HBR Guidelines for Authours
HBR covers a wide range of topics, including strategy, leadership, organizational change, negotiations, operations, innovation, decision making, marketing, finance, work-life balance, and managing teams. We publish articles of many lengths (some in both print and digital forms, and some in digital only), graphics, podcasts, videos, slide presentations, and just about any other media that might help us share an idea effectively.
Here are the five qualities we look for when evaluating what to publish:
1. Expertise: You don't have to be well known to be a contributor, but you must know a lot about the subject you're writing about.
2. Evidence: It's not enough to know your subject deeply -- you have to prove it to the reader. Referring to supporting research is one good way to do this; describing relevant examples is another. If you have interesting data, let us know.
3. Originality: New ideas in management are rare and precious -- and one of the primary reasons readers turn to HBR. If you're writing about a well-worn topic, we'll be looking for a unique argument or insight.
4. Usefulness: HBR readers come to us not only to stay on top of new developments in management thinking, but also to change the way they and their organizations actually do things. If you can explain your thinking so that the reader understands how to apply it in a real situation, that will make it more powerful.
5. Writing that's persuasive and a pleasure to read: HBR readers are smart and skeptical and busy. If you don't capture their interest right away, they will move on to something else.
Process notes for the magazine. The evaluation process for long-form features in the magazine is more formal. It's fine to send a pitch for a magazine feature to an editor, but if the idea is promising, eventually you'll be asked to submit a formal proposal and narrative outline. The proposal should answer the following questions, though it doesn't need to be in a Q&A format.
- What is the central message of the article you propose to write?
- What is important, useful, new, or counterintuitive about your idea?
- Why do managers need to know about it? How can your idea be applied today?
- What is the source of your authority? On what previous work (either your own or others') does this idea build?
- What academic, professional, or personal experience will you draw on?
The narrative outline should be no more than 800 words and should lay out the structure of the proposed article. We want to understand how the logic of your argument will flow. Please illustrate your points with real-world examples or provide one extended, detailed example.