Editorial Submission Policies & Guidelines for Writers

1. INTRODUCTION. Counselor, The Magazine for Addiction Professionals, serving the addictions and mental health fields, is published bimonthly by Health Communications, Inc., and is published independently of any professional associations within these fields. The magazine has a readership of nearly 18,000 addiction professionals, mental health counselors and therapists, clinical supervisors, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, physicians, nurses, prevention specialists, hospital administrators and treatment center staff, program directors, educators, guidance counselors, juvenile justice and criminal justice personnel.

Counselor features peer-reviewed articles written by professionals in the field of alcohol and drug addiction, as well as professional writers and journalists. 

Original manuscripts only. We seek original ideas on treatment strategies, research, therapeutic approaches and viewpoints regarding addiction and mental and behavioral health. Please familiarize yourself with the style and content of the magazine by visiting the archives at www.counselormagazine.com. We do not accept: recycled term papers; previously published articles; academic, scientific or theoretical dissertations; or articles lacking proper citations. Submission of a manuscript to Counselor represents a certification on the part of the author(s) that it is an original work, and that neither this manuscript nor a version of it has been published elsewhere nor is being considered for publication elsewhere. 

Unsolicited manuscripts, letters of introduction and manuscript proposals. All of these are welcome. Authors are encouraged to contact the Editor before preparing a manuscript to discuss its contents and outline. 

Response to submissions. An acknowledgment e-mail will be sent upon receipt of your submission. Please expect at least 6-8 weeks for a response. 

Peer review. Counselor is a peer-reviewed professional magazine. All manuscripts submitted for consideration as feature articles are reviewed anonymously by at least two members of the Counselor Editorial Board or invited reviewers.

Compensation. Counselor offers no financial compensation for writers. Each
bylined author receives three (3) copies of the Counselor issue in which his or her
article appears.

Non-compliance. Submissions that fail to comply with any portion of the Counselor “Submission Policies and Guidelines for Writers” will not be considered for publication in the magazine. 

2. MISSION STATEMENT. The mission of Counselor, The Magazine for Addiction Professionals is to provide addiction, behavioral health, and mental health professionals with authoritative, cutting-edge information that can be applied in everyday practice. In keeping with this mission, Counselor seeks expertly written manuscripts, composed in language that is easy to understand and appealing to professionals working at any level. Counselor does not publish advertorials or articles that are geared toward promotional pitches of companies, treatment centers, pharmaceutical or other products.

3. MANUSCRIPT STYLE. Manuscripts for Counselor should follow the Associated Press (AP) style, as outlined in the latest edition of the The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual (for more information, see www.apstylebook.com). 

Spelling, grammar and punctuation. You are responsible for preparing manuscript copy which is clearly written in acceptable English and which contains minimal errors of spelling, grammar or punctuation. The Editor is not responsible for correcting errors of spelling and grammar. The manuscript, after acceptance by the Editor, must be immediately ready for typesetting as it is finally submitted by the author(s). Check your paper for the following common errors:

incorrect spellings

incorrect abbreviations

misplaced and dangling modifiers

missing, mismatched or incomplete references

Information consistency. Check the accuracy of all arithmetic calculations, statistics, numerical data, text citations and references. Make sure you are consistent in your use of abbreviations and terminology, and in citing references, from one part of your manuscript to another. INCONSISTENCIES MUST BE AVOIDED. 

References. References should be formatted according to AP style and placed in alphabetical order. Titles of books and journals should be italicized. 

Footnotes. The use of footnotes within the text is strongly discouraged.

Other Items. Manuscripts should be submitted in Microsoft Word with single-spaced lines. The copy must be clean – please refrain from using headers and footers or special tab settings and formatting. 

4. MANUSCRIPT LENGTH. Your manuscript may range from 750-3,500 words, depending on the content. Lengthier manuscripts may be considered, but only at the discretion of the Editor.

5. MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION. Manuscripts must be delivered electronically, as an attachment.

About the Author(s) page. Please submit the following information about the author(s):

Names of all authors.

Brief biographical information about each author, including academic degrees, professional titles, affiliations, telephone number, mailing and
e-mail addresses (if applicable, clearly indicate the corresponding author).

Artwork (includes tables, figures and illustrations). Any material that is not textual is considered artwork. This includes tables, figures, diagrams, charts, graphs, illustrations and photos. Please submit these in separate PDF or JPG format. Do not embed these items in the Word Document.

Photography. Photographs may be mailed to the Editor, submitted on floppy
disk or CD-ROM, or via e-mail in a standard digital format (e.g., JPG, TIFF). Digital images must be submitted at a resolution of at least 300dpi. 

6. SUBMISSION CATEGORIES. Counselor considers for publication:

Feature Articles. 2,500-3,500 words with proper AP Style citations within the text
and matching list of references at the end of the article. Word-count limit includes references.

