Thank you for your interest in writing for SDN!
Publication Guidelines
We publish 1,000 to 2,000-word feature articles on our main page. Articles should speak primarily to a US audience since the vast majority of our members are US-based. Articles should be aligned with the Student Doctor Network’s mission to build a diverse doctor workforce by providing free resources, tools, and support to those who would otherwise not have access to advising services. SDN serves several doctoral-level healthcare professions, including audiology, dentistry, medicine (MD and DO), pharmacy, podiatry, psychology and social welfare, optometry, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and veterinary medicine.
Below are examples of the types of articles that we publish:
- How-To: An overview article that provides tips for pre-health or health professional students. This format tends to be the most helpful and most popular among SDN members. Some examples include How To Present a Patient, How To Find a Research Position, and How To Write a Prescription.
- Profile Articles: A Q&A interview with a physician or other doctoral-level health professional (dentist, podiatrist, etc.) about their specialty (e.g., this interview with Dr. Shane Quinonez, pediatric geneticist) or a unique accomplishment or career (e.g., Q&A with Physician-Author Sandeep Jauhar), or a person who isn’t a healthcare professional but has a unique and relevant insight to share (e.g., Q&A with Carolann Curry, Reference and Outreach Librarian). Detailed profiles of specialties or career fields are also welcome, like this article on Med-Peds.
For interviews or articles focusing on a specific person, include a headshot with the submission if possible. Please ensure that the image is free of copyright or that SDN has permission to republish.
Please note that articles may not be promotional in nature. If you have a product or service that you wish to share, you may submit an informational article relevant to the product or service you provide, and that includes a single relevant link to your site. Links within the article’s body must be for reference purposes only and may not promote a specific product or service of the author. This is true even if the product or service you provide is free. Links in an article may be deleted or edited at the discretion of the Editor. Links to an author’s personal and/or social media profiles are allowed at the editor’s discretion.
SDN does not accept paid placement articles.
Submissions and user-created content
You acknowledge and agree that any questions, comments, suggestions, ideas, feedback, or other information about the site or the services provided by you to SDN are non-confidential and shall become the sole property of SDN. SDN shall own exclusive rights, including all intellectual property rights, and shall be entitled to the unrestricted use and dissemination of these submissions for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without acknowledgment or compensation to you.
Authors must execute an agreement releasing copyright ownership to SDN for articles accepted for publication.
Honorarium
SDN provides a $150 honorarium to authors for original and exclusive content. This honorarium is NOT provided if an author is receiving other benefits from the article publication, such as publicity for a blog or book.
We can pay honorariums either via check to a US mailing address or via a PayPal account. You must be able to receive payment via one of these methods to receive an honorarium from SDN. Please note: PayPal charges fees deducted from your honorarium if you choose this payment method. To receive your honorarium please contact [email protected] with an invoice within 30 days of publication.
Article Publication Process
To submit an article, please email your submission to [email protected].
You will be informed as quickly as possible if your article has been accepted for publication. Some articles not immediately selected for publication will be returned to the author with feedback. Authors may re-submit articles once for reconsideration with edits based on feedback. Contacting the editor to pitch ideas or ask questions before submitting the article may increase the likelihood that your article is selected for publication.
If accepted, your article will be scheduled for publication by our editorial team. Publications dates can change without notice. The SDN editorial team reserves the right to publish an article with minor grammatical editing without additional author approval.
If applicable, honorariums will be sent out at the end of the month in which the article is published.
Notes on Author Disclosures
SDN requires authors to report any financial, corporate, or other marketing affiliations.
Want to make sure your article is accepted?
Follow these tips to make sure your article is a good fit for publication on SDN:
- Contact the editor before writing to pitch your idea to ensure the subject is relevant and isn’t already being covered.
- Be informational, not promotional. Links to your commercial site within the body of the article are not allowed. You may include a link and description of your site/company at the end.
- Target your audience. Are you writing to premedical students? To dental students? To residents? Nontraditional students? Keep your target audience in mind and tailor the article to that audience. Speaking to multiple demographics with one article generally weakens the piece.
- Know your main message. Ensure that it is clear to the reader and that every sentence in the article relates to that primary point.
- Write about what you know. Some research on the internet doesn’t turn into a good article the way advice from experience does (though supplemental research and citations are always encouraged!)
Write well and revise your article at least once before submission. When you finish your article, set it aside for at least a few hours. Then come back to it, correct any obvious mistakes, strengthen your sentences, and edit out weak words.