Guidelines for Contributors
Established in 1937, the Griffith Observer is the Observatory’s own monthly magazine, which contains popular articles on astronomy and information about activities and events at the Observatory.
The Griffith Observer welcomes submissions all year round that would be of interest to the general reader and to supporters of and visitors to Griffith Observatory. Griffith Observatory also hosts an annual writing contest. More information can be found here.
It is required that authors obtain all necessary copyright clearances, especially for illustrations and photographs, prior to submission. Not all submissions will be published.
Text: All articles must be typewritten, in English, and submitted in Microsoft Word “doc” format with standard academic formatting. A brief biographical sketch of the author must accompany the essay.
Illustrations: All illustrations should be submitted as digital files. Color is strongly encouraged. Send as email attachments. Do not embed the images in the essay. Accepted file types are tiff and jpeg only. Best results are obtained with tiff files with a resolution of 300 pixels per inch. Jpeg files are compressed by their nature, and care must be given to keep the image detailed enough to print well. Please err on the side of quality rather than compression. All illustrations must be accompanied with complete-sentence captions and credits, and their placement within the article must be noted. It is the author’s responsibility to obtain copyright clearance; by submitting an illustration, the author certifies that necessary permission has been obtained. The inclusion of good illustrations is strongly encouraged.
Style: Please refer to recent issues of the Griffith Observer and make your style consistent with the journal’s. Double-check the spelling of proper nouns and include accent marks. Do not use multiple columns (except in tables) or multiple tabs. Measurements should be metric (with English units following in parentheses, if desired). Repeat: Please refer to a recent issue and make your style consistent with the journal’s.
Copyright Agreement: Contributors agree that their submission has not appeared elsewhere in print or electronically, is not being submitted simultaneously elsewhere in print or electronically, and that – once accepted for publication – the copyright is held by the Griffith Observatory and the City of Los Angeles. Contributors agree that they have secured all necessary permissions and paid all necessary fees (if any) to secure reproduction rights of any copyrighted materials that appear within their article. The Griffith Observer reserves the right to hold the contribution for print for one year from the date of submission. Please contact the Copy Editor with questions.
Address inquiries and submissions to:
Jennifer Wong, Copy Editor, Griffith Observer
2800 East Observatory Road
Los Angeles, California 90027 USA
Email: griffith.observer@lacity.org
Please put the word SUBMISSION in the title of the email.