Monitor on Psychology Freelance Market Guide

Fees: This print publication pays $1 per word. Feature articles range in length from 1,500 to 2,400 words.   

Submit to: Susan Straight, managing editor, sstraight@apa.org

Website: https://www.apa.org/monitor/

Owner: American Psychological Association, a leading scientific and professional organization in the United States with more than 133,000 members.

Readership demographics: The audience tends to be Ph.D.-level psychologists, including researchers, academics and clinicians. But articles reach a wider audience through digital newsletters and social media, so the writing needs to be free of jargon.

Frequency of publication: The magazine is published eight times a year. Each issue contains three or four full-length features and two or three shorter news stories. Material is used across channels — print, web and e-newsletters.

What Straight looks for in a pitch: Freelancers should pitch news or feature stories on topics that are important to psychologists (clinicians, educators and researchers) or the field of psychology. The pitch should include three experts who will be interviewed and three scientific articles from reputable journals that will be referenced to support the points being made.

“For example, we ran an article recently on the threat of misinformation in a presidential election and the imperative to respond effectively,” Straight said. The writer referenced journal articles describing some of the tactics of misinformation purveyors, which people are more likely to believe misinformation and the most effective way to correct misinformation. The writer also interviewed the psychological scientists who are the leading authorities on misinformation and describes how they are communicating “pre-bunking” techniques to a wider audiences.

“We’re bringing in science to support the story,” Straight said.

Ideally, a pitch would contain a nut graph and links to a few of the freelancer’s clips and/or professional website.

Does she welcome pre-pitches: Yes, freelancers can send Straight a short email asking if she would be interested in a more detailed pitch about a particular story idea. 

What they look for in a writer: “The biggest hurdle for us is getting writers who are comfortable writing for psychologists, citing journal articles and using psychological science to support points in the story,” Straight said.

Most common mistake Straight sees with pitches: Two of the most common mistakes are not understanding how psychological science needs to underpin the article and writing for a general reader rather than for psychologists. Straight explained that freelancers should spend time reading the magazine to get a sense of the kinds of stories she wants. All issue are free online. 

Lead time for pitching: “Feel free to pitch anytime. We have a rigorous editorial and review process that takes roughly a month, but we sometimes run things online-only. Those have a quicker turnaround time,” Straight said.

Is there a best place to break into the pub? “We have a Q&A in each issue and those tend to be a little easier since you aren’t citing science, though it does take some work to understand the career and work of the subject in order to craft strong, simple questions,” said Straight. Potential freelances should keep in mind that the magazine has a tight group of freelancers, and that editors will go back to the same people again and again. So if things work out, “one of the real benefits of writing for Monitor is that we’re very loyal to our freelancers,” Straight said.