Pitches for articles and op-eds should include:

• proposed title
• main argument
• primary references
• short biography of author

• Links to official professional and/or academic profiles that can be used to verify the author’s identity, credentials, and affiliations (e.g., an institutional faculty or staff page, university profile, employer profile, ORCID, or other established professional profile)

  We may request additional information where necessary to verify an author’s identity or stated professional or academic affiliations before accepting a submission.

Pitches will be considered based on their quality, originality, contribution to topical and ongoing discussions of current affairs and strategic issues in the Middle East and North Africa region, and their fit with our editorial priorities, including articles already commissioned or planned for publication.

General guidelines

• Submissions are expected to take an analytical and/or policy-oriented direction, taking a question of historical or contemporary import and examining possible present and future implications. Articles should aim to make use of historical context and draw relevant parallels with trends and events throughout the region to elucidate the issue in question.
• We appreciate submissions sent as double-spaced Word documents in Arial, size eleven
• Please use endnotes rather than in-text citations
• Both analytical articles and op-eds should properly reference and only use sources of reputable and reliable origin, such as: academic books by single or multiple authors, or academic and professional journals within the discipline or area of study; specialist magazines or newspapers of agreed high repute; government reports; reports from known, reputable organizations, e.g. the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); published theses or unpublished theses held by university, faculty or departmental libraries; recorded TV or radio programs to which reputable figures within the discipline have contributed; videos that are accessible to university students and staff; primary sources such as original letters, diaries, journals, notes; the internet, if the site has a reputable author, publisher and domain name that show the site has the relevant credentials for your writing purpose. Social media resources can be referenced if they represent official government bodies or other relevant organizations.
• Articles should be no longer than 2,000 words, not including endnotes – please include references in endnotes for factual data to support your arguments.
• Op-eds should be a minimum of 800-1,000 words – please include references in endnotes for factual data to support your arguments.
• While by no means being a condition for publication, we highly value efforts to conduct research in languages other than English, particularly in Middle Eastern languages.

AI policy

• Our editorial team tests all submissions for the use of AI-generated content.
• AI does not meet Manara Magazine and the Cambridge Middle East and North Africa Forum’s criteria for authorship and therefore, content written with the use of generative AI will not be considered for publication.
• AI can be used for the improvement of grammar and syntax, especially in the case of non-native English writers, but its specific version (e.g.  ChatGPT-4) and exact purpose of use must be declared as part of the submission. Our editorial team prefers raw text, untouched by AI.

Articles are reviewed by the Managing Editor, returned for edits and will be published on the set date.

Whether or not an article appears in an issue is at the collective discretion of the editorial team.