Editorial
Everything you need to know before you submit. Forensic Times upholds the highest standards of academic rigour, factual accuracy, and professional writing. Read these guidelines carefully before preparing your article.
Core Editorial Principles
Factual Integrity
Every claim, statistic, and case reference must be accurate and verifiable. Authors are responsible for the factual integrity of their work. The editorial team may request sources for any assertion made in a submission.
Original Work Only
All submissions must be original and unpublished. Work previously published elsewhere — in any form, including personal blogs, academic repositories, or other outlets — will not be accepted without prior written agreement.
Academic & Professional Standard
Articles must demonstrate clear reasoning, structured argument, and evidence-based conclusions. Opinion pieces must be clearly labelled and grounded in demonstrable expertise, not conjecture.
Editorial Independence
Forensic Times does not publish content produced on behalf of commercial sponsors, public relations agencies, or organisations with an undisclosed interest in the subject matter. All affiliations must be declared.
Ethical Conduct
Contributors must comply with all applicable research ethics guidelines. Submissions involving human subjects, sensitive case materials, or confidential information must include a statement confirming ethical compliance.
Disclosure of Conflicts
Authors must disclose any financial, institutional, or personal conflict of interest relevant to the subject of their article. Failure to disclose will result in removal of the published article and suspension of contributor access.
Word Count & Article Types
Short Articles & Opinion Pieces
500 – 800 words. Suitable for commentary, brief analyses, case observations, and expert opinion. Must include a clear thesis and at least two supporting references.
Standard Articles & Investigations
800 – 1,500 words. The most common submission format. Suitable for investigative pieces, in-depth commentary, policy analysis, and field reports. Structured introduction, body, and conclusion required.
Long-Form & Research Articles
1,500 – 3,000 words. For detailed case studies, academic analyses, technical whitepapers, and systematic reviews. Abstract required. All claims must be fully cited.
Research Papers & Journals
3,000+ words. Full academic papers with abstract, methodology, findings, discussion, and references. Must follow APA 7th edition citation format. Peer review may be requested.
Dissertations & Theses
Any length. Submitted in full. Must include an abstract, table of contents, and full bibliography. The editorial team will publish a formatted version with a DOI-style reference number.
Book Reviews
400 – 800 words. Reviews must include full publication details of the book reviewed. Critical analysis is encouraged — a summary alone does not meet our editorial standard.
How to Format Your Submission
Writing in the Dashboard
Articles are written and submitted directly through your Forensic Times contributor dashboard — no file uploads required. Once your Author Package is active, you will have full access to the online post editor where you can write, format, add images, and submit your article for review.
Use the editor's built-in formatting tools only. Do not paste content with heavy external formatting from Word or Google Docs — paste as plain text and reformat using the editor toolbar. The Forensic Times house style is applied by the editorial team upon acceptance.
Your author name, biography, and profile details are pulled automatically from your contributor account. Ensure your profile is complete and up to date before submitting your first article.
Enter your title in the Title field at the top of the editor. Keep it clear, specific, and descriptive. Avoid clickbait phrasing.
Use the Heading 2 style in the editor toolbar for all subheadings. Avoid generic headings such as "Introduction" within the article body.
All submissions must use APA 7th edition for in-text citations and reference lists. Add your references at the end of the post body before submitting.
Select the most relevant category for your article using the Categories panel on the right side of the editor. Add 3–6 descriptive tags to help readers find your work.
Submissions accepted in English only. British or American English is acceptable — maintain consistency throughout the article.
The Submission Process
Log In to Your Contributor Dashboard
After purchasing your Author Package, log in to your Forensic Times contributor account. Your dashboard gives you access to the online post editor — the same environment used to write, format, and manage all your articles. Ensure your author profile, biography, and profile photo are complete before writing your first post.
Dashboard access activated instantly on purchaseWrite & Format Your Article
Create a new post in the editor. Write your article directly in the post body using the formatting toolbar — apply Heading 2 for subheadings, bold for key terms, and standard paragraph style for body text. Add your title in the Title field, upload images directly into the post, and assign the correct category and tags using the right-hand panel. You can save your article as a Draft at any time and return to edit it later.
Save as Draft at any time — no auto-submissionSubmit for Review
When your article is ready, click the Submit for Review button in the editor. This sends your post to the Forensic Times editorial team as a Pending submission. You will not be able to make further edits while the article is under review, so ensure your content is finalised and proofread before submitting. The editorial team will be notified immediately upon submission.
Articles cannot be edited once submitted for reviewEditorial Review
All submissions are assessed by the Forensic Times editorial team for factual accuracy, academic rigour, originality, and compliance with publishing standards. If revisions are required, your article will be returned to Draft status with editorial notes — you will be notified by email and can log in, make the requested changes, and resubmit. Authors have 7 working days to resubmit revised articles.
Review completed within 3–5 working daysPublication
Once approved, the editorial team publishes your article under your verified byline with a DOI-style reference number. Your article is immediately live on Forensic Times, indexed globally, and automatically entered into the $10,000 monthly Research Excellence Award. All intellectual property rights remain entirely yours. Published articles remain editable by you for minor corrections — any material changes post-publication must be approved by the editorial team.
Your IP — always 100% yoursWe do not ask for perfection. We ask for honesty, rigour, and the courage to put your knowledge into the world.
What We Do Not Publish
All submissions are checked for plagiarism and AI generation. Content found to contain unattributed reproduction or to have been produced primarily by AI tools will be rejected and the contributor account may be suspended.
Forensic Times will not publish content that defames named individuals, promotes discrimination on any protected ground, or contains language that a reasonable professional would consider offensive or inflammatory.
Articles written in exchange for payment by a third party, or which promote a product, service, or organisation without full disclosure, will be rejected. Sponsored content may be considered separately under a commercial arrangement.
Opinion and analysis must be clearly framed as such. Articles that present unverified claims, theories, or speculation as established fact without adequate caveat will be returned for revision or rejected outright.
Forensic Times will not publish articles that could reasonably be considered to prejudice ongoing criminal trials, active investigations, or proceedings before any court or tribunal.
Articles published elsewhere — including academic repositories, personal websites, or other publications — may not be submitted without prior written disclosure to and agreement from the editorial team.
Corrections & Appeals
Post-Publication Amendments
Forensic Times is committed to accuracy. If a factual error is identified after publication — whether by the author, a reader, or the editorial team — a formal correction will be appended to the published article.
Authors who identify errors in their own published work should contact the editorial team immediately at [email protected]. Minor typographical corrections may be made silently. Material factual corrections will be clearly noted on the article.
Appealing a Rejection
If your submission is rejected and you believe the editorial decision was made in error, you may appeal in writing to [email protected] within 14 days of receiving the rejection notice.
Appeals must include the original submission, the rejection notice received, and a clear written explanation of the grounds for appeal. The editorial decision on appeal is final.
Start Writing for Forensic Times
You've read the guidelines. Now it's time to put your knowledge into print. Purchase your Author Package, submit your article, and compete for the $10,000 monthly Research Excellence Award.
Questions about these guidelines? Contact the editorial team at [email protected] · Guidelines last updated May 2026 · © Forensic Times