Contribute a Correction or a Guide
How to send a correction, extend a magazine issue record or propose a guide for testingexperience.com, what is accepted and what happens next.
AboutUpdated
What the site accepts
The magazine ended with issue 28 in 2014, so there is no issue to write for. What the site accepts is narrower and more useful: corrections, additions to the issue pages, and proposals for guides.
Corrections
If a guide states something wrong, cites a standard incorrectly, or uses a number that does not hold up, write to the editor through the contact page with the page, the sentence in question and what it should say, with a source where one exists. Confirmed corrections are made within a week, the review month on the page is updated, and substantive changes are noted at the foot of the page.
Extending an issue page
The issue pages say only what can be checked elsewhere, which means they are incomplete by design. If you wrote for the magazine, edited it, or hold a copy of an issue, you can extend an issue page with a table of contents, an author list, or a correction to a theme. Provide the issue number and date, what you are adding, and how you know it (you were the author; you hold a copy). Contributions are attributed by name if you wish, and the page is marked as extended by a contributor, so that readers can tell the two kinds of statement apart.
What counts as evidence
An issue record changes only on evidence, and evidence means something a second person could check. Accepted: a scan or photograph of the issue's contents page with the issue number and date visible; your own byline on an article, with the page number; a dated citation from a published source that names the issue and the article.
Not accepted on its own: recollection, a summary from a third-party site, a list produced by a writing assistant, or a claim about the issue's theme without a page that states it. Accepted extensions appear in the record within two weeks, marked as contributed and attributed by name if you wish, and the original part of the record stays separate so that readers can tell which statements rest on which evidence.
Proposing a guide
The magazine hub and the five guide hubs show the subjects covered so far; the backlog includes test case design, test data management, regression strategy, API testing, accessibility testing, usability testing, defect management, test environments, contract testing, and testing in regulated domains. A proposal should say which question the guide answers, who searches for it, what figure or table would open it, and which three sources it would cite. Guides are written or co-written with the editor to the site's format; they carry a named byline, and co-authors are named.
Submission checklist
A guide proposal is read only if it contains all seven items. (1) The question the guide answers, written the way a tester would search for it, in one line. (2) The direct answer, in 40 to 60 words, that the guide will defend. (3) The figure or table the guide will open with, described in a sentence: what it compares, on what axis, from which data. (4) The worked example, with the counts it will use; invented counts are fine if the proposal says so.
(5) The sources, at least two and at most four, from standards bodies, published books or peer-reviewed studies, with the page or section that supports the claim; vendor documentation does not count. (6) The level (Foundation, Practitioner or Advanced) and the reading time, on the site's rule of 230 words per minute, which puts most guides between 1,400 and 2,300 words. (7) The three guides on the site it will sit beside, in both directions. A proposal that names a product, a company or a tool is returned unread.
What happens after submission
The editor acknowledges a proposal within three working days and replies within two weeks to say whether it fits; the reply names the guide it would sit beside and any overlap with the backlog. If it fits, the contributor writes a first draft to the site's format (figure first, quick answer, key figures, sections, a comparison table, limits, FAQ, sources), usually within four weeks.
The editor returns one round of comments within a week of receiving the draft, and a second round if the first changes the structure; drafts rarely need a third. The finished guide is checked against its sources, its figures are redrawn to the site's system from the contributor's data, and it is published with the contributor's byline and the month of review. From proposal to publication takes six to ten weeks. Nothing is paid, and nothing is charged.
What is not accepted
Content that names or promotes a vendor, product or company; sponsored or paid placement of any kind; guest posts; and anything generated to length. The site has no advertising, and requests of that kind are not answered.
Format
Plain text or a simple document is fine. No template is required. The editor will reply within two weeks to say whether the proposal fits and, if so, how to proceed.
