Submission Guidelines

1. Purpose of These Guidelines

These Guidelines explain how scholars, writers, researchers, practitioners, translators, and other contributors may approach Famuya Wale So or FWS Publishing about potential work.

They are intended to protect contributors’ time, support fair and rigorous consideration, and help FWS identify work aligned with its mission: understanding, character, and purposeful action.

2. Work We May Consider

According to institutional priorities, editorial capacity, and any announced call, FWS may consider:

• research papers, policy studies, and strategic analyses;
• substantive essays, perspectives, and commentary;
• books, monographs, pamphlets, and edited collections;
• translations and works of intellectual or cultural transmission;
• interviews, conversations, and carefully documented testimonies;
• educational, institutional, or public-engagement materials; and
• proposals connected to FWS research, programs, publishing, or the Builders Council.

FWS is especially interested in work that illuminates questions affecting Africa and humanity, connects knowledge with responsibility, and is accessible without sacrificing substance.

3. Current Submission Status

FWS does not maintain a permanently open, automatic submission portal. Opportunities may be announced for particular publications, themes, research programs, fellowships, consultations, or calls for contributions.

An initial inquiry may be sent at any time, but receipt does not guarantee review, invitation, response, acceptance, publication, fellowship, compensation, or another institutional relationship. When a specific call provides different instructions, that call governs.

4. Standards for Contributors

Every contribution to FWS Ideas, Research, or Publishing should uphold:

• Intellectual integrity: truthfulness, honest use of sources, and clarity about evidence, interpretation, and uncertainty;
• Serious inquiry: depth, appropriate method, and disciplined reasoning;
• Independence of thought: freedom to ask questions and follow evidence;
• Respectful disagreement: firmness without scorn, abuse, or dehumanization;
• Openness to learning: willingness to consider new evidence and stronger arguments;
• Responsibility: awareness that words shape public understanding and trust; and
• Contribution: a meaningful addition to the human conversation.

5. The Initial Inquiry

Before sending a complete work, submit a concise inquiry containing:

• your name, location, affiliation if relevant, and brief biography;
• a working title and the type of work proposed;
• a summary of approximately 250–500 words;
• the central question, argument, purpose, and intended audience;
• the work’s relevance to FWS;
• its estimated length and present stage of development;
• whether it has been published, submitted, contracted, or presented elsewhere;
• links to one or two relevant writing samples, if available; and
• any important timetable or prior commitment.

Do not attach a full manuscript unless requested. An inquiry should make the work understandable without requiring FWS to open an unsolicited file.

6. An Invited Submission Package

If FWS invites the complete or partial work, the requested package may include:

• the manuscript or sample chapters;
• a synopsis, abstract, table of contents, or research summary;
• an author biography and contact details;
• the intended readership and comparable works;
• information about illustrations, tables, permissions, translations, or supplementary material;
• disclosure of previous publication, simultaneous consideration, contractual restrictions, conflicts of interest, funding, or institutional sponsorship;
• a statement regarding originality and use of automated or generative tools; and
• any materials named in the invitation or call.

Send only the files and information requested. Sensitive personal documents should not be included unless necessary and specifically requested.

7. Format and Preparation

Unless different instructions are provided, invited text should be prepared as follows:

• editable Microsoft Word (.docx) format for manuscripts and articles;
• a clear, readable typeface at approximately 12 points;
• double-spaced or comfortably spaced body text with standard margins;
• numbered pages;
• a title page identifying the author, title, date, and contact information;
• consistent headings, spelling convention, citations, notes, and bibliography;
• tables and figures clearly numbered, titled, sourced, and referenced in the text; and
• images supplied separately at the highest available quality, with captions, credits, and rights information.

Do not spend heavily on final design before editorial acceptance. FWS may apply its own editorial and publication style.

8. Sources, Evidence, and Research Integrity

Claims should be supported according to the nature of the work. Contributors must identify quotations, data, documents, archives, interviews, oral traditions, images, and ideas derived from others.

Sources should be represented accurately and not cited for propositions they do not support. Fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, manipulated evidence, invented references, deceptive quotation, or concealment of material contrary evidence is unacceptable.

Research involving human participants, private records, vulnerable communities, cultural knowledge, security-sensitive information, or confidential sources must follow appropriate ethical and legal standards. Contributors may be asked to explain consent, risk, anonymity, permissions, or institutional review.

9. Originality, Rights, and Automated Tools

A contributor must have the right to submit every element of the proposed work. Previously published material, third-party text, images, maps, tables, translations, and substantial adaptations must be identified together with their permission status.

Any material use of generative artificial intelligence or another automated system in research, drafting, translation, image creation, data analysis, citation generation, or editing must be disclosed. Such tools may not be named as authors and do not relieve a contributor of responsibility for accuracy, originality, sources, confidentiality, bias, permissions, and the final text.

Undisclosed machine-generated passages, fabricated citations, unauthorized training-derived imitation, or substitution of automated output for the contributor’s own accountable intellectual work may result in rejection or withdrawal.

10. Ethical and Public Responsibilities

Submissions must respect human dignity and must not knowingly contain unlawful defamation, incitement, discriminatory dehumanization, privacy violations, confidential information supplied without authority, or material that places people at unjustifiable risk.

Difficult subjects, historical violence, political conflict, injustice, and disagreement may be examined directly. Serious inquiry does not require avoiding difficult truth; it requires evidence, context, proportion, and responsibility.

11. Review Process

Depending on the work, review may include an initial editorial assessment, subject-matter reading, source or integrity checks, peer or specialist review, legal or permissions review, and discussion with the contributor.

FWS may decline a proposal without conducting every stage. Reviewers may consider:

• alignment with the FWS mission and present program;
• originality and significance;
• quality of reasoning, evidence, method, and writing;
• ethical and intellectual integrity;
• clarity for the intended audience;
• feasibility, editorial capacity, and publication resources; and
• the work’s potential contribution to understanding and purposeful action.

12. Decisions, Revision, and Timing

FWS may invite a full submission, request clarification, recommend revision, defer consideration, redirect the proposal, or decline it. An invitation to revise is not a guarantee of acceptance.

Because review requirements vary substantially, FWS does not promise a universal response or decision period. Contributors should disclose genuine deadlines and notify FWS promptly if the work is accepted elsewhere or withdrawn.

Editorial suggestions are part of a conversation. Final publication requires agreement on a version that meets FWS standards and preserves the contributor’s responsible voice.

13. Publication Rights and Agreements

Submitting an inquiry or invited manuscript does not transfer copyright. If FWS wishes to publish or otherwise use a work, the relevant rights, formats, territories, languages, duration, credits, compensation if any, responsibilities, and permissions will be addressed in a separate written agreement or publication notice.

Do not rely on informal discussion as a substitute for the final written agreement. The Copyright and Permissions page governs reuse of material after publication.

14. Confidentiality and Records

FWS will seek to handle invited submissions responsibly, but a general inquiry or unsolicited material is not automatically confidential. Do not disclose classified, privileged, proprietary, contractually restricted, security-sensitive, or personally sensitive information without prior written arrangements.

FWS may retain reasonable editorial and administrative records concerning an inquiry or submission. Personal information is handled according to the Privacy Policy.

15. Where to Send an Initial Inquiry

Please use one address and one clear subject line. Duplicate messages do not accelerate review.