Guidelines for Articles Submitted to APWA Reporter  for Publication

The APWA Reporter serves as the primary communication tool uniting the community of public works professionals who make up APWA. The magazine is mailed monthly to all members of APWA and is also available online. Most editorial content includes articles by public works practitioners on subjects such as solid waste management, water resources, municipal engineering, transportation, equipment services, buildings and grounds, snow removal, and other public works-related topics. This is a magazine of editorial content geared toward public works professionals. It is not an academic journal, therefore the use of footnotes is discouraged.

All articles submitted for the APWA Reporter should pertain to the field of public works.

Please note: In order to maintain a quality product, and avoid any copyright or plagiarism issues, AI-generated images or articles will not be accepted.

Articles should be submitted via email to reporter@apwa.org or your APWA committee staff liaison if you are working with one. Articles should be written in third person. APWA follows the Chicago Manual of Style. We prefer to publish original material and generally avoid running articles printed in other publications.

APWA welcomes diverse voices throughout public works and encourages contributors who are representative of various geographic regions, experience levels, genders, gender identities, races, national origins, ethnicities, ages, sexual orientations, and physical or cognitive abilities to submit articles.

Photographs, illustrations, graphs, etc. are welcome and encouraged. Please include captions with each. Please submit as a jpg, tif, or pdf file. Photos must be high-resolution. Photo credits are allowed. Photos or graphs cannot be accepted for print if they are embedded within a document (you may include them in the document if needed for reference in the article, but they will still need to be sent separately as well). Please send as attachments to the APWA Reporter editor or your APWA committee staff liaison. Authors are responsible for acquiring permission to have photos/graphs printed and must not infringe on copyright. Photos or graphics taken from websites without permission will not be used. If you are using photos showing workers, please be sure that the people depicted are following all recommended and binding safety rules. For example, if a person is wearing a safety vest, it must be zipped. You are the subject matter expert, and the staff relies on you to ensure nothing is printed in APWA Reporter that could reflect badly upon any public works profession.

All articles must have a byline, to include the author’s title, company/agency, city, state, committee/knowledge team membership if any, and should end with the author’s phone number and/or email for readers to contact for more information.

Articles published in the APWA Reporter are the exclusive property of the American Public Works Association. To request permission to copy or reprint any APWA article, contact the editor at reporter@apwa.org.

Articles must be submitted at least six weeks prior to the first of the month of publication.

Articles should be between 800 and 1200 words. Longer articles are sometimes accepted if the subject matter warrants it. The criteria for article selection will vary from issue to issue. Each month is themed.

The 2025 editorial calendar is as follows:

  • January: Trending Technology
  • February: Water Resources Management
  • March: Solid Waste Management/Annual Buyer’s Guide
  • April: Transportation
  • May: Special Double Issue/The Future of Public Works/Top 10 Public Works Leaders
  • June: Emergency Management
  • July: Engineering and Construction/Projects of the Year
  • August: PWX Show Issue/Utilities and Public Rights-of-Way
  • September: Fleet Management
  • October: Winter Maintenance
  • November: 2025 PWX in Print
  • December: Facilities and Grounds

In addition, issues may have articles on several of the following topics: Accreditation, Asset Management, Certification, DEI, International Idea Exchange, Leadership and Management, Operations and Maintenance, Small Cities/Rural Communities, Sustainability and Resiliency, Technology, Winter Maintenance, Workforce Development, and Young Professionals.

Acceptance or assignment of articles does not guarantee publication, immediate or otherwise. The APWA Reporter editorial team has the final say regarding publication of any article.

APWA reserves the right to edit the articles in keeping with accepted standards of style, form, and content. We will not accept or publish content that is derogatory to others on the basis of race, ethnicity, country of origin, sex, gender identity, gender presentation, disability, relation, or for any other reason we decide.

Published pieces are not necessarily the opinion of APWA. We are open to publishing opinions from many corners of the public works community.

No payment is made for articles, photography, or other illustrations.

The recommended practice regarding articles from APWA’s Technical Committees or Standing Committees is that the contributing author should submit the article to APWA’s committee staff liaison for review. After review and approval by the committee staff liaison, the committee staff liaison will forward the article to the APWA Reporter editor. If there are any concerns regarding content by the APWA Reporter editor, the editor will contact the committee staff liaison for discussion. The article may be sent back to the contributing author for possible revision and modification at that time. This review process is to help ensure that the best product possible will be included in the magazine for our members.

The APWA Reporter editorial team reserves the right to refuse publication for any reason.