Dade Bar Bulletin Guidelines for Authors and Editors

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I.  Structure and Governance

II.  Substance of the DCBA Bulletin

III.  Duties of the Editorial Board

IV.  Article Form

GUIDELINES FOR AUTHOR AND EDITORS

I. Content

A.      Purpose and General Approach - The primary purpose of the DCBA Bulletin is to publish articles that educate and
          inform the DCBA membership. Analysis, opinion, and criticism of the present state of the law are also encouraged,
          but  they should be clearly identified as the author’s. Such analysis should be reasonably thorough and accompanied
          by sufficient legal authority on all sides of an issue to enable the reader to assess the validity of the opinion. When
          Criticism is voiced, suggestions for reform should also be included. Criticism should be directed to issues rather than
          against individuals.

B.      Quality and Style - The Editorial Board members approve articles for publication in the DCBA Bulletin only if they are
          of publishable quality. An article possesses “publishable quality” by combining various virtues of good legal writing,
          such as originality, significance of topic, clarity of discussion, practicality, thoroughness, organization and style. An
          article need not satisfy any set formula to be of publishable quality, and it is not publishable merely because it exhibits a
          single mark of excellence (e.g. novelty) in the extreme. Thus, even the form (i.e. the structure and style) of an article
          may add to or detract from its message; and good style cannot be divorced from substance. Although the members of
          the Editorial Board recognize that publishable articles ordinarily will undergo some editing, authors should take care to
          edit and polish their articles before submitting them. Articles requiring substantial editing will be rejected or returned to
          the authors for revision. Articles that are focused on selling the writer’s services are not welcome, and the Bulletin does
          not pay authors for content.

II. Deadlines

     A. Articles for submission are due on the last day of each month for the issue to be published in 30 days.  Articles
          submitted June 30 will be considered for publication in the August issue.
    
     B. Submissions should be made via email to Matthew Ridgely at mridgely@dadecountybar.org, in Word format.
    
     C. Articles may be between 500 and 1500 words. 1000 word articles are preferred.
     
     D. Submissions should be accompanied by a professional color photograph of the author(s) and a two or three-sentence 
          biography describing the author’s field of expertise, education and background.
    
     E. The Editorial Board meets on the second Friday of the month to distribute articles for review.
    
     F. The Bulletin is published monthly, and distributed in the Daily Business Review to all subscribers, as well as to members
          of the Dade County Bar Association directly.

III. Review Procedure

Phase 1 - Members of the Editorial Committee receive, review, edit and return articles to their authors for input. Authors then review and return.

Phase 2 – Members of the Editorial Committee review and edit a second time, then send articles to Matthew Ridgely for layout by the third Friday of the month.

Phase 3 - Upon receipt, proofs of the final Bulletin edition, or “Galley Pages,” are circulated among members of the Editorial Committee and authors. At this phase of review, only typos or other glaring errors can be changed.

IV. Editorial Oversight

A. The Editorial Board of the DCBA Bulletin is primarily an advisory and a quality-reviewing entity. The Editorial Board shall
     have ultimate authority to decide whether to publish any particular article.
          a. The Editor-in-Chief of the Bulletin is selected by the DCBA President and serves a one year term.
          b. The DCBA Bulletin Editorial Board is also selected annually by the president to serve a one year term
          c. Each Editorial Board member shall be responsible for attending all noticed board meetings.
          d. Each Editorial Board member must comply with target dates for completion of assignments to insure timely
              publication of the DCBA Bulletin. All actions taken on behalf of the Bulletin by Editorial Board members must be
              done so with a view toward meeting the deadline schedule established by the DCBA and the Editor-in-Chief.

B. The officers and Board of Directors of the Dade County Bar Association (DCBA) retain ultimate authority over the
     content of the DCBA Bulletin. Whenever the Officers or Board of Directors of the DCBA considers or makes on any
     decision on any matter affecting the editorial policy or content of the DCBA Bulletin, the DCBA President notifies the
     Editor-in-Chief who is responsible for executing the policy.

C. All business transactions of the DCBA Bulletin (i.e. printing contract, advertising) are conducted by a party duly appointed
     by the DCBA to conduct such business.

 September 2010