Op-ed guide

Submissions and pitches are always welcomed and can be emailed to the Opinions Editor at journal_letters@ams.queensu.ca. Please keep in mind that your submission will be edited before it’s published, but you’ll be consulted at every step of the way.

Before completing a draft, anyone who is interested in writing an op-ed is strongly encouraged to pitch their ideas to the Opinions Editor. Once your pitch has been approved, keep the following in mind to ensure your piece is as successful as it can be.

How to write a successful op-ed

All op-eds begin with an argument. Yours should be about something that’s happening right now and that’s relevant to the community here at Queen’s. Try to resist tackling huge events taking place miles away and instead stick to the issues that affect the people around you in a meaningful way.

• Your piece should stay between 800 and 1200 words. This is enough room to develop one idea really well, but not very much more than that. Keep this in mind as you plan what you will and won’t include.
• State your argument clearly within the first few sentences, and then spend the rest of your words proving it to the reader. Your proof can be hard numbers or illustrative stories, but it must be present.
• Keep your language clear and simple. Imagine your reader as a busy student, rushing from class to activity, who wants to be well informed on the subject you’re discussing. They shouldn’t have to stop what they’re doing and put down their coffee to Google the more impressive-seeming word you’ve chosen in place of a simpler one.

Letters to the Editor 

If you’d rather your words went unedited, please consider submitting a letter to the editor to the same email address, the word count for which should be 250 to 350 words.