Editorial Guidelines
The majority of content on TheCRO.com and in CRO magazine is written by CRO staff and paid editorial contributors. However, we do consider submissions from CRO members, practitioners, providers, academics, non-profit and non-governmental organizations, and communication firms that have practical experience or academic credentials in any area of corporate responsibility, from compliance to governance, CSR to SRI, sustainability/environmental issues to philanthropy, and communications to supply chain.
Please note: All submissions should be discussed with the editorial department prior to submission (e-mail editorial@thecro.com) and are subject to editorial review and final approval. Publication decisions are made independent of submitter’s membership in The CRO and/or advertising in or sponsorship of CRO publications, events or online offerings.
Types of Editorial Considered:
Columns (print and online)
- Topic—Should fit into one of the following areas of corporate responsibility or a function that address corporate responsibility: compliance, CSR, ethics, governance, risk management, sustainability, workforce issues/diversity, international, communications, legal
- Length—600-900 words
- Content—Columns should address a timely aspect of corporate responsibility from a new perspective and include the following elements:
- Statistics (current research, data on the scope of the issue)
- Anecdotes/examples (specific cases of corporations/individuals, examples of what has/has not worked)
- Expert Advice (what industry experts, NGOs, other thought leaders are recommending)
- Tone—Our readers are looking for lessons learned, best-in-class, how tos, and concrete, implementable advice from peers and experts in the area. We try to avoid being too preachy ("should" "must") and rely on evidence gathered from research, experts and/or practitioners (ideally citing specific corporate initiatives in the area or quoting practitioners/experts in the field.)
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Past Examples
Case Studies (online)
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Topic—Case studies should address a corporate responsibility issue (compliance, ethics, diversity, data/security, environmental/health/safety, etc.) that a corporation or practitioner faced and how that corporation or practitioner addressed the issue.
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Length—600 words max
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Content—Each study should answer the following 6 questions
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Who is the corporation/practitioner?
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What problem or issue did they face?
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How did they identify and approach the issue? (If they partnered with a corporate responsibility service provider to help, how did they choose that provider?)
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What was the proposed solution?
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What steps did they put in place to implement the solution?
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What are the outcomes to date?
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Tone—Text should be written in plain language. Please spell out or avoid using acronyms and technical jargon.
Expert Q&As (online and e-newsletters)
A new series on TheCRO.com. Each month, we highlight an expert in a particular field of corporate responsibility and take inquiries from readers. These would be narrowed down to 3-4 common questions, which our expert would then answer. The final column will be promoted on TheCRO.com homepage and in our biweekly e-newsletter. Interested "Experts" should contact the editorial department (editorial@thecro.com) with proposed areas of expertise, background and availability.
Opinion Pieces (print and online)
On occasion, we do take Op-Ed pieces from authors with a history and variety of experience in the field of corporate responsibility. If you are interested in submitting an op-ed piece, please contact Dennis Schaal (dschaal@thecro.com) with your concept, background in the field and writing samples. Past examples:
Member Notes (print and online)
Reserved for members of The CRO only, this section highlights members’ new initiatives, milestones, and recognition in the field of corporate responsibility. To submit content for consideration, please e-mail Danielle Lee (dlee@thecro.com).
All other story ideas and pitches should be e-mailed to editorial@thecro.com.