Publication rules
Columnist is open to anyone who has something to say. These rules keep the publications of the Mosaic network worth reading. By publishing a column you accept them.
Sign with your first and last name
A byline is a person’s name: a first name and a surname. A pen name is acceptable if it reads like one. Titles, ranks, awards, slogans, company or brand names and nicknames do not belong in a byline. Say what you do in the line under your name and in your biography.
An article or an opinion, never an advertisement
A text must read as news, an informative article or a columnist’s opinion. We do not publish promotion of a company, product, service or person: no prices, discounts, offers or calls to buy or order. An announcement of a public event, or a report from it, written as news is welcome.
No hatred and no threats
No incitement to hatred, hostility or discrimination against people because of their nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, sex, age, disability, orientation or origin. No calls to violence, no threats, harassment or humiliation of a person or a group. No justification or glorification of terrorism, war crimes or mass violence.
The facts are your responsibility
Do not publish what you know to be false or cannot support. Name your sources in words. Keep fact and opinion apart. Do not accuse a person or an organisation of a crime or misconduct without evidence, and do not present rumour as fact.
Your own text, in one publication
Publish only what you wrote yourself or have the right to publish. No plagiarism and no reprints of other people’s articles. Each text goes to one publication of the network; the same text submitted to several publications is refused.
Images you have the right to use
Upload your own photographs or images you are licensed or permitted to use, and credit them honestly. No pictures taken from search results, no shocking or sexually explicit images, and no photographs that expose the private life of people who did not agree to it.
No links and no contact details
Web addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses and social media handles do not go into the text, the captions or the biography. Name a source in words instead of linking to it.
The right language, section and length
Write in the language of the publication you chose and place the text in the section its subject belongs to. A column is at least 300 words: a short note is not an article.
Nothing unlawful and nothing private
No personal data of private individuals, such as home addresses, phone numbers or documents. No promotion of drugs, weapons, gambling, fraud or other illegal goods and services, no sexual content, no instructions that endanger life or health, and no medical, legal or financial advice presented as a guaranteed result.
The editors may change any text
The editors reserve the right to make any changes to an author’s text without prior agreement: to correct, shorten or rewrite it, and to change the headline, the lead, the section or the cover. After an editorial edit the column is locked: its author can no longer edit it or take it offline.
If the rules are broken
A column that breaks these rules can be changed, locked or removed, and its author can lose access to publishing. The decision belongs to the editors. Questions go to the support section of your desk or to contact@mib.news.
See also: Columnist terms · Handbook