Zoning Practice Contributor Guidelines

The editors of Zoning Practice welcome proposals from outside contributors, including those who may be writing for the publication for the first time. Contributors need not be professional planners, but they should have superior knowledge of a subject of substantial potential interest to Zoning Practice subscribers. For instance, in the past, engineers have written about zoning enforcement of noise and odor controls, and historic preservation experts have written on topics relevant to their field. In every case, however, the topic of an article must concern some aspect of zoning or land-use controls that would benefit an audience primarily consisting of planners, zoning administrators, planning commissioners and zoning board members, elected officials, and land-use attorneys, as well as others with an ongoing interest in land-use regulations.

Articles for Zoning Practice fall into two categories: the lead article, which is featured on the cover, and News Briefs. The former are mostly topical pieces on a particular subject within the zoning field. News Briefs report on current events involving zoning, often but not always either an immediate trend or some innovative or newsworthy action by a particular jurisdiction. Examples might include the adoption by a municipality of a groundbreaking affordable housing ordinance or a major lawsuit over protection of historic landmarks.

Guidelines for both types of articles appear below.

Lead Articles

Lead articles generally require significant expertise concerning the subject matter on the part of the author(s) and a willingness to report on how the topic affects land-use regulation in more than one community or part of the country. Our aim with lead articles is to supply our readership with knowledge that is broadly applicable nationwide, although the applicability will not always be universal. An example of widespread but not universal applicability was the May 2001 issue, in which three authors discussed the use of zoning and other land-use controls to mitigate the dangers of wildfires. While this hazard does not affect all communities, it does affect thousands of jurisdictions to some degree, and thus the article has had broad appeal. On the other hand, subjects like zoning to facilitate physical activity, the topic of our June 2004 issue, are of value to virtually any community that wishes to take the message to heart. Both types of lead articles are potentially valuable to the readers of Zoning Practice if they are well researched and well written.

The best approach for potential authors of lead articles is to submit to the editors a brief outline, not exceeding one page, detailing what you propose to cover in the article, along with a brief cover letter outlining your own background and expertise related to the proposed topic. This gives the editors an opportunity to respond to the suitability of the topic before a contributor writes an entire article, and also gives the editors the opportunity to make suggestions for revising the focus if they feel a need to do so. Based on an agreement with the author(s) concerning the topic, the editors can then issue a letter of assignment that authorizes preparation of an article for Zoning Practice, and specifies a deadline for completion.

Contact the editors with a proposal

Typically, a lead article will consist of approximately 3,000 words, plus illustrations and tabular materials. Depending on the topic, these may include some illustrations that do not appear in the print version of Zoning Practice but may appear online as web-based enhancements on the Zoning Practice web pages. In most cases, the editors will also expect to collaborate with the author(s) concerning ideas for cover art. Since the conversion of Zoning News into Zoning Practice in January 2004, the iconic cover art has become an important means of communicating the subject matter to our readership. The final complete manuscript must be submitted electronically or on paper, double-spaced, formatted for 8½" by 11" paper, with the pages numbered consecutively, complete and satisfactory to APA in organization, format, content, and style, which will be specified in the letter of assignment. APA's review of the manuscript will be guided by the performance criteria included in the letter of assignment. Writing should be crisp, clear, and understandable to lay officials typically involved in land-use decision making in local government. The writer is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the material.

Although electronic copy is preferred, any of the following three components constitutes a final complete manuscript submission:

• The manuscript in Word or WordPerfect attached to an e-mail message
• The manuscript in Word or WordPerfect saved either to a disk or CD-ROM
• The manuscript in paper copy, printed on one side only

APA response to the submission will be governed by criteria outlined in the letter of assignment and any attachments. APA maintains final editorial control of the publication. Prior to publication, APA will also acquire from the author(s) a copyright agreement, without which publication will not go forward. Finally, APA will execute with the author(s) a contract specifying terms of payment and outlining the author's participation, if any, in the online Ask the Author forum. Standard payment for a lead article combined with participation in Ask the Author is $500; without Ask the Author, the standard fee is $300. While author participation in Ask the Author is voluntary, it is strongly encouraged.

