Our purpose
Birth Matters (BM) is a annually printed magazine and also monthly E-mag produced by and for members of Maternity Choices Australia (MC). The magazine provides a forum for consumers and other stakeholders to debate ideas, share experiences, and offer insights into the Australian maternity care system. It aims to inform members of the challenges encountered and achievements won in maternity care at the local, state and federal level. It seeks to motivate members to take political action so that our vision - that every woman can choose how, where and with whom she births - may be realised. It is your magazine and without your submissions it would not exist. Please consider submitting an article to share with and inspire your community.
Guidelines for authors
General submission guidelines
1. The magazine is published annually in June then a smaller e-mag is released on the other months.
Deadline for submission is the 1st of the month prior to publication.
2. We publish articles that are topical and/or of interest to our readers under the following section headings: Letters to the Editor, Birth Stories, Features, Federal Update, Rural Matters, Global Perspectives, Gentle Beginnings (early parenting), In Review (Book, Film, and CD reviews), Interview with..., MC News and Research News.
3. All articles should be 500 – 2500 words, prepared as a Microsoft Word document with the File Name: SHORT ARTICLE HEADING_VERSION_DATE.
4. Text should be sized in 12 point, in font Times New Roman. All text should be left justified, single spaced and in block paragraphs for placement. Styles will be adjusted during layout.
5. In addition to your article please include a short (50-100 word) author biography (just a little blurb about yourself), and photos as JPEG files (minimum 300 dpi resolution).
Grammar and style
1. Structure your article with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. In the introduction tell the reader what you will cover in the article. Then cover it in the body of the article. In the conclusion, re-cap on the key points that were covered. This does not apply to birth stories.
2. Keep sentences clear and succinct. If you have one idea per sentence, your reader will generally be able to follow you. This does not apply to birth stories.
3. Readers usually appreciate sub-headings. Sub-headings are bolded but do not have a full stop at the end, even if they are lengthy.
4. Headings should have the first word capitalised, all remaining words uncapitalised (except proper nouns like place names). For example: “Continuity of care in Australia” rather than “Continuity of Care in Australia.”
5. Use active voice as much as possible. For example “Elizabeth’s birth” rather than “the birth of
Elizabeth”.
6. Put a line space between each paragraph; do not indent the first line.
7. Put one space after each full stop before beginning the next sentence; do not use a double
space.
8. Abbreviations and acronyms need to be spelled out in the first instance they are used in an article, even if they are fairly widely used. For example Maternity Choices (MC) in the first instance, can then be MC for the rest of the article.
9. Direct quotations are another person's exact words, either spoken or published. To indicate a direct quote, use a set of quotation marks (“direct quote”) to enclose the exact words. Use a capital letter with the first word of a direct quotation of a whole sentence. Do not use a capital letter with the first word of a direct quotation of part of a sentence.
Spelling and punctuation
1. Please perform a spelling and grammar check before you submit your article. Spelling should be English (Australia). Watch out for US spelling as it is not acceptable. For
example, “organization” (US) should be“organisation” (Australia).
2. Full stops and commas should always fall inside of quotation marks.
3. Use dashes (-) for hyphenation only. To indicate a pause before a connected idea; use a semi-colon (;).
4. Common abbreviations like e.g., i.e., and etc. are acceptable.
5. Numbers 1-10 should be written out in full. For example “ten centimetres” not “10 cms.” Whereas numbers > 10 should be written as figures. For example “12 months” not “twelve months.”
6. There should be a space between the number and the unit of measurement, and the unit of measurement should be spelled out in full. For example “300 kilometres” not “300kms.”
Referencing
1. Please use the ‘Chicago Style’ referencing system commonly used in magazines
2. References are numbered in the order they occur in the article (in brackets at the end of the sentence); they are then listed numerically at the end of the article under the sub-heading References.
3. The examples presented here are consistent with advice given in The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. (2010). For further examples visit http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
4. Example of an in-text reference to a book:
Dr Sarah Buckley writes “(i)n the western world we are experiencing an epidemic of
caesareans” (1).
5. Example of an in-text reference to a journal article:
Tombros points out that the methodology and conclusions of the Term Breech Trial have been heavily criticised (2).
