PJP is an independent, nonprofit initiative. Our news judgments are made independently, and we are committed to transparency about our editorial process.
Content policy: PJP focuses on journalism and first-person writing about prisons, incarceration and the criminal justice system. We publish for a general audience, including those who may never have been touched by incarceration.
We accept work from the following categories. Submissions must be no longer than 1,200 words:
- Personal and reported essays that describe something you experienced or observed personally.
- News stories that tell people about incidents that actually happened inside or are related to incarceration, based on your observation, reporting and research.
- Op-eds that contain arguments supported by evidence and research — or commentaries that shed light on a problem based on your personal experience.
- Solutions journalism stories that explore and explain how people try to solve widely shared problems.
- Event stories that describe an event or holiday celebration that occurred in your community.
- Lifestyle stories, which include features, listicles, recipes, trends, advice and how-to stories.
- News You Can Use that offers practical information to help readers navigate the criminal legal system.
- Reviews of books, music, TV shows, movies and other forms of culture that depict prison life or the criminal legal system.
- Q&A, vox pops, profiles, obituaries and As Told To articles that tell someone else’s story.
- Illustrations, sketches, paintings, political cartoons and art that illustrates a perspective or scene of prison life.
We do not accept the following types of content:
- Stories that are sexually explicit, exploitative, pornographic or gratuitously violent (aim for PG-13 or R at the most). This includes pieces that objectify people.
- Stories that contradict known/proven facts (e.g., conspiracy theories about COVID-19).
- Stories that re-victimize individuals or justifies crimes (e.g., stories that justify rape or child pornography).
- Stories that disrespect or make unsubstantiated claims against an individual or a group based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, national origin or any other discriminatory characteristic.
- Stories that seek to prove innocence, re-litigate or rehash individual cases.
- Stories that accuse a specific person, group or institution of wrongdoing without documented proof that can be examined by PJP editors.
- Unsubstantiated accusations, rants or charges without specific evidence.
- Stories that sermonize, preach, proselytize or evangelize about a particular religion or beliefs. We accept work that describes how faith has influenced lives and perspectives, but it must tell a story or provide information in a way that will appeal to a general audience.
- Academic research papers.
- Legal documents.
- Submissions we cannot understand (including work we cannot read because of unclear handwriting).
Corrections: Prison Journalism Project is committed to accuracy and transparency and will respond promptly to any claim or requests to correct inaccurate facts. Writers, readers or subjects of a story can request a correction by sending a request in writing. Our editorial team will carefully review any potential inaccuracy and decide whether an article needs to be corrected or modified in some other way.
Data: Data that are not attributed to a source will be removed from stories or replaced by similar data researched by PJP staff.
Editing: PJP’s publication process is designed to help you develop your craft. All submissions will be given serious consideration. Stories that are accepted for publication will go through several rounds of edits, a treatment comparable to what a story would receive in a professional newsroom.
Fact-checking: Writers are responsible for checking the facts in their stories. Those facts include, but are not limited to:
- Spelling of names.
- Ages, job titles and any other descriptions of people mentioned.
- Full official name of institutions, organizations and companies.
- Location of places.
- Data, dimensions of rooms and any other numbers.
- Full formal titles of books, movies, newspapers, magazines and other publications.
- Allegations of unethical or illegal behavior that impugns someone’s character.
- Pivotal facts such as when events took place, number of people involved.
Human sources: Quotes and paraphrased assertions or observations by someone other than the writer must be attributed. The writer need not name the source, but should disclose enough information for the reader to assess the person’s trustworthiness, such as how they got the information. For example, your story includes an observation about the medical clinic by a cellmate you spoke to who works there as an orderly. In this case, a full name is desired, but initials, first names or a general description of their relationship to you (friend, cellmate etc.) is sufficient. Writers must seek permission from their sources to use what they said in a published story.
Research or additional reporting by PJP: PJP editors may add additional reporting or nut graphs to bolster the story. In such cases, PJP will add a note at the bottom: “Additional reporting by PJP.”
Safety and security of writers: Writers should assume that all submissions to PJP, including assignments, could be published. PJP considers the safety of writers to be of paramount importance. Part of our decision to publish stories or seek official comment depends on our assessment of the risk that publication might pose to a writer, the writer’s level of risk tolerance and the writer’s understanding of the risks they may be taking on. We will not take away the agency of writers who are fully aware of the risks. But if there is any uncertainty, our default decision will be to not seek official comment. We encourage the writer to consider their own safety when submitting a story.
Takedowns and Retractions: PJP will carefully consider requests to takedown a story or a sub-section of a story if they infringe on the intellectual property of others or present a safety issue to writers or sources. PJP cannot take down entire stories without serious reason because it goes against the practices of ethical journalism and would compromise our integrity and credibility as an organization committed to publishing true and accurate information with transparency.
Use of racial slurs and other derogatory terms: PJP will not publish derogatory terms and racial slurs unless they are part of a quote and/or crucial to the understanding of the story or news event. When they are used, we will refer to such words with dashes except in the rarest of circumstances when a writer provides a compelling reason for spelling out the full word.
Verification of writers: PJP verifies the identity of writers on corrections department databases and other online searches. We may on occasion request another form of verification.
Writers and anonymity: Journalism is more credible if the writer is identified, but incarcerated writers sometimes face a risk of reprisal. In such cases, PJP may withhold the writer’s identity or allow the use of initials, first name only or a pen name. PJP will disclose the fact that we have withheld the writer’s identity and will keep the identity confidential unless ordered by a court to disclose it. All writers must still provide their full names.
(Updated March 5, 2024)