News Briefs

News Briefs appear in Zoning Practice in back pages following the lead article. Their typical length is 500-750 words, although exceptions may be made depending on the complexity of the subject matter. The standard article fee is $150. News Briefs, unless there is a compelling logic for doing so, ordinarily do not include any illustrations. Many are written by APA staff, but the editors are open to brief queries from outside authors. For example, Boston land-use attorneys Matthew Lawlor and Michael S. Giaimo provided a December 2004 News Brief concerning a new law in Massachusetts governing the production of affordable housing by local government. Planners and journalists elsewhere have submitted various News Briefs concerning zoning developments in their own communities when they merit the attention of a nationwide audience. It is best to submit the query to the editors first, after which they can issue a letter of assignment once they have determined that they wish to use the story in an upcoming issue.

Contact the editors with a proposal

Writing Quality and Style

The following guide applies particularly to News Briefs, which have an inherently more journalistic quality to them, but also apply to much content in lead articles:

I. The Lead

Both the opening sentence and the opening paragraph are crucial for grabbing the reader's attention. The bottom line is simple: What is this story about? You need not cram details into the opening, but you need to be as specific as possible in defining the subject matter, giving preference to the most current development of importance. For instance:

Indianapolis has developed a new tree ordinance that, for the first time anywhere, requires builders of residential housing to maximize building energy savings from tree shading and windbreaks.

Compare that to this blander, more sedate opening:

Environmentalists have long known that trees help reduce energy costs. Some have advocated that builders and cities take this into account in new residential construction, but most cities have no such provisions in development ordinances. Planners generally have regarded as a secondary consideration and are more interested in ...

Which gets you into the story faster and captures your interest? Obviously, in the second opening, the writer is literally forcing the reader to wade through line after line to find the punch line. The emphasis shouldn't be a game of hide and seek. Put your cards out on the table right away.

II. Quote What Really Matters

Properly used, quotes from interviewees or even from documents can be a journalistic art form. Readers don't need or want to know all the trivia from an interview, press release, or press conference. Put in quotes only what enhances the reader's knowledge and advances the story, and avoid mere verbiage. Where the actual wording is verbose, paraphrase. There is nothing wrong with taking a speaker's words and saying it better, so long as you don't wrap your words in quotes attributed to that source. For instance:

The judge's ruling held that oil companies are legally responsible for the health impacts of toxic air pollution from refineries.

But suppose we were to quote the case:

Judge Barbara T. Reynolds said the following: "Under California Revised Code Section 650.132, air emissions from oil refinery facilities will lead to a finding of liability for the owner if found to produce a toxic health impact on the surrounding population."

Ugh! It's bad enough that you, as the author, had to read the actual decision; your reader is paying good money to have you translate it!

III. Stick to the Subject

Thinking about leads is helpful for more than just creating a spunky opening to an exciting story. It can serve as a beacon for errant writers who stray from the main point of the article. A news article generally has but one key point, around which all subsidiary points must clearly rally. If the article is about a new affordable housing plan in Denver, don't feel obligated to add information about unrelated federal housing legislation just because it, too, starts with H. If the new plan is affected by federal legislation, explain that as background to the main point. Otherwise, know when to conclude your article, and save the rest of the material for another day and another story.

IV. Use Active Voice Wherever Possible

Emphasize doing, not done to. This helps keep the focus on action and avoids the fuzzy thinking that accompanies grammatical victimization. Consider the difference in clarity between the following:

Lawyers for the Halfway Residential Group sued the state in federal district court last month, charging that its cutoff of housing renovation money violates HUD rules and the Family Housing Act.

A suit was filed last month in federal district court, charging that federal law was violated when housing money for neighborhood groups was cut off in the new state budget.

In the latter sentence, the drift into passive voice has allowed the writer to fail to think about who is doing what to whom, with the result that the reader is left in a mental muddle while struggling through a boring sentence. It's enough to make a time-conscious reader cancel a subscription.

V. Who Said It?

Occasionally, even established journalists go around attributing things to "sources." Inasmuch as we seldom get leaks or deal with national security, there is nothing, literally nothing, worth saying in Zoning Practice that cannot be said by an identifiable person. Therefore, every quote needs a named source, and every statement of opinion that is not the author's should be attributed to someone expressing it, whether or not it is wrapped in quotation marks. In the case of study findings, name the study or the organization or agency that released them unless the information has become such general knowledge that this is no longer necessary. (In other words, in discussing the Earth's spherical geometry, it is no longer necessary to cite Galileo or Copernicus.)