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Writing for Fraud Magazine
A Guide for Contributors
Publisher
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
The Gregor Building · 716 West Avenue
Austin, TX 78701-2727 USA
Tel: (800) 245-3321(U.S. and Canada)
Tel.: +1 (512) 478-9070 (other)
www.acfe.com · dcarozza@acfe.com
Purpose
Fraud Magazine is a 72-page, four-color magazine published
bi-monthly by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE)
as a service to its members and others interested in the deterrence
and detection of fraud and white-collar crime. Articles published
in Fraud Magazine cover a variety of topics related to white-collar
crime, including forensic accounting; fraud investigation techniques;
white-collar crime statutes, legislation, and regulatory issues;
computer and management information systems abuse; and industry-specific
concerns such as insurance, healthcare, and financial institution
fraud.
Audience
Articles published in Fraud Magazine are directed at a wide
range of professionals globally who have an interest in white-collar
crime, including fraud examiners, internal auditors, forensic accountants,
loss prevention professionals, investigators, law enforcement officials,
financial officers, and academicians. Most readers are Certified
Fraud Examiners, who have been granted the professional designation
by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, and Associate Members
of the Association.
Queries
The editors encourage contributors to submit completed articles.
However, query letters, outlines, or summaries will be accepted
for consideration.
Style
Material for Fraud Magazine should be written in a clear,
straightforward style. Though some papers by academicians are accepted,
Fraud Magazine is not an academic journal; scholarly formats
and styles should be avoided. Readers want articles and columns
containing practical principles they can apply immediately in their
positions and careers.
Because the ACFE is a growing global entity, the best material
will be of interest to readers worldwide and will provide insights
and fraud examination techniques that those readers can apply. Contributors
should focus on a specific type of fraud and the techniques used
to prevent, detect, or investigate it. Country-specific statutes,
references, abbreviations, and jargon should be avoided when possible
by replacing them with globally understandable terms. When use of
such terms is unavoidable, they should be explained to assist readers
unfamiliar with those terms.
Contributors should use short sentences and paragraphs, similar
to magazine and newspaper styles. Articles should lead off with
an interesting case example of the fraud discussed. The remainder
of the text will show how the fraud is investigated and resolved.
Successful articles contain strong examples, anecdotes, current
facts and figures, and sound approaches to solving problems in the
detection and deterrence of white-collar crime. Major points should
be supported and adequately analyzed. Materials rejected by Fraud
Magazine reviewers are often overly broad; inappropriate in
tone; written for the wrong audience; too short; inadequately supported
or researched; too "U.S.-centric"; deal with topics, approaches,
or techniques that are elementary to experienced fraud examiners;
are promotional sales pieces; or concentrate on just one case history
or "war story" without supplying applicable fraud examination
techniques.
Commercialism
Submitted articles should not be linked to proprietary products
or procedures unless the article is an excerpt from a book. Specific
commercial services, products, or organizations should not be written
about unless they are 1) necessary to the article, such as a review
of fraud examination software or a publication; or 2) if an interviewee
or author mentions the product as being helpful in his or her position
or on a fraud examination case. [The interviewee or author should
not be employed by the company that manufactures or markets that
product(s) mentioned in the article.]
Articles shouldn't promote the author's firm or product (they aren't
advertising sales pieces) but should contain practical, transferable
concepts backed up case histories.
Article Preparation
When submitting a draft article that has been approved for publication,
the contributor(s) should provide a full name, academic or professional
title, academic degrees, professional credentials, complete address
(including e-mail), and telephone and fax numbers.
Articles are normally six to 12 pages in length, or from 1,500 to
4,000 words. However, shorter items, ranging from a couple of paragraphs
to 1,200 words, may also be accepted for use in combination with
other such pieces, particularly if they communicate insightful tips
and techniques, which fraud examiners can use.
Please double space between lines and have only one character
space between sentences. Please set all articles in 12 point type.
Footnotes should be used sparingly, designated numerically in the
text, and be placed on a separate page at the end of the manuscript.
Footnotes should follow this format:
Books
Full name(s) of contributor(s), title of book, publisher, city of
publisher, year published, page(s) of reference.
Articles
Full name(s) of contributor(s), title of article, title of periodical,
issue date, volume and number, page(s) of article.
Contributors should suggest titles for their articles. In most cases,
the editors will reword titles to fit style and space constraints.
Be sure to check with your supervisor to see if your contribution
needs to be reviewed by your entity's management. Disclaimers
are allowed in articles.
Graphics
Computer-generated tables, charts, and graphs should be used where
possible to help emphasize and clarify points in the article, and
to provide graphic interest. Reproduced or hand-drawn exhibits may
be acceptable. Artwork need not be camera-ready. The information
in exhibits should be kept as simple and readable as possible.
