Deadline

If you are having trouble meeting the deadline, please contact the editor. Late submissions can be accepted on occasion if we know its coming.

File name of your article

No more than 8 characters in length (as the file will go to a mac platform). Please label the article file name as something related to that article. Eg Housing. Do not label it article or dfm since it will be harder for us to find.

Graphics

Must be at least 300 DPI (commercial print quality) or, if a JPEG, at least 150k in file size. If the graphic is a hard copy photo contact dfm to make arrangements for scanning. Note the file name of the graphic at the end of the article. Do not insert graphics into a word document. Send them as a separate file. Inserting graphics into a word doc can make them unfit for use in design software. If your graphic is too large to email then please burn the graphics to CD and send them to us. Advise the CD is incoming.

Headings

Sentence case and in bold; eg

In the downtime: bowling

Instructions (such as side bar, captions, pull quotes):

List instructions in parentheses prior to the text you wish treated. eg.

(Text box the below)

The following elements need to be considered when moving house...

Page Formatting

Use A4 page default setting. Do not alter the margins.

Spell check

Please spell check your document. Note that some computers are set up for 'American English'.

Stand out information (sub headings etc)

List such information in bold.

Style of Writing

Articles should be written in an easy to read manner and 'de-bureacratised' as much as possible, especially when discussing policy.

Text Formatting

Arial 12. One and a half spacing. Left justify text.

Web Addresses

If you have a web address in your article break it out as a separate item after the paragraph where it is referenced. Do not include it in the body of the paragraph. This is so the web address easily stands out from the article and because if you have a web address at the end of a sentence then some people will put the period into the URL when typing the address in and therefore it will be incorrect. Do not include http:// for Internet, as opposed to intranet, addresses.

For example

See the dfm website for details on how to prepare your copy.

dfm: http://www.defence.gov.au/dpe/dpe_site/publications/dfm/main.htm

Word Count

Please look at the following to determine the sort of word count you should aim for. If your article has tables then treat it as a graphic in terms of determining count. Please advise the editor of whether a future submission will be one or two pages.

One page article

• No pictures - 550-650 words
• One small picture - 500-600 words
• One large picture - 400 words
• Large heading - 500-600 words

Two page article

• No pictures - 100-1300 words
• One small picture - 1000-1200 words
• One large picture - 900-1000 words
• Two pictures (one large, one small) - 800-900 words.

(With thanks to Defence Magazine for the guidelines)