We welcome articles on any aspect of learning disability.
How to submit an article
Email your idea to the editor with the word ‘Article’ in the subject line.
We cannot accept articles written in full before being discussed and agreed with the editor, we do not run advertorials and we do not offer copy approval (when the subjects of articles are offered the opportunity to read the piece before publication and make changes).
If you have an idea, we welcome a brief outline on email – not the whole article. Tell us a little about yourself and the article, including if you are interviewing anyone, plus any facts, statistics or news you plan to draw on. Keep your idea simple – an article that covers too many points can be confusing to read. Let us know if any of the content you plan to send us has been published elsewhere.
You will usually hear back within a few days; as we are a small freelance team, we do not have the capacity to reply immediately or offer detailed feedback on pitches.
The editor will discuss article content and length as well as deadline with you. A one-page article usually needs about 550 words and a double page around 1,200, depending on the layout. A half-page review is usually around 400 words
Once received, your article will be edited and laid out. In line with standard journalistic practice, we may come back to you if we need to clarify anything and we do not circulate proofs for feedback on our editing.
If you cannot meet a deadline, let us know as soon as possible. As Community Living comes out quarterly, we plan issues weeks and even months in advance.
Pictures
We like pictures – please check we can use them without infringing anyone’s copyright.
We prefer articles of people doing things, rather than mugshots.
Please include caption information and tell us who to credit the picture to. If you are using a free picture from the internet, send us the full website address.
If you plan to take a photo to go with your article, set your phone or camera to provide the largest possible image at maximum quality. Send the original image file. Please do not edit, ‘enhance’, resize or crop an image – we’ll do this in house.