About Behind the Spin

Behind the Spin is a public relations magazine for students and young practitioners. We publish articles online throughout the year and plan to produce and distribute an annual print publication based on the best of Behind the Spin.

We welcome English language articles about public relations or of interest to PR students and young practitioners. Though based in UK universities and supported by the CIPR, we aim with your help to take a global perspective.

Behind the Spin content is freely available on the web under a Creative Commons licence. We do not charge for access or pay for contributions (in the open spirit of blogs and Web 2.0 collaboration). Members of the editorial team also volunteer their time. In blog style, each article has its unique web address (permalink) meaning articles will appear in Google searches for keywords like the author’s name.

Forward features

Contributions are welcome at any time on any topic relevant to our readership, but as a guideline we will be seeking contributions on the following areas:

Publication date	PR specialism	Industry sector	Theme
April 2008	Public affairs	Transport	Careers
June 2008	Media relations	Retail	Courses
September 2008	International PR	Sports (eg Olympic Games)	Professionalism
November 2008	Social media	Arts	Careers
January 2009	Internal comms	Local government	Courses
March 2009	Corporate affairs	Third sector	Professionalism
May 2009	PR consultancy	Technology	Careers

Contacts

Editor:
Richard Bailey MCIPR
Leeds Metropolitan University
Leighton Hall
Headingley Campus
Leeds LS6 3QS

Tel: 0113 812 6007
Email: editor@behindthespin.com
Blog: http://prstudies.typepad.com
Wiki: http://prbooks.pbwiki.com

News editor:
Vacant (please contact the editor to discuss)

Web designer:
Simon Wakeman MCIM ACIPR
Website & blog: http://www.simonwakeman.com/

Photo editor:
Victoria Crampton

Publisher:
Vicky King
Chartered Institute of Public Relations
32 St James’s Square
London SW1Y 4JR

Tel: 020 7766 3356
Email: VictoriaK@cipr.co.uk

Editorial guidelines

Though run out of universities with CIPR-approved public relations degree courses, this is not an academic journal. It is a magazine for students and young practitioners that accepts occasional academic contributions as part of its mix.

Articles should be written in the English language (set your spell checker to UK English) and should be intelligible to international readers who may not speak English as their first language. (Many of our better contributors aren’t writing in their first language.)

Sources should be cited by hyperlinks, either embedded in the text or gathered at the end.

A typical article is around 1000 words in length, and based on a specific theme (see the forward features list above for some suggestions.) Your article does not have to be about your opinion on this topic (though we do welcome opinion pieces too) – it could reflect the thoughts of others, or be based on an interview with a specialist practitioner, or based on your research (or that of others if you cite the source).

Here’s an online magazine we like: Spiked is journalistic in style, intellectual in its approach, academic in its citing of sources, and written in plain English. Wow! If you’d rather write in the style of Hello magazine, you’re welcome to try that too.

Richard Bailey
editor@behindthespin.com
March 2008