Tables, charts, and graphs should be cited in the text. Contributors
should refer to them as exhibits, and number them consecutively.
The exhibit should include a brief title as well. For example, "Exhibit
1: ABC Co. Statement of Income."
Submission Format
Contributors should e-mail contributions as attachments to dcarozza@acfe.com.
All submissions should be in Word or WordPerfect. No PDFs or non-digital
submissions accepted. To ensure an anonymous and impartial review,
contributor(s) name(s), affiliations, biographies, and other identifying
information should be deleted from the copy. (Those details will
be added if the material is accepted for publication.)
Contributors should also submit résumés or curriculum
vitae with their draft articles.
Review Process
Contributors should allow approximately four to eight weeks for
the review process. The editors and members of a peer board review
manuscripts submitted to Fraud Magazine. Reviewers consider
each manuscript on the basis of technical accuracy, usefulness to
readers, and timeliness.
If reviewers believe material is not appropriate for Fraud Magazine,
an editor will notify the contributor(s) by letter, telephone, or
e-mail. If reviewers believe additional clarification or information
is needed before the material can be evaluated, an editor will ask
the contributor(s) to make changes before reviewers make a final
decision.
If the editors accept a draft article, editors will notify the contributor(s)
by letter, telephone, or e-mail. The editors and contributor(s)
then will work closely on preparing the material for publication.
The editors will send a final version of the article to the contributor(s)
before the art director designs the magazine issue.
Author Compensation
Fraud Magazine generally does not pay contributors for providing
material. Contributors receive five complimentary copies of the
issue in which their articles appear. Contributors may make reprints
at no charge. However, they must place the following copyright permission
line on the first page of every copy:
Reprinted with permission from the xxxxx/xxxxx 20XX issue of
Fraud Magazine, a publication of the Association of Certified
Fraud Examiners in Austin, Texas
©20XX.
Publication Scheduling
Fraud Magazine operates on a two- to four-month lead schedule.
That is, the staff begins planning an issue approximately four months
before the publication date. When combined with the time needed
for editing and review, six or more months may elapse from the time
material is received until it is published.
Other factors affecting the publication date are the existing backlog
of manuscripts already accepted, the subject matter of the material
(an article on a similar topic may have appeared recently), or an
issue's theme.
Copyright
The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners assumes sole copyright
of any article published in Fraud Magazine. Fraud Magazine
follows a policy of exclusive publication. Permission of the publisher
is required before an article can be copied or reproduced. Requests
for reprinting an article must be directed in writing to the publisher
or editor. (See attached Contributor Agreement.)
Contributor Agreement
Title of Article:
Contributor(s):
Publication: Fraud Magazine
The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Inc. (hereinafter
"ACFE"), 716 West Avenue, Austin, TX 78701, USA, publisher
Fraud Magazine, and the undersigned ___________________________
(hereinafter "contributor(s)"), of _______________________________________________
hereby agree as follows:
(a) The contributor(s) specifically warrants to ACFE that the above-named
article is an original work created by the contributor(s) and that
it does not infringe on the rights of others, including copyrights,
and that all source material has been attributed.
(b) The contributor(s) specifically warrants that they have obtained
permission and copyright releases for materials quoted, adapted,
or otherwise included in the article.
(c) The contributor(s) specifically grants to ACFE the right to
publish the article in any edition of Fraud Magazine as selected
by the editors and the non-exclusive right to reprint the article,
either in whole or in part, in any other ACFE publication, including
promotional pieces. The publishing and reprint rights granted herein
include all forms of media, including, but not limited to, print,
electronic databases, and Internet/Web site distribution.
(d) The contributor(s) warrants that the article has not been and
will not be printed or distributed by any other publisher prior
to its publication in Fraud Magazine. Either the contributor(s)
or the ACFE may withdraw the article if it becomes outdated before
publication.
(e) ACFE recognizes that the author may grant reprint permission
to other publications. The contributor(s) specifically agrees that
if the article is reprinted either individually or as part of any
other publication, credit will be given to "Fraud Magazine
(month/year), a publication of the Association of Certified Fraud
Examiners, Austin, TX, © 20XX" as the source of first
publication. The contributor(s) agree to notify ACFE of all reprints.
(f) The contributor(s) and ACFE agree that the only consideration
for the rights granted to ACFE is the publication of the article
by ACFE in Fraud Magazine. The contributor(s) and ACFE agree
that all expenses involved in production, publication, and promotion
of the article (e.g., e-mail, fax, express delivery, phone, research,
etc.) will be borne by the party incurring the expense.
(g) In the event the above article is not published by ACFE or is
withdrawn by the contributor(s) before publication, this agreement
becomes null and void.
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