GUIDELINES FOR SUBMITTING ARTICLES & ESSAYS FOR VGCA WEBSITE EDUCATION PAGE

GUIDELINES

· ARTICLES OR ESSAYS SHOULD BE ABOUT GUNS, GUN COLLECTING OR GUN COLLECTING RELATED.

· CAN INCLUDE SHOOTING COLLECTIBLE ANTIQUE OR HISTORICAL GUNS (such as in NSSA).

• NO SHOOTING SPORTS OR HUNTING ARTICLES.
• NOTHING POLITICAL
• CAN BE ABOUT MODERN OR ANTIQUE FIREARMS.

· CAN BE HISTORICAL OR TECHNICAL IN NATURE, OR BOTH.
Possible areas can include: gun's history, development, use, role in history, biographies of inventors, accessories such as gun tools, ballistics of guns/cartridges, areas of collecting, ornamentation, and so on, etc. Can even be about one particular prized gun in a collection.

· COLLECTING TOPICS ideas include (but are not limited to): how to examine guns, gunshow etiquette, factors in valuing guns, preservation, things to watch out for (dishonest dealer tips), experiences with the previous, and so on.

· ANY LENGTH IS OK within reason - No book-length essays or articles

· PHOTOS, ILLUSTRATIONS ARE ENCOURAGED, but not necessary.

• CAN ALSO BE A PHOTO-ESSAY (with captions).

· CAN COLLABORATE ON ESSAY OR ARTICLE. MORE THAN ONE PERSON CAN COLLABORATE - (Example - 2 writers or a writer and photographer)

· CAN PUT THE AUTHOR’s NAME(S), or if prefer just "VGCA MEMBER."

• TTYPE FONT SIZE SHOULD BE AT LEAST 12 POINTS.

· ARTICLES SUBMITTED SHOULD BE IN WORD FORMAT (.DOC OR .DOCX)

AUTHOR RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:

· Spell check, grammar check. We will not copy edit.

· Any permissions that are needed for text, photos, diagrams, etc., to avoid copyright infringement.

· Technical accuracy - we won't fact check but if we see an obvious glaring error we will bring to author's attention to resolve. Suggest that author may wish to have a "peer review" or readability review - always useful.

· Author's choice if he or she wants to list reference sources.

· Sources of or credit for photos, illustrations, drawings or diagrams should be mentioned as a good practice.

· Obtaining & placement of photos & illustrations.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

· VGCA WILL HAVE A DISCLAIMER, saying the articles, facts, etc are responsibility of the author.

· VGCA WILL NOT COPY EDIT OR FACT CHECK THE ARTICLE

· VGCA CAN CHANGE TYPE FONT & SIZE, FORMAT, PAGINATION, LAYOUT TO MAKE IT MORE READABLE IN A WEBSITE FORMAT but will consult with author.

· AUTHOR'S CHOICE WHETHER IT CAN BE FREELY COPIED, DOWNLOADED, ETC. BY VISITORS. HOWEVER, IT WILL BE PROTECTED FROM EDITING & ALTERATION ONCE IT IS POSTED.

· VGCA RESERVES THE RIGHT TO NOT POST SOME ARTICLES - Reasons include offensive language, political messages, obvious plagiarism/copying (some websites copy text of articles & act as if they are original by the site's author), obvious that a spell check or grammar check was not done (will send back to author).

• VGCA WILL NOT PAY OR REIMBURSE AUTHORS.

ARTICLES SHOULD BE SUBMITTED TO:

MARC GORELICK (gorelickmarc13rarius@hotmail.com)