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Missouri Emergency Medical Services Association

Submission Policy

Editorial material and photos can be accepted for publication in each magazine.

The Missouri EMS Connection is sponsored by the Missouri Emergency Medical Services Association (MEMSA). The Missouri EMS Connection is published quarterly. Unless otherwise noted, all materials published in the magazine are the property of MEMSA. No articles in this publication may be reprinted without the express consent of the editor. To obtain consent, contact Mary Napier or call (785) 783-5494.

All materials submitted become the property of MEMSA. By submitting materials, all authors are consenting to the use of their name, article, and image, when applicable, with the Missouri EMS Connection magazine and the MEMSA website.

Readership and Circulation

  • The Missouri EMS Connection magazine is distributed to members of MEMSA, including service directors, technicians, service providers, firefighters, and others.
  • It is also distributed to ground ambulance services, EMRAs, training entities, local and state agencies, and legislators.

Editorial Board

The Missouri EMS Connection Editorial Board is comprised of volunteers who have agreed to serve in the furtherance of providing a quality publication and making sure the Missouri EMS Connection is published to educate, inform, lead, and connect the EMS community.

The board’s purpose is to oversee the development and maintenance of the MEMSA print publication and to provide a structure for the Missouri EMS Connection editor for advice, counsel, contracting, and editorial review.

Editorial Review Process

The Missouri EMS Connection Editorial Board reserves the right to approve or refuse a submission for publication.

In most cases, articles submitted for publication in the Missouri EMS Connection will be sent through an editorial review process. Reviewers consist of volunteers with knowledge in various EMS-related areas who will serve as advisers for the articles submitted.

Advisers will evaluate the articles for readability, grammatical errors, focus of subject matter, and overall importance to MEMSA’s readership. They will use a review recommendation process and have a chance to submit suggestions or changes back to the author before the article is finalized for publication. Advisers may also reject the article for publication.

Writers

Articles may be submitted from various persons, however, some articles might fit into one of the pre-determined categories of the magazine. There are exceptions to those categories.

Persons interested in writing should be passionate about the subject matter and possess the ability to write knowledgeable articles. Selected authors could be placed in a rotation for regular submission.

If interested in writing, contact mary@napiercommunications.com.

Contributor Reimbursements

  • Published articles are paid at a rate of $.05 per word, up to a maximum of $60.
  • Published photos are paid at a rate of $10 per photo.
  • Published cover photos are paid at a rate of $25 per photo.
  • Contributors have the right to refuse reimbursement for their submission.

Article Submission Guidelines

The Missouri EMS Connection Editorial Board reserves the right to approve or refuse a submission for publication. In order to ensure the quality of the publication, editing for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and content may occur. Every effort will be made to ensure that the context of the submission remains the same.

Article submissions should be appropriate for the entire readership of the magazine or they will be refused.

Please use the following guidelines to avoid post-submission edits.

Article Data

When submitting your article, please include the following:

  • Article headline
  • Article subhead, which is a sentence that describes the article
  • Author name, credentials, job title, and employer
  • Whether you wish to receive a contributor reimbursement for the article
  • If you would like reimbursement, include your address at the top of the article

Author Bio

At the end of your article, include a small bio that begins with your name and credentials.

  • The biography should be no more than 100 words.

Submission Type

  • All materials should be typed.
  • All materials should be saved as a Microsoft Word document.
  • All materials should be submitted electronically by email to mary@napiercommunications.com.

Word Count

  • Typically, articles are 800 to 1200 words in length.
  • Length is flexible depending on the subject matter and can be shorter or longer.
  • Please contact the editor if you need more direction.

Photos and Illustrations

We would love for you to submit photos with your article.

  • Do not embed photos in a Word document.
  • Send photos separately as email attachments.
  • Photos taken with a digital camera are generally satisfactory if the quality is acceptable.
  • A resolution of 300 dpi is recommended for the best quality.
  • Accepted formats are .jpg, .png, and .psd.

Important: At the end of the article, include the photo name, a one- or two-sentence caption for each photo, and who the photo should be credited to.

If you are submitting a graphic or photo not taken by yourself, you must provide documentation showing that the Missouri EMS Connection has permission from the original source to use the image.

Cover Photos

Services selected for cover photos may have a photographer assigned to shoot the cover for the Missouri EMS Connection. Services that prefer to use their own photographers must make arrangements with the editor well in advance.

Some basic rules for cover photos include:

  • Photographs for the cover must be a minimum of 300 dpi and at least 8 inches by 10 inches.
  • Photographs are assessed by editorial staff for clarity, focus, and suitability of content.
  • Photographs must be shot in portrait, or vertical, framing.
  • Landscape, or horizontal, framing can sometimes work with cropping and is accepted at the discretion of the editor.
  • Photographs should avoid detail of importance in the top 3 inches to allow room for the magazine name.

Note: Service spotlight photos are often featured on the cover of the Missouri EMS Connection. However, the Editorial Board reserves the right to use another photo on the cover if they deem it appropriate.

Tables and Graphs

  • Tables and graphs can be included in the article document using Word’s table feature or submitted as a PDF or JPG.
  • The publication designer will re-create them, so there is no need to style them.
  • If you do not know how to make a graph, you can write out a description of what you want, and it will be created for you.

References Guidelines


All clinical articles must have references. Non-clinical articles are not required to have references, but must properly cite sources if they are included.

Formatting References

  • Use American Psychological Association, or APA, style for references.
  • In-text citing should be simpler than formal APA styling.
  • Refrain from using fancy end note options in Microsoft Word.
  • Including everything as part of the main document ensures it copies and pastes correctly into the magazine layout.

In-Text Citing

For in-text citing, use superscript numbers after the sentence with no spaces.

  • Single reference example: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately one in 10 Americans have some form of chronic kidney injury or chronic renal failure.2
  • Multiple references example: Chronic renal failure.2,3

End of Article Referencing

List sources at the end of the article under the heading References in the order that they appear in the article, not alphabetically, using a number followed by a period.

  • 2. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, CDC. 2015, April 20. National Chronic Kidney Disease Fact Sheet. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  • 3. Siew, E. D., and Davenport, A. 2014. The growth of acute kidney injury: A rising tide or just closer attention to detail? Kidney International, 87(1), 46-61. doi:10.1038/ki.2014.293

Helpful Resources for Authors

Submission Contact Information

All materials for the Missouri EMS Connection should be sent to:

Editor

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