Author Guidelines
The goal of the Open Source Business Resource is to provide quality and insightful content regarding the issues relevant to the development and commercialization of open source assets. We believe the best way to achieve this goal is through the contributions and feedback from experts within the business and open source communities.
OSBR readers are looking for practical ideas they can apply within their own organizations. They also appreciate a thorough exploration of the issues and emerging trends surrounding the business of open source. If you are considering contributing an article, start by asking yourself:
1. Does my research or experience provide any new insights or perspectives?
2. Do I often find myself having to explain this topic when I meet people as they are unaware of its relevance?
3. Do I believe that I could have saved myself time, money, and frustration if someone had explained to me the issues surrounding this topic?
4. Am I constantly correcting misconceptions regarding this topic?
5. Am I considered to be an expert in this field? For example, do I present my research or experience at conferences?
If your answer is "yes" to any of these questions, your topic is probably of interest to OSBR readers.
When writing your article, keep the following points in mind:
1. Thoroughly examine the topic; don't leave the reader wishing for more.
2. Know your central theme and stick to it.
3. Demonstrate your depth of understanding for the topic, and that you have considered its benefits, possible outcomes, and applicability.
4. Write in third-person formal style.
These guidelines should assist in the process of translating your expertise into a focused article which adds to the knowledgable resources available through the OSBR.
Formatting Guidelines
1. All contributions are to be submitted in .txt or .rtf format.
2. Indicate if your submission has been previously published elsewhere.
3. Do not send articles shorter than 1500 words or longer than 3000 words.
4. Begin with a thought-provoking quotation that matches the spirit of the article. Research the source of your quotation in order to provide proper attribution.
5. Include a 2-3 paragraph abstract that provides the key messages you will be presenting in the article.
6. Any quotations or references within the article text need attribution. The URL to an online reference is preferred; where no online reference exists, include the name of the person and the full title of the article or book containing the referenced text. If the reference is from a personal communication, ensure that you have permission to use the quote and include a comment to that effect.
7. Provide a 2-3 paragraph conclusion that summarizes the article's main points and leaves the reader with the most important messages.
8. If this is your first article, include a 75-150 word biography.
9. If there are any additional texts that would be of interest to readers, include their full title and location URL.
10. Include 5 keywords for the article's metadata to assist search engines in finding your article.
Submission Preparation Checklist
As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
1. The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor). This is to ensure that we don't infringe upon another publisher's copyright policy.
2. The submission file is in plain text or RTF file format. Images are in JPEG or PNG format.
3. When available, the URLs to access references online are provided, including those for open access versions of the reference. The URLs are ready to click (e.g., http://pkp.sfu.ca).
4. The text is single-spaced and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
5. The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
Copyright Notice
You retain copyright to your work and grant the Talent First Network permission to publish your submission under a Creative Commons license. The Talent First Network owns the copyright to the collection of works comprising each edition of the OSBR. All content on the OSBR and Talent First Network websites is under the Creative Commons attribution license which allows for commercial and non-commercial redistribution as well as modifications of the work as long as the copyright holder is attributed.
This means that you are able, and are encouraged, to republish your work elsewhere and to remix your work (e.g. translate, use in promotional material) as long as you attribute the OSBR as the original publication source.
© 2007 - 2010 Talent First Network
The OSBR is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Authors retain full copyright to their individual works.