6. Examples of endnote references to a book and journal article:
References
1. Sarah Buckley, Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: The Wisdom and Science of Gentle Choices in Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting (Brisbane: One Moon Press, 2005), 132.
2. R. Tombros, “Vaginal breech birth in Australia,” Birth Matters 16, no. 3 (2012): 17.
1. The magazine is published annually in June then a smaller e-mag is released on the other months.
Deadline for submission is the 1st of the month prior to publication.
2. We publish articles that are topical and/or of interest to our readers under the following section headings: Letters to the Editor, Birth Stories, Features, Federal Update, Rural Matters, Global Perspectives, Gentle Beginnings (early parenting), In Review (Book, Film, and CD reviews), Interview with..., MC News and Research News.
3. All articles should be 500 – 2500 words, prepared as a Microsoft Word document with the File Name: SHORT ARTICLE HEADING_VERSION_DATE.
4. Text should be sized in 12 point, in font Times New Roman. All text should be left justified, single spaced and in block paragraphs for placement. Styles will be adjusted during layout.
5. In addition to your article please include a short (50-100 word) author biography (just a little blurb about yourself), and photos as JPEG files (minimum 300 dpi resolution).
Grammar and style
1. Structure your article with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. In the introduction tell the reader what you will cover in the article. Then cover it in the body of the article. In the conclusion, re-cap on the key points that were covered. This does not apply to birth stories.
2. Keep sentences clear and succinct. If you have one idea per sentence, your reader will generally be able to follow you. This does not apply to birth stories.
3. Readers usually appreciate sub-headings. Sub-headings are bolded but do not have a full stop at the end, even if they are lengthy.
4. Headings should have the first word capitalised, all remaining words uncapitalised (except proper nouns like place names). For example: “Continuity of care in Australia” rather than “Continuity of Care in Australia.”
5. Use active voice as much as possible. For example “Elizabeth’s birth” rather than “the birth of
Elizabeth”.
6. Put a line space between each paragraph; do not indent the first line.
7. Put one space after each full stop before beginning the next sentence; do not use a double
space.
8. Abbreviations and acronyms need to be spelled out in the first instance they are used in an article, even if they are fairly widely used. For example Maternity Choices (MC) in the first instance, can then be MC for the rest of the article.
9. Direct quotations are another person's exact words, either spoken or published. To indicate a direct quote, use a set of quotation marks (“direct quote”) to enclose the exact words. Use a capital letter with the first word of a direct quotation of a whole sentence. Do not use a capital letter with the first word of a direct quotation of part of a sentence.
Spelling and punctuation
1. Please perform a spelling and grammar check before you submit your article. Spelling should be English (Australia). Watch out for US spelling as it is not acceptable. For
example, “organization” (US) should be“organisation” (Australia).
2. Full stops and commas should always fall inside of quotation marks.
3. Use dashes (-) for hyphenation only. To indicate a pause before a connected idea; use a semi-colon (;).
4. Common abbreviations like e.g., i.e., and etc. are acceptable.
5. Numbers 1-10 should be written out in full. For example “ten centimetres” not “10 cms.” Whereas numbers > 10 should be written as figures. For example “12 months” not “twelve months.”
6. There should be a space between the number and the unit of measurement, and the unit of measurement should be spelled out in full. For example “300 kilometres” not “300kms.”
Referencing
1. Please use the ‘Chicago Style’ referencing system commonly used in magazines
2. References are numbered in the order they occur in the article (in brackets at the end of the sentence); they are then listed numerically at the end of the article under the sub-heading References.
3. The examples presented here are consistent with advice given in The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. (2010). For further examples visit http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
4. Example of an in-text reference to a book:
Dr Sarah Buckley writes “(i)n the western world we are experiencing an epidemic of
caesareans” (1).
5. Example of an in-text reference to a journal article:
Tombros points out that the methodology and conclusions of the Term Breech Trial have been heavily criticised (2).
6. Examples of endnote references to a book and journal article:
References
1. Sarah Buckley, Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: The Wisdom and Science of Gentle Choices in Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting (Brisbane: One Moon Press, 2005), 132.
2. R. Tombros, “Vaginal breech birth in Australia,” Birth Matters 16, no. 3 (2012): 17.
