Writers' Guidelines

Today's Dietitian welcomes lively, timely, and engaging articles on all subjects of interest to the nutrition profession. We encourage the submission of letters to the editor, queries for profiles of exceptional dietitians, features, and the following departments:

  • Cultural Foodways: Culturally-focused stories written from a first-person perspective and sharing a specific region’s foods, flavors, and culinary traditions
  • Bookshelf: Reviews of books by, for, about, and of interest to dietitians
  • Community Matters: Stories on how dietitians impact community nutrition needs and targeted populations
  • Food for Thought: Essays on any issues pertinent to the profession
  • Career Development: Practical strategies to help dietitians thrive in diverse areas of professional practice
  • Focus on Fitness: Stories highlighting movement, sports, and athletics
  • Research Briefs: Summaries of new research on any area impacting nutrition care
  • Ready, Set, Dietetic: Essays on topics impacting dietetic internship directors and new or soon-to-be dietitians
  • Clinical Nutrition: Stories showcasing the relationship between nutrition and disease; may include stories about management of inpatient or outpatient clinical settings
  • Food Service Forum: Essays sharing developments and issues affecting food service management
  • LTC Concerns: Stories relevant to long term care settings

Queries, Abstracts, and Outlines

A one-page query, abstract, or outline of your story idea is preferred. Please e-mail your proposal to the editor at TDeditor@gvpub.com. A submitted query, abstract, or outline will be read only if the e-mail includes the author's full name, credentials, academic degree, title, disclosure of all affiliations, postal address, daytime phone number, and e-mail address. Personal information is for verification, not for publication. If there is more than one author, provide information for each contributor and designate one author to handle correspondence.

When submitting queries, include a signed statement that the article idea is original, has not been submitted elsewhere, and is not under consideration by any other publication or electronic medium. Also include a brief author biography.

Manuscript Submission

Unsolicited manuscripts will not be accepted. The manuscript for an assigned story should be sent via e-mail as a Microsoft Word document on or before the copy due date supplied by the editor at the time of assignment. The manuscript should always include a brief (50 to 70 words) author biography.

The editor will share additional tailored details for each assignment with the author(s) as needed at the time of assignment.

Length

As a general guideline, feature stories typically run 2,100 to 2,500 words and departments run 1,200 to 1,500 words. Authors are encouraged to submit sidebars, charts/graphs, and other relevant images once the editor assigns the article.

References

Information from other published works should be completely and accurately referenced in the order in which it is cited in the text. List references in numerical order according to the American Medical Association Manual of Style. All health claims and sources should be cited throughout. Provide a list of individuals interviewed for the article and include the interviewee's full name, title, affiliation, phone number, and e-mail address. Only high-quality, peer-reviewed research (eg, primary and secondary literature) should be cited. For quotes collected from experts, additional fact-checking and verification of statements by peer-reviewed research is required.

Artwork

Submission of photographs, charts, tables, and other graphics is encouraged. Please submit any artwork or graphics along with a statement of originality. If the artwork has been previously published or is based on previously published material, written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce or adapt that artwork must be submitted. Consent forms must be provided by any individuals identifiable in photographs. Photographs should be submitted electronically as JPEG, TIFF, PDF, or EPS files. Images must have at least 300 dpi resolution. All photos, tables, and other graphics should be clearly labeled and captioned. Tables should be numbered in order of their citation in the article.

Author Responsibilities

Authors are solely responsible for the content of submitted articles. The magazine accepts no responsibility for inaccuracies in manuscripts or references. It is the author's responsibility to notify the magazine of any potential conflict of interest with respect to submitted articles and to acknowledge affiliation with any organization or entity mentioned in the text and/or financial interest in any subject matter, organization, or product discussed.

Editing

While the editors will attempt to preserve the author's voice whenever possible, all accepted manuscripts or letters to the editor will be edited for space and clarity according to the magazine's style and format.