. If the author wishes to have his/her e-mail address published with the article, it should be included at the end of the biography.
- A bibliography listing all references used in researching and writing the article. References are required to be submitted and may be randomly checked when the article is reviewed for content.
- A digital color author photo (for first-time authors), taken by a professional photographer, if possible. Hard copy film photos, if submitted, become the property of OTR unless return is specifically requested.
FORMAT: Digital copies of articles should be e-mailed to OTR in IBM PS/2 Windows-compatible format, NOT Apple/Mac. Authors must request e-mail, fax or telephone confirmation of successful transmission, download and opening of the file and not assume its receipt.
Graphics files (images) should be submitted in these formats: TIF, WMF or JPG. (Your graphics staff at your company can probably help you if you are unfamiliar with these terms.) OLE objects (graphics, charts, etc.) created in MS Excel or other Windows-based Spreadsheet/Database programs can also be submitted. Other formats may require a laser quality copy of the graph or chart for scanning. OTR is not responsible for the quality of color graphics that must be converted by OTR prior to publication.
PUBLICATION: Once an article has been accepted for publication, it will definitely be printed. However, OTR is unable to guarantee the date of publication of any author’s work, although timeliness of an article’s subject matter is taken into consideration.
COPYRIGHT WAIVER: OTR will consider waiving copyright under limited circumstances, i.e., when the article is being published in a periodical or in media which would not normally be read by most OTR readers (defined as members of AHOU or CIU). Typically, this would be in publications read by non-underwriting professionals - actuarial, claims, legal, sales, etc.