AGC Journal 2015 - How to Produce a Good Article
Good Article (Start your article with the heading formatted in Title Case. This heading
is in Title Case – each word is capitalised)
By Lance Corporal John Smith (Write the authors full rank, first name and surname,
DO NOT ABBREVIATE THE RANK)
STANDFIRST: This article describes how to structure your article and help you to
have it published in the AGC Journal. (Type the word ‘STANDFIRST:’ and write a
brief introduction to the story).
CROSSHEAD: Paragraph Headings (Paragraph Headings are compulsory and help
to structure the story. Paragraph headings help the magazine designer to lay out the
pages. Write the word CROSSHEAD: followed by the paragraph heading to show it
is a paragraph heading)
CROSSHEAD: Paragraphs (form the text into paragraphs to make it readable)
Paragraphs provide a good structure to the story and should contain a small number
of sentences that relate to a particular aspect of the story. A couple of sentences are
enough for each paragraph.
Sentences should not be too long and generally have no more that 18 words. There
should be no formatting used. You will see in this example that the story heading is
not centred or underlined and is not in capitals. The text should be left justified using
Arial 12 point as the font. No other formatting is necessary. (DO NOT try to do the
work of the Editor or the magazine designers, YOU WILL BE WASTING YOUR
TIME.)
One page of the Journal will hold a maximum of 600 words with space for a quarter
page of photos. One page articles must be between 550 and 600 words with at least
3 photographs. A two page article must have a minimum of 1,100 words and a
maximum of 1,200 words and at least 6 photographs. A photograph of the author
can be included in each story. The story should be saved as a Word document using
the story title (as short as possible) as the document name. Each individual story
must be in its own folder with its pictures. (you must write at least 550 words and no
more than 600 words for a one page article) (you must write at least 1,100 words
and no more than 1,200 words for a 2 page article. Articles must not be more than 2
pages long)
CROSSHEAD: Use of Abbreviations
Abbreviations must not be used without first explaining what they mean. Too many
abbreviations in the story can cause confusion to the reader and must be avoided.
(Too many abbreviations will result in the story not being used. Always write
everything in full, that includes people’s ranks)
CROSSHEAD: Security Constraints
All articles are to be unclassified. Articles about your unit on operations or training for
operations must be cleared by the senior AGC member of your unit and by your
Brigade staff before submission to the Editor for publication. You must not write
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about operations or activities that could be helpful to organisations that are hostile to
the UK. (The editor will reject any article that breaches the security constraints)
CROSSHEAD: Photographs
Photographs are vital for each story. Each article must be accompanied by digital
photographs. Photographs must not be embedded in the document. (Articles with
embedded photographs will not be used and you will have wasted your time.)
Photographs must be jpeg or tiff and be of high resolution. Do not reduce the size of
photographs. Each photograph must have a caption which is to be written at the end
of the story and not on a separate document or email. In this example, this article
has 2 photos and the captions are shown below. Photos should be named using the
word document name followed by a number. (All photos MUST be high resolution
and sharp. Do NOT send out-of-focus pictures. Do NOT reduce pictures in size send the original. Do NOT send low resolution pictures. DO NOT send pictures of
people or things or activities that have NOT been mentioned in the text. DO NOT
SEND PHOTOS TAKEN ON A MOBILE PHONE.)
CROSSHEAD: Article Submission Sheet
Each article MUST be sent with the Article Submission Sheet (Page 3 of this
document) in order to manage and control your submission and to identify the author
in case further details are needed. Send the Article Submission Sheet with the article
and picture files on a DVD/CD (preferred method) to the Editor, AGC Journal, Gould
House, Worthy Down, Winchester, SO21 2RG to arrive before (NOT ON) Friday 11
September 2015 (the deadline date) or exceptionally by Email to
rhqagc@btconnect.com The Subject line must contain the word 'Journal' (Use more
than one EMail if you have large picture files. If you are sending more than one story,
then use separate folders for each story)
Photos: (This is where to list your photos and the captions)
good_article1: Write the caption you want here. (Explain what, where and who.
Ensure that you name each person in the photograph with their rank in full, first
name and surname. (Do not just put ‘Cpl Smith on exercise')
good_article2: Write the caption for the second photograph here.
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AGC Journal 2015 Submission Sheet
Article Number:
(RHQ AGC Use)
Name of Article:
Name and address of sender
Civil Telephone Number of the Sender
Email of the Sender (xxx.xxx123@mod.uk)
Rank, first name, surname, post nominal
letters of the Author
Civilian Telephone Number of the Author
Email of the Author (xxx.xxx123@mod.uk)
NOTE: The email address may be a civilian email if more convenient for contact
I certify that:
1. This article does not contain any information or photograph that is classified, or could be
useful to hostile organisations.
2. I have complied with the guidelines for compiling Journal articles.
3. The images submitted are not subject to copyright and may be reproduced freely.
DO NOT EMBED IMAGES IN WORD DOCUMENTS, DO NOT REDUCE THE SIZE OF PHOTOS
Write your name here:
Send this submission sheet with your article on a CD/DVD to: The Editor, AGC Journal,
Gould House, Worthy Down, Winchester, SO21 2RG (CDs and DVDs are the preferred
option).
Or exceptionally by Email to rhqagc@btconnect.com
Editorial Action – RHQ AGC USE ONLY
Section:
Number of Words:
Date
Number of Images
Follow-up Action
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Number of Pages