Contributor Guidelines

Submit articles that are original and align with the theme of an “Air Force Leader”. Content that is not relevant or beneficial will not be accepted.
Check out our popular and top posts to understand what kind of articles we feature here and what engages readers the most.
Write quality material that is well thought out and adds value for readers. Recommended length is 1k to 2k words, though exceptions based on merit are considered. Post editing is minimal, so organized content (with no fluff or repetitive structures) will have the highest chance of being featured — add details and lists if needed to expand the content.
Derivative work is accepted, but credit must be given for all content, to include images. In particular, contributors must understand our Terms of Use and Disclaimer policy, as well as the Fair Use Act if referencing copyrighted material (see section below for further details).
Avoid regurgitating topics already thoroughly covered on the web; instead, link out to the sites where you gathered your research.
Clickbait is highly discouraged and headlines or remarks that sensationalize, exaggerate, or misrepresent the subject matter will not be featured.
Finally, have something you want to genuinely share with the Air Force Leader community!

Images

All images must only be shared if you have sufficient permission from the copyright owner to do so.

Guest authors are encouraged to either use their own photos or those with a Creative Commons license. We recommend using the Google Image Reverse Search Engine to validate an image if attribution is unknown. Do not use an image if you cannot verify its attribution and license.

There are many free and legal options for locating images for your article. Wikimedia Commons is a valuable free image resource. Flickr also maintains a large Creative Commons repository. And as a last step, use a Google Image search with advanced “usage rights” option selected to “free to use or share” to identify other free image sites and potential candidate pictures. Note that as a general rule-of-thumb, Google search images should not be used as many of these are copyrighted.

Rules of Engagement for Contributors and Commenters

Profanity is always unacceptable, leave your politics at the door, and always stay on topic and within our theme.
Disagreement is acceptable and even understood, but please be constructive and tolerant for everyone’s shared developmental betterment.
Remember that what you put on the internet is always on the internet. Do not share media or content without permission if it could directly affect or impact a third party.
Never Forget OPSEC — this site is for developing leaders, not missions.
And above all, remain professional, civil, and respectful.

Contributors are authorized and even encouraged to use our Crowdsource forum to solicit input for future articles and publications. Comments and remarks on past postings may also be used either in whole or in part per our Terms of Use policy regarding comment ownership.

Comment Reply Recommendation

Contributors are encouraged to respond to any and all comment queries related to their articles. It need not be detailed and could be as simple as an acknowledgment and appreciation that another felt compelled to comment. This will help build our community and encourage guests to revisit. It also further develops the conversation about your post and will often provide new insights that you hadn’t before considered.

Editing Posts

Editing private posts on The Taxiway is highly encouraged as your understanding evolves. This may be based on feedback from others comments or your own continuing research. Note though that editing will be restricted once the post is featured and publically available.

Need Help Finding a Topic to Write About

Besides aligning with the theme of an Air Force Leader, pick a topic that will interest you and your audience. We recommend the following ways to identify topics that people want to hear about — use our Crowdsource platform, read the comments on other posts (and read our other posts!), see what Questions others are asking, check out the Ideas they are pushing, or use sites like Answer The Public, Quora, or Keyword Tool (for common autofill statistics) to find common questions around your topic. Remember to speak with readers and not at them.

Fair Use Notice

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and as outlined in our Disclaimer policy, contributors may use copyrighted content for educational and research purposes. A common scenario may be the advancement of a leadership topic through the case study of a popular book or movie. For compliance, authors will ensure all material is not distinctly reproduced; but rather expressed in a unique, transformative manner, and one that does not affect the market value of the copyright.

Contributor Agreement

By submitting an article to Air Force Leader, you agree to and acknowledge our Terms of Use, Disclaimer, and Privacy Policy. As well as the policy in this Contributor Guideline. You also forfeit any revenue associated with affiliate links that may be added to your content. And finally, as iterated in our policies, we retain the right to the copyright of all submitted content.

When will my article be featured?

Not all articles will be featured. And contributors may or may not be provided with an explanation detailing why. Multiple submissions will not increase your visibility with site editors, so please only submit your request for consideration once.

An email will be sent to you automatically for notification on publication. We plan on featuring one to two articles daily, so accepted content may be in the queue for several weeks pending a publication window. Some posts may also be held longer in order to group into a planned series.

Can I share my article now?

Yes! All contributable posts are publically displayable and viewable on the Taxiway. Anonymous submissions can be previewed on the Posts Pending Review page under the Taxiway. Guests must be logged in to view the content for both.

Note that guest posts on the Taxiway are not searchable, nor do they reside in our public archives (though liked guest posts are visible in your favorites). Posts that are selected as part of our daily feature will be searchable and indexed in our archives.

A direct link to your author archives or the listing may also be shared along with a small excerpt to bring attention to your article. Thanks again for your contribution.