Submission Guidelines and Policies

Submission Types

• Original perspectives and commentary on China-related current events, historical connections, cultural issues, socio-economic trends, business development, etc.
• Must have clear and well-supported argument
• Commentary / Opinion Piece
  • 600 – 900 words (1-2 pages)
• Event Summary and Interview
  • 600 – 900 words (1-2 pages)
• In-depth Analysis
  • 900 – 1200 words (2-3 pages)
• 我们同样接受优秀的中文投稿，届时会发布在我们的中文选萃栏目

Guidelines and Tips

• We offer the platform from which you can share your thoughts and perspectives with like-minded China scholars and graduate students who are interested in China. We do not offer monetary compensation for articles.
• Write in an accessible style in order to reach a broader audience. Look at commentary and analytical pieces in top think tanks, online journals, and newspapers to get an idea of good and engaging formatting. Submissions that are clearly class papers without revision will not be accepted.  
• China Focus articles adhere to the AP Style Guide.
• When manuscripts are accepted, they will go through an editorial review process lasting approximately 1-2 weeks. Authors will then be contacted by the review board, and editing will usually comprise 3-4 weeks of feedback and revision.
• While we are often able to provide feedback on pitches, China Focus is run by students. Sometimes we will not have the capacity to provide in-depth responses. Thank you for your understanding. 
• Our essay contest runs on a separate process, and submissions are typically different style than our usual content. 

Benefits

Writing with us is a great opportunity to be published online and build up your writing sample portfolio. You could also slim down your course paper or research project to get your idea shared with more readers (re-written in an accessible, conversational tone). This is an opportunity to get your ideas published and gain experience to include in your resume and interviews.

AI Usage Policy

China Focus encourages originality, authenticity, and the thoughtful engagement of our contributors. While we understand that artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT may be useful for brainstorming, fact-checking, or improving clarity, we prohibit the use of AI for drafting, rewriting, or generating substantial portions of any article.

Authors are expected to ensure that all submissions reflect their own analysis, argument, and writing style. Using AI to compose or paraphrase large sections of text will be considered a violation of our publication ethics and may result in rejection of the submission.

Next Steps

If you have any questions or ideas for articles please reach out to us at chinafocus@ucsd.edu, and we can talk it out! If you’re interested in writing and not sure where to start, can work through ideas. Include your affiliation in your pitch email. Please note that we reserve the right to decline a submission at any step in our process.

Tara Wu, Editor in Chief
Margaret Gach, Managing Editor