Writing Guidelines
PHILOSOPHY. We believe all writing and communication on this Web site -- including comments, blogs, forums and submissions for outside publication -- should be civil, accurate and respectful of others. All work should be the author's original work unless noted.
COPYRIGHTS.In order to publish student work in as many venues as possible, YWP retains the copyright to all work submitted or written on the Web site. HOWEVER, all authors and artists retain all commercial rights to the work forever and therefore has the right to sell the work whenever and wherever and to anyone and is not obligated to compensate YWP for such republishing. For more, click here.
TO SUBMIT WRITING. You must sign in (registration required) and create an entry to submit your piece for potential outside publication. The entry will be reviewed by student judges who will determine whether it gets published in the newspaper, on radio and/or on this Web site. We will let you know by email if it is chosen; we are not able to let you know if it is NOT chosen.
COLLEGE MENTORS. Your work will also be reviewed by YWP College Mentors who will offer feedback and most of the submissions. This feedback will consist of what the mentor liked about your piece and what one thing you could do to make it better. You will receive notification if a mentor has commented on your piece. For more, click here.
TO SUBMIT ART. Registered users can post photos and scanned art on the site. To submit work for potential outside publication, however, you must email high resolution photos or scans of art -- at least 200 dpi and at least 5" by 7" in size. Send those submissions, WITH information about you and the piece of art, to Geoffrey Gevalt by clicking here. You can also mail a CD or DVD (PC platform please) with your digital art to YWP, 69 Swift St. #300, South Burlington, VT 05403. Phone: 802.860-0570. For more, click here.
EDITING. We reserve the right to edit pieces for clarity and space. We will make every attempt to contact the author if editing changes are substantive. You should check your submissions to ensure that spelling and basic grammar is correct; this includes work written on the Web. (Please note that on this Web site's program, if a word is misspelled it is underlined in red!) We often cannot use the "title" or "headline" chosen by the author because of issues of space, clarity or layout.
PLAGIARISM. Plagiarism is defined as using someone else's ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of those ideas and words. It doesn't matter if you don't intend to do it, it is still plagiarism. YWP is strict in its belief that you should not pass off someone else's work as your own. We see the use of someone else's work as a breach of faith that compromises this project and the publications in which we publish. Our credibility -- and the credibility of the other young artists -- depends on your awareness and compliance with our policy.
For greater clarity, YWP defines plagiarism as:
- using, word for word or partial phrasing, another person’s written or spoken words;
- paraphrasing the essence of another person's written or spoken words;
- using another person's drawing, artwork, graphics, idea or facts that are not common knowledge.
An easier way to determine this is to ask yourself: "Am I using someone else's words or phrasing or ideas in my piece?" If so, "Have I given them credit by attributing those words, phrases or ideas?"
If we discover that something has been plagiarized we will request a conversation with the student with his teacher or parent or guardian present if desired. We will seek to determine what went wrong or how the situation evolved. We will then determine a course of action that will generally require, if the piece was published, a published correction and a ban for a year from participation in the YWP.
GOOD SENSE. While all this sounds ponderous, it is good to remember that what you write should reflect who you are and what you are and what you are thinking. Be respectful.
Geoffrey Gevalt
YWP Editor
