Editorial Standards

Overseen by Communications, Marketing & Public Affairs (CMPA), stories are written by the CMPA network as well as submitted from across the university’s faculties and units. The following editorial guidelines outline how we select, develop, and publish content, and how members of the university community and beyond can contribute to our news website. 

McMaster News stories aim to inform, inspire and engage our audiences by sharing stories that reflect the university’s academic and research excellence, campus and community life, and our mission to create a Brighter World. Our website covers key university priorities and is guided by the mission of McMaster University, including integrity, quality, creativity, inclusiveness and teamwork. We serve the needs of the McMaster community.

Our content embodies McMaster’s distinct identity as a place of discovery, collaboration, excellence and inclusiveness, focusing on our impact here and around the world.

News stories should be:

• Optimistic: Use an authentic voice to highlight solutions and subjects.
• Direct: Avoid unnecessary wordiness, jargon or hyperbole. Concise wording is more powerful.
• Warm and student-focused: Use second-person language and contractions when appropriate.
• Impact-focused: Share the impact or potential impact our community contributes to a brighter future.
• Team-focused: Where possible, put individual accomplishments in the context of a team effort. Acknowledge the efforts of the group, community or faculty that helped make the accomplishment possible.

Style Guide

We follow Canadian Press (CP) Style, with university-specific adaptations. We prioritize:

• Inclusive, bias-free language
• Proper attribution of sources and quotes
• Clear, concise writing

Please see McMaster’s Writing and Storytelling Guidelines for tips and technical notes on university style.

We publish a wide range of content that supports the university’s mission and strategic priorities, including:

• News Stories: Timely updates on research, faculty and student achievements, institutional milestones, and community partnerships.
• Feature Articles: In-depth storytelling that explores university life, profiles people and projects, or highlights innovative programs.
• Event Coverage: Highlights of major university events.
• Multimedia: Videos and photo essays that provide a rich, visual exploration of McMaster research and experiences.
• Op-eds, Analysis, Commentary: Thought leadership from university leaders, faculty and experts on their area of research or expertise.

We welcome story ideas and submissions from faculty, staff, students, and approved partners. 

Submission requirements

Approved partners across campus can submit draft stories for consideration. If you have a story idea you’d like to workshop with the McMaster News editorial team, you can contact us at newseditor@mcmaster.ca .

 Please include: 

• A brief description of the story  
• A link to more information (if applicable) 
• Any relevant images or multimedia (with captions and credits) 
• Contact information for follow-up 

Review process

Content submitted by our McMaster communications partners are reviewed by our editorial team for relevance, accuracy, and alignment with our content priorities. We may edit submissions for clarity, style and length. Not all content submitted by campus partners may be published.

Note: Op Eds written by McMaster professors and republished from The Conversation are independent of McMaster News and are edited by the publication’s own editorial teams under its own editorial policies. These articles reflect the professor’s research/own views and not that of the university. 

We are committed to delivering news that is:

• Accurate: All facts, quotes, and data are verified before publication. Please email newseditor@mcmaster.ca if you wish to note a correction.
• Transparent: We disclose conflicts of interest and key contributors to content.
• Original: We do not publish plagiarized content. If CoPilot or another AI tool is used in the research and final development stage of article development, the submission must note this in alignment with staff guidance on AI use for McMaster staff. All submissions must be original or properly credited, if republished with permission.
• Respectful: We are committed to telling the stories of the university in a way that is respectful of all the communities across our campuses and adheres to McMaster’s inclusive language standards. In all of our communications, we respect and celebrate the diverse community that makes McMaster such a wonderful place to work, live and study.