Article Writing Guideline
Editorial guidelines for those willing to publish their work/ article on Planning Tank.
All articles contributed must be written without biases. Planning Tank will not be responsible for opinions reflected in the articles.
One article should cover only 1 topic. The relevant points might be discussed, but they should not change the focus of the article itself. Approx. 70% -80% of the content should focus on the main topic (unless otherwise required & agreed upon) as this keeps the focus of the article clear. Articles to be written using the Author account (Word Press Interface).
Note: Please check if the topic you wish to write about has already been covered on our website to avoid duplication. You can also check this by searching on Google for "Your Topic/ keywords" followed by Planning Tank. For ex, the Central Place theory Planning Tank. Then check for the first few results from our website. This will give a basic idea about what has already been covered, and if the topic has been covered, then what aspects are already covered by checking the few articles from the search results.
Kindly provide us with the following information.
If you have not written the article yet
Title or the topic you wish to write about if you are planning to start writing.
Please perform a search on our website to verify that the topic is not yet covered. If it has already been covered, then kindly give it a read to check if it is similar to what you wish to write about or if you are covering something different/ doing any value addition.
If you wish to submit your research work such as dissertation/ thesis/ term paper etc., then a different format has to be followed. More details are available on Thesis Submission.
If the article you wish to submit/ start writing is complete
kindly submit your article by sending it in a MS Word format (a simple file without multiple columns, border, design or other decorative formatting). Please make sure it follows the following guidelines:
Unique, well formatted with relevant heading & subheadings, bullet points (if required). Please do not use "ALL CAPS" unless really required.
Min. Word requirement - 1200 words.
Use of tables, bullet points, comparisons (as and where required) are highly recommended.
Please perform a Plagiarism check before sending the article (you can do so here with the Plagiarism Checker. Once your submission is received, we will perform a more detailed plagiarism check.
Have images (optional) that both you and Planning Tank have the right to publish, alternatively taken from Public Domain (copyright free images), or properly referenced and credited. (refer to Image Guidelines below for more details)
A brief author bio 2-3 lines which will be published at the end of the article to credit the author/s.
Add the link to relevant existing articles on our website/ other websites.
Different examples, including international examples (if applicable), as we cater to a global audience, this helps the readers to understand the situation with a wider perspective instead of being restricted to a particular geographical region.
Information about any prior publication (if the work being submitted to Planning Tank has been published anywhere else either online or offline).
Have a catchy title for the article and have subheadings in the articles to divide it into parts as it makes it easier to read.
Generic headings/ sub-headings to structure your article can be:
Introduction/ Overview/ A brief history/definition
Few lines on what the topic deals with and a few closely related topics.
Additional paragraphs on the aspects you wish to cover on the main topic.
Pros & Cons or Other comparisons (if applicable)
Supporting facts/ conclusions/ examples
References/ Citation/ Sources
Provide references/ citations and sources wherever relevant and applicable. Kindly move the sources and references to the end of the file (kindly use end notes in place of footnotes), numbering can be added in the form of superscript or in brackets.
Add sources/ references if facts and figures are being used to give proper credits. Specific URLs should be provided and not just the home page URL.
Note: Please right click and click on "Open image in new tab" for a larger size image if the difference is not clearly visible and understood.
The right section in the image below is acceptable format as long as the reference number is not hyperlinked. A simple plain text number is allowed.
Image Guidelines
Decorative images* to be avoided.
All images should be in JPG, avoiding PNG format unless absolutely necessary. Images should be properly named/ titled. Images should have a source, or you should have copyrights/ permission to use them.The width of the image should not exceed 700 px in width (you can check and change the size of the image with tools such as Paint).
Kindly resize your images to a width of 700px width, keeping the height in original proportion for the respective width.
Avoid PNG, GIF and other formats as far as possible and feasible.
PNG images can be used if they have some text/ factual information/ process and thus require the quality to be retained.
Try breaking images into 2 or more parts if your content represents a process, timeline or anything which requires a width greater than 700px. If that is not feasible or makes the image distorted/ reduces usefulness, then do mention it while submitting the content with a note. This will help our editorial team to apply required settings which will enable the image to be viewed in full size by clicking on it for a high-quality version of the same.
Avoid multiple small images, save them as 1 single image if possible.
*Decorative Images - Images which do not have any text/ figures/ information in them. Also, they do not add any value to the text, they are added just for the sake of adding a relevant (but not essential) visual element.
*Informative Images - Images which contain flowcharts, text, figures, pie charts etc. These are also the highly relevant images or which are required for any kind of annotation or helpful/ required to explain the issue. problem being discussed/ explained in the article.
Tools to resize images & reduce the size (compress)
Use any free tool like MS Paint to resize the image (please note that there will be a loss of quality while using MS Paint).
It can also be used to change the format/ extension of an image by using the "Save as" option and selecting the required format from the drop-down menu
Linking Policy & Nature of Links
Planning Tank reserves the right to add/ remove or modify the links in submitted content with or without prior approval.
All external links are kept as no-follow by default unless agreed upon for a do-follow link. We add do-follow internal links and external links as deemed necessary from time to time.
If required, references may be kept in the form of a plain text URL (without hyperlinking).
In case of any clarification, get in touch with the link which you wish to place and confirm the possibility of its placement.
The following links are not allowed:
Any adult, hate speech or illegal links
Casino, Gambling, Poker, Get Rich Quick, CBD and any games/services involving money and high risk of investment.
Affiliate/ Referral links (unless agreed upon), product purchase pages, coupon pages which directly/ indirectly link to product purchase pages
Medication, drugs or similar potential abusive substances,
Landing pages which endorse or promote any of the above links/content
Author Bio & Content Ownership
Author Bio: Provide a short author bio (2-3 sentences) that contains information about you and/or your business (if applicable).
Content Ownership: If your post is accepted, you grant a license to PlanningTank.com to be the exclusive publisher of your content and transfer all copyright to Planning Tank. You may link to the article or republish short excerpts from it – on your own blog, for instance – but the post in its entirety should not be published elsewhere.
Content Ownership Exceptions: If your contribution forms a part of academic study/research, the ownership of your research & content remains with you. Planning Tank reserves publishing rights in such case. If it requires publishing on other platforms, then you must inform us and contact us for more information.
Once your article is in accordance with the guidelines listed above, you may send us your submission through e-mail as MS Word file.
If found to be in compliance with our content quality guidelines, the post will be published in less than a week after receiving it. You will be informed about the same through email. In case of delay, you will be provided with an update with the reason for the delay and revised date of publication.
Your article will be published from one of our administrator accounts
Note 1: We do not provide a certificate for one time or occasional contributions. However, credits will be provided in the form of an author bio at the end of the article.
Note 2: Any monetary reward/ honorarium is paid in some cases depending on our requirements, quality of content submitted and on conditions as agreed upon.
Note 3: We will edit your post prior to publication. All posts are edited (if required) by our in-house copy editor to ensure our brand, voice, and quality is consistent. We reserve the right to remove portions of your post that we deem unnecessary. Internal links to other content on PlanningTank.com may be added to your post.
This will help us to review submissions in a timely manner and suggest any changes if required. We hope this covers the required information to help you get started. Feel free to contact us with any queries you might have.