Alternative Therapies. 750-1,000 word profile of a proven addiction treatment therapy that exists on the edge of mainstream treatment. 

Assessment Tools. Questionnaires and client assessment guidelines for clinical use. 

First Person. 750-1,000 word article written in the first person about a personal experience that has affected you as an addiction professional, i.e., personal battle with addiction, problem, success, loss, etc. 

Media Review. 750-800 word review of addictions-related literature, video, CD, tape or other media. 

Opinion. 850-word essay, written in the first person, that states and supports an opinion related to an addictions/mental health topic. 

Prevention. 750-1,000 word article on cutting-edge prevention efforts and approaches.

Treatment. 750-1,000 word article on cutting-edge addiction treatments.

7. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. Letters should be no more than 300 words pertaining to an article appearing within the last six months of the most recent issue. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Furthermore, the Editor welcomes questions, stated in no more than 100 words, which highlight ethical quandaries faced by addiction professionals.

8. ALTERATIONS REQUIRED BY EDITOR AND REVIEWERS. Many times, a manuscript is accepted by the Editor contingent upon changes that are mandated by anonymous reviewers and members of the Editorial Board. If the Editor returns your manuscript for revisions, you are responsible for retyping any sections of the manuscript to incorporate these revisions. The fully revised, final manuscript should be submitted via e-mail.

9. CONTINUING EDUCATION. Counselor is the magazine with the longest-running magazine-based continuing education (CE) program in the field (since 1997). Three feature articles per issue are selected for the CE Quiz. The Editor may interview you about the main points of the manuscript to be addressed by the quiz.

10. TYPESETTING. You will not receive galley proofs of your article. Editorial revisions, if any, must therefore be made while your article is still in manuscript. 

11. REPRINTS. Each author will receive three (3) copies of the magazine issue in which his or her article appears. These compensation copies are sent as soon as possible (within one week) after the issue is published and in circulation. Please do not query the Editor about reprints. All such questions should be sent directly to: Fred Courtright, The Permissions Company, 47 Seneca Road, P. O. Box 604, Mount Pocono, PA 18344 , phone: 570-839-7477, fax: 570-839-7448, e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

12. COPYRIGHT. Copyright ownership in manuscripts submitted to Counselor will remain with the author, who grants certain rights to the Publisher. The Editor’s letter acknowledging receipt of the manuscript will be accompanied by a form explaining this policy in detail. All authors must sign the form and fax a copy or return the original to the Editor as soon as possible (fax: 954-570-8506). Failure to return the form in a timely fashion will result in a delay in review and subsequently, if your manuscript is accepted, publication. 

13. ETHICS. The development, preparation and publication of Counselor is undertaken with great care. However, the Publisher, the Editor, employees and agents of Health Communications, Inc. and all its imprints are not responsible for any errors contained in the magazine or for any consequences that many ensue from use of the magazine or information contained in it. 

Reproduction of published work. Permission must be granted by the Publisher for any use or reproduction of the magazine or any part thereof. Statements of fact or opinion are the responsibility of the author(s) alone and do not represent the opinions, policies, or position of Counselor or the Publisher. The Editor and Publisher disclaim any responsibility or liability for such material. 

Advertising. Neither the Editor nor the Publisher guarantees, warrants, or endorses any product or service advertised in this publication, nor do they guarantee any claim made by the manufacturer of such product or service.

Disclosure of financial interests. Potential financial interest in any submission must be disclosed to the Editor in the cover letter (see No. 14). Funding sources supporting the work should be cited.

Publication date. The Editor reserves the right to change the publication date of an article at any time.

Revocation of articles. Once the writer’s contract is submitted and accepted by the Editor, the author(s) may not revoke the article. The Editor reserves the right to revoke a manuscript from the editorial schedule at any time.

14. SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS. Please include a cover letter with all submissions. The letter should specify: (1) the submission category (see No. 6 on page 3; note: Letters to the Editor do not require cover letters); (2) the responsible author and his or her telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address; (3) a statement by the responsible author certifying that all
co-authors have seen and agree with the contents of the manuscript. Manuscripts should be submitted via e-mail as an attachment (formats accepted: Microsoft Word) or via mail with a diskette to:

Stephanie Muller, Editor/Director of Professional Publishing
Counselor, The Magazine for Addiction Professionals
3201 SW 15th Street
Deerfield Beach, FL 33442 USA

Note: Manuscripts will not be returned.

15. EDITORIAL INQUIRIES. All editorial inquiries should be directed to the Editor. To request a copy of the editorial calendar, please contact the Editor.

THESE MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES CAN BE OBTAINED VIA
E-MAIL FROM THE EDITOR OR AT WWW.COUNSELORMAGAZINE.COM.

Phone: 800-851-9100 ext. 258

Fax: 954-570-8506

E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it