We would love to hear from you!

We want to learn more about the people who support us - our fantastic base of dedicated and passionate members. We want to hear your stories, see your photographs, know more about what you're working on, what your interests are, and how you're supporting our cause of working towards a world where everyone wants to get engaged our nautical heritage!

There are plenty of ways to tell us your story, each detailed in the guide below. Your stories will be shared on the Members' Stories section of the website, and shared within our Weekly Discoveries newsletter and on social media. 

If you have an idea, but you're not sure where to start, get in touch. We are happy to help, and give you any advice where we can. Get in touch with our editor by emailing [email protected] or give us a call.

Contributions are subject to normal editorial processes to ensure quality and relevance to the NAS readership. Submission does not in itself guarantee publication, but we will work with you through the editing and publication process.

Please note that you must be an NAS member in order to publish through the NAS website.

All submissions must comply with the Society’s values as set out in its Statement of Principles, which can be viewed on the website.

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Types of submission

You can tell us your story in any of the following formats:

Short news report

This is a brief report of approximately 300 words that quickly communicates an original item of news that the writer believes to be of interest to the nautical archaeological community. It must either arise from activities conducted by the Society or its members, or otherwise be directly relevant to them and their interests. It should be economically written in a detached, fact-based and ‘journalistic’ style. The report should contain at least 1–3 images, one of which should be landscape orientation for the story header. 
Upon publication on the NAS website, a short news report will earn you 1.5 credits.

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Member experience report

This is a short ‘eye-witness’ report, of approximately 700 words, in which the author describes their personal experiences of participating in an NAS-organised activity. It should be conversational, and written in the first person (I, we). It should focus on the author’s own experience of and response to the event and the value of that event to her/him in terms of personal growth and sheer enjoyment - reflecting on the author's experience and not a description of the activity/event. The report should contain 3–6 images, at least one of which should be landscape orientation to use as the story header.
Upon publication on the NAS website, a member experience report will earn you 2.5 credits. Please find examples here.

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Member journey report

This is a report of your journey as an NAS member. Whether you joined 20+ years ago, or you're brand new to us. Similar to the experience report, it should be written in a conversational tone, and in the first person (I, we). It should focus on the author’s own experience of their entire NAS journey, from when they became a NAS member, to where they are now, and the journey in-between. It should contain approximately 600 words, and contain 4-6 images, at least one of which should be landscape orientation to use as a story header.
Upon publication on the NAS website, a member journey report will earn you 3 credits. Please find examples here.

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Research/ fieldwork report

This is an article of 750–2,000 words comprising a report on original maritime archaeological fieldwork or archival research into maritime archaeological issues conducted by an NAS member or members. The report can contain up to 10 images, at least one of which should be landscape orientation to use a the story header.
Upon publication on the NAS website, a research/fieldwork report will earn you 10 credits. At the discretion of NAS staff, it can also contribute to a member’s NAS Award.

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Opinion piece

This is an advocacy article of approximately 500–750 words addressing an issue of concern to the maritime archaeological community—and perhaps the role of the Society within it. It should normally recommend a course of action with respect to policy and individual action. It may well benefit from being written in collaboration (or at least consultation) with an officer of the Society (i.e. member of staff, trustee, vice president, editor, etc.). The article can contain 2–4 images, at least one of which should be landscape orientation to use as a story header.
Upon publication on the NAS website, an opinion piece will earn you 5 credits.

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Long read

This is an extended essay of up to 5,000 words that explores a major theme in maritime archaeology. The report can contain up to 15 images, at least one of which should be landscape orientation to use as a story header.
Upon publication on the NAS website, a long read will earn you 15 credits. It can also contribute to a member’s NAS Award.

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Submitting material

Please submit all material to [email protected]

Images

Please submit all images as separate files—not embedded in the Word document. Images should be relevant, compelling, well composed, and at least 1MB in size. At least one of them should be landscape orientation to use as the story header. You MUST have permission from the copyright holder for EVERY image you submit, allowing you to publish it on the NAS website. You should declare this to the editor on submission of the article.

Text

1. Please write in plain, conversational English for a global audience. Explain your terms in an understandable way.

2. Before writing, identify what is new and compelling in your story, and lead with that.

3. Make sure you answer the “five Ws”: Who? What? Where? When? Why?

4. Remember that your reader might live on another part of our planet and might not know your local geography.

5. Write ethically: comply with the law, and respect your readership and the people you write about (even if you disagree with them).

6. Remember the three keywords of journalism: “Accuracy, accuracy, accuracy!” - make sure what you've written is fact.

7. The text should be your own original work. Where you use a section of text from another source, you should set this text within quotation marks and name the source. Using other people’s work without attribution is plagiarism: it is unethical and may breach copyright.

Format 

Your story should include the following:

1. A headline: this should be a short and snappy summary of your entire story. Include words that will enable an internet search to find it. 

2. A strapline: this is a brief sub-heading that introduces the author and the subject in a couple of sentences: see published stories as a guide.

3. A dateline: This is a bracketed section at the very start of the main text that tells the reader where and when the article was written: it’s a way of giving an article a sense of place—e.g. “(Exmouth, UK, 2 Nov 2019:)”

4. The body text: This is the main text of the article. Please keep to the word count and follow the style advice above—don’t give the editor unnecessary work by writing long.

5. Images: Please keep to the image number limit as indicated above. Indicate where in the text you’d like your figures to go by inserting a caption—e.g. “Fig. 1: One of the cannons found on the wreck. (Image: Ahmad Sayyagh)”. Always include a picture credit and confirm in writing to the editor that you have permission to use the image in your article.

6. Thanks: if you have anyone you need to thank, add a sentence or two after your body text. Keep it as short as possible.

7. Further reading: we do not encourage academic citation in website articles, but if you want to point the reader towards an interesting read, do this here.