Article Structure Guidelines

OT Insight

Letters to the editor and article submissions are welcomed by NZAOT. To submit a letter, or for further information on article requirements, please contact The Editor

Guidelines for Authors

Article Structure Guidelines

Style Guidelines

Guidelines for Authors:

• Submission dates: Confirmation up to the 10th of the month. Copy deadline the 1st of the following month for publication on the 20th.
• Publication not guaranteed
• Feature word count: 1500 words
• Second feature word count: 800 words
• Should be an original work and must not contravene any existing copywrite agreements
• does not promote a product, service, or company
• has a three to six-word title with an active verb
• contains a by-line and ends with a two-to-three sentence biography giving the author's full name, title, and organisation or company and its location
• includes a head-and-shoulders photo of author
• signals shift in topic with subheads
• includes sidebar for pertinent facts or data that do not fit within the main body of the article
• supporting charts, photos, or artwork are sent as separate attachments as well as embedded within the article
• includes full references and bibliography

Article Structure:

Consider the following key questions:

• What is the significance of the paper/article?
• Why is it important and original?
• Who will be interested, who is the intended audience?
• What next: what are the implications for practice, what are the further research questions?

Structure your article with the following components:

• Title - Often comes as the beginning of the idea as a working title, and is changed over the course of writing the article.  OT Insight Editor is happy to make title suggestions.
• Summary or Introduction- Suggest you focus on the first paragraph of your article to provide you with your summary and introduction at the same time.

Like the title, it should create curiosity in the mind of your reader to entice them to read further. Provide/describe what aha moment or problem this article will address. Describing the problem by means of a story or example helps to make it real in your reader's mind. A personal example also helps to establish you, the writer, as a real person and creates a rapport with your reader.

• Body - The body of your article will bring across your main train of thought/solution to the idea/issue/problem that you have sketched in the mind of your reader in your summary and introduction. One topic is best. It is very tempting to branch off into different directions, especially if you are enthusiastic about your area of expertise. If you find that you are wandering off into other areas, even if they are related to your main topic, consider saving that information in a scratch pad, amend it to the end for the editor to consider or make another article out of the material.

Do use bullet points or subheadings to break up your article. Bullets and headings catch the eye and once more pull the reader into the text.

• Ending/Conclusion - The ending should come full circle - provide closure; summarise what is stated in the title and the introduction. Try and end with an interesting point or final quote, to invite readers to further investigate the topic.
• Resource box - Links, background information, further reading.
• References - Provide where appropriate.

Style guidelines:

• When referring to an association, corporation, or business for the first time, use its full name, followed by its acronym in parenthesis, and include the city in which the association is headquartered. For example, " the New Zealand Association of Occupational Therapists (NZAOT), Wellington." In subsequent references, either use the acronym or say "the association".
• Capitalise titles when they precede a person's name ("Executive Director John A. Doe, says..."), but lower-case them when they follow the name ("John A. Doe, executive director of..."). Make sure names and titles are complete and accurate.
  Use a person's full name and job title in the first reference, in subsequent references, use last names only. Titles such as Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms., and Dr. are not used either on first or subsequent references. Academic degrees and other credentials may be referred to if relevant, but should not follow a name.
• Do not use the abbreviation OT.  Please spell out occupational therapy or occupational therapist in full.
• Spell out the numbers one through ten, from 11 on, use Arabic numerals. Use Arabic numerals for addresses and dates.
• In numbered addresses, use the abbreviations St., Rd., Ave., and so forth.
• Paragraphs are composed of two or more sentences that develop a single idea. No paragraph should be longer than half a page.
• Separate or highlight key points with numbered or asterisked (*) lists.
  Use the serial comma (for example, "red, white, and blue" -- not "red, white and blue").