Article Submission Guidelines

Article Submission Release Form (.pdf)

Content Ownership
Articles submitted to the Facility Management Journal (FMJ) become the exclusive property of the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) upon publication and are subject to all applicable copyright provisions. Permission to reprint, reproduce or use FMJ material may be obtained by contacting the FMJ editor-in-chief at the association’s international headquarters in Houston, Texas, USA. Permission is granted on a case-by-case basis and must include proper citation.

Submitting an Article: The Proposal
Prior to submitting a completed manuscript, you must submit a written abstract or outline for the proposed article. This allows the editor-in-chief to review the planned content and work with you to ensure you are adequately addressing the topic and not including information covered in another article planned for the same issue.

Abstracts and outlines for proposed articles should be submitted at least four months prior to the issue, ensuring you have adequate time to prepare your final manuscript. Articles that have been approved will be due three months prior to the issue. For example, final articles to be published in the May/June issue should be received by Feb. 1. You are strongly encouraged to submit your article earlier.

Submitting an Article: Final Manuscript Format
Your articles should be submitted in Microsoft Word format by e-mail to the editor-in-chief.

Submitting an Article: Figures and Photographs
You are encouraged to include figures and photographs when submitting your article. While the figures and/or photographs you submit may not be used, they are helpful to the FMJ graphic designer in planning the artwork and layout for your article.

Photograph Specifications

• Images must be submitted in color.
• Only high-resolution (300 dpi) eps or jpgs will be accepted. Please do not embed photos in Word files. Rather, send them as separate image files.
• Dimensions in range of 7” x 5” are preferred—this generally means a minimum size of 3MB. Author headshots can be smaller but must be high-resolution.
• When applicable, include a brief caption and/or photo attribution information.

Writing an Article: Article Length
Articles must be between 1,500-2,000 words. Please note that this word count is intended as a guideline only. The key is to address your topic adequately.

Writing an Article: Content and Sources
You are encouraged to include case studies in your article. Articles written by or co-written with facility managers will be given priority. Your articles should:

• Explain how to accomplish something, such as writing a request for proposal or conducting a facility audit;
• Contain a comparison, case study and/or analysis;
• Apply operational statistics such as cost or energy management; and
• Define an application and explain best-and worst-case scenarios.

Articles that emphasize a specific company or product will either be heavily edited or not used.

Publication of an Article: Editing and Graphics
The editor-in-chief reserves the right to edit (in whole or part) any articles received or solicited for publication. This includes the discretion to select titles, artwork and layout. Every effort is made to work with the author.

A Final Note
These guidelines are intended to address only the most basic aspects of submitting an article for publication in the Facility Management Journal. Please send any ideas you have, outlines or abstracts to:

Andrea E. Sanchez
Editor-in-Chief, Facility Management Journal
Director, Communications
International Facility Management Association
1 East Greenway Plaza, Suite 1100
Houston, TX 77046-0104 USA
+1-713-623-4362 
+1-713-623-6124 FAX
andrea.sanchez@ifma.org

Video Submission Guidelines (.pdf)
Video Submission Release Form (.pdf)

The Proposal
Prior to sending a completed video, you must submit a written abstract or outline for the proposed footage. This allows the editors to review the planned content and work with you to ensure you are adequately addressing the topic and you are not including information covered in other videos on IFMA’s social media sites or FMJ Online.

Videos for FMJ Online
When submitting videos for FMJ Online, please check the editorial calendar and keep the theme of each issue in mind. FMJ Online videos for consideration must be submitted three months prior to each issue in order to ensure adequate time for final reviews.

Videos for IFMA’s Social Media Sites
Videos for consideration in IFMA’s social media sites must be submitted on the first of every month.

File Format
The following formats are accepted:

•  Windows Media Video(.avi)
• .3GP (cell phones)
• .AVI (windows)
• .MOV (mac)
• .MP4 (ipod/psp)
• .MPEG
• .FLV (adobe flash)
• .SWF (shockwave flash)
• .MKV (h.264)

All videos for FMJ Online must be submitted in flash format (.FLV).

Length of Footage
Videos should not be longer than six minutes. Submissions that are longer will not be considered. In addition, final footage must be one gigabyte (GB) or less.

Content and Sources
Your videos may:

• Not be advertorial in nature;
• Explain how to accomplish something, such as writing a request-for-proposal or conducting a facility audit;
• Highlight/tour a facility;
• Contain a comparison, case study and/or analysis;
• Apply operational statistics such as cost or energy management;
• Define an application and explain best-and worst-case scenarios; and/or
• Include general topics beneficial to the facility management community.

Videos that emphasize a specific company or product will not be considered. All product demos/advertorials should be sent directly to the corporate connections department.

Sending a Video
Videos should be sent via CD-ROM, DVD (burned in acceptable format) or USB flash drive and mailed to the address below. Please keep in mind that media will not be returned.

Posting of a Video/Editing
Although only final versions of a video will be accepted, IFMA staff reserves the right to edit (in whole or part) any videos received or solicited for posting purposes. This includes the discretion to add or remove content from any footage. Every effort is made to work with the owner of the video.

A Final Note
These guidelines are intended to address only the most basic aspects of submitting a video for inclusion in IFMA’s social media sites and/or the FMJ Online. Please send any ideas you have, outlines or abstracts to:

Andrea E. Sanchez
Editor-in-Chief, Facility Management Journal
Director, Communications
International Facility Management Association
1 East Greenway Plaza, Suite 1100
Houston, TX 77046-0104 USA
+1-713-623-4362 
+1-713-623-6124 FAX
andrea.sanchez@ifma.org