Products Finishing Editorial Submission Guidelines

Editorial submissions for Products Finishing should deal with some aspect of finishing metals or plastics, including plating, painting, powder coating, anodizing, passivation, electrocoating, buffing/polishing, deburring, vibratory finishing, cleaning/pretreatment, metal spraying, vacuum metalizing, printed circuit production, etching and related processes.

SECTIONS

Feature Articles

Each issue of the magazine has an emphasis topic. Feature articles may be written by a technical expert from a company and should discuss finishing technology from that company’s perspective, however, commercialism must be kept to a minimum. Submission of an outline or synopsis before completing a manuscript is strongly recommended. This gives our editors an opportunity to direct the author’s efforts; generally results in a better, more informative article for PF readers; and saves the author time in the long run. Word count: 1,000-1,500. Also include 3-5 pertinent images, illustrations, charts, diagrams and/or graphs.

Case Studies

Case studies are generated by our editorial staff based on input from users of finishing technology. Most often, we are put into contact with these users by technology suppliers. Please provide contact information for a customer willing to talk with us in some detail about their operations, plus any background material about the application. Completed case studies are sent back to the source for technical approval before publication.

News

News covers time-sensitive industry events and developments, and news about companies, including acquisitions, expansions, relocations and personnel changes. Word count: 100-250.

New Products

The new products section highlights new products and technologies on the market as well as improvements or upgrades to existing products. Word count: 100-150. High-resolution, color images are required.

Products Finishing Directory and Technology Guide

Products Finishing Directory and Technology Guide is updated and published annually and contains basic tutorial articles on a wide variety of finishing technologies, as well as a directory of technology suppliers. It is printed in December, and the editorial deadline is mid-May. Contact PF editors well in advance with story ideas. Word count: 2,000-2,500. Also include 3-5 pertinent images, illustrations, chart, diagrams and/or graphs.

How to Write a Press Release

EDITING & EXCLUSIVITY

Products Finishing will edit any editorial submissions for content and to conform to our style guide. Contributed feature articles must be exclusive to Products Finishing, must not have been published previously in another publication, and should not appear in any other media outlet until appearing in Products Finishing. For submitted articles, the author’s title and contact information must be supplied.

EDITORIAL FORMAT

Feature articles should be submitted as Microsoft Word (.doc) documents; news and product releases also may be in PDF format. Tables, graphs, photographs and other illustrations must be separate files, rather than incorporated or embedded within the text document.

IMAGES

Images should be in .jpg or .tif file formats, with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi and a minimum size of 4 × 5 inches. Printed photographs are also acceptable. All photographic materials must be clear, sharp, in focus and properly exposed. The content of each image should be identified and captions provided, and the submitter should own the copyright to the photos for publication purposes.

COMPRESSED (.ZIP) FILES

Please note that we cannot accept .zip files via email. If you need to submit a .zip file, use the file uploader on our publisher’s website available here.

DEADLINES

Editorial deadlines are two months in advance of the issue date. Contact our editors about six months in advance with story ideas so that we may begin the process of planning the story.