Pitching work for publication

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is Canada’s leading progressive research institute, and has been providing in-depth analysis of Canada’s political economy since 1980. In addition to our team of researchers, writers, and editors, we also regularly publish work with external contributors and early career writers and researchers with demonstrated subject matter expertise.

If that sounds like something you are interested in, then you can pitch us!

Accessible writing and analysis-focused

The CCPA is not a typical newsroom—we are a policy research institute that works to provide the public with in-depth and well-researched analysis on Canada’s political economy. That means that the works we publish are generally not based on documentary reporting, but rather on analysis and expertise. The author’s research and informed analysis should figure prominently in pieces, with links and sourcing to back it up, rather than having stories driven by interviews.

We strive towards a writing style that is accessible to the general public, with analysis that remains well-researched and engaging for the well-informed. In other words, the form should be as accessible as possible, while the content can be quite in-depth. We avoid academic prose whenever possible and prioritize accessibility. Short-form articles can have links but no formal references such as footnotes or endnotes (that is reserved for long-form reports and assessments).

Generally, pieces from external contributors are short-form articles rather than long-form reports. For examples, see the News & Commentary section of our site.

Pitching, drafting, and editing process

You can send article pitches using the form below. Pitches should be relatively short (no more than 200 words) and describe the article you would like to write, an approximate word count, and a draft timeline. It should also include a short bio and a link to previously published work if it’s your first time pitching us. We strive to respond to pitches within two weeks’ time. We cannot, unfortunately, respond to all pitches.

If your pitch is accepted, we will respond to you, then you will send us a draft by the agreed deadline (or let us know if that deadline needs to be changed). Once we receive it, the editorial team will edit the piece to fit our standards and send you back the edited draft with changes tracked. You will accept those changes (or flag any which you are not on board with), and then we will get the piece into the publication schedule. Throughout this process, we reserve the right to not publish a piece for editorial or internal reasons.

Reprinting

While we strongly prioritize original writing, the CCPA occasionally reprints work from elsewhere with attribution and the author’s consent. If you would like to re-print your publication with the CCPA, send us an email and we will take it under consideration.

Similarly, if you wrote an original piece for the CCPA and would like to re-print it in another publication, simply let us know where you plan on re-printing it and ensure that the re-print contains attribution to the CCPA.

In all cases, the title of the article must be changed in order to avoid confusing search engines. 

Want to become a CCPA research associate?

We welcome submissions from researchers based in universities, colleges, unions, and civil society organizations who would like to become a CCPA research associate. CCPA research associates are based in universities, colleges and civil society organizations. The position is are unpaid, but provides have access to the CCPA’s formidable research and outreach platform. To learn more about becoming a CCPA research associate, please contact us using the form below. 

Omatsu Files

Throughout the year, we welcome early career writers from equity-deserving backgrounds, focused on progressive public policy issues, to pitch a 1,200-word article with an intersectional lens by using the form below. Pitch response protocols are the same as they are for general pitching (see above). 

Read more about the Omatsu Files program here.

Payment rates

The CCPA pays external contributors a standard rate of $500 per article for short-form (article-length) pieces. However, since our freelance budget is unfortunately limited, we typically do not pay contributors who have day-jobs in the fields that they are covering; we prioritize payment for freelancers and independent researchers. 

If the CCPA agrees to pay for an article and then deems the draft ineligible for publication, we will pay a “kill fee” of 50 per cent of the agreed-upon rate ($250 on a standard rate of $500).

Once the piece has been published, send us an invoice for the work. Make sure to include an etransfer address, if possible, and we will ensure that your payment arrives swiftly.

AI-based writing

The CCPA has a strict zero-tolerance policy for any writing produced using Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT. Any author who uses LLMs or other so-called “artificial intelligence” programs to produce their texts forfeits their right to publication and compensation.