Yale Daily News

The Yale Daily News welcomes all submissions of guest columns and letters to the editor. Columns typically run approximately 600-800 words, while letters to the editor run around 400 words. All submissions should be sent to the opinion editors via email at opinion@yaledailynews.com. Below you will find our editorial guidelines for guest columns and letters to the editor.

Anyone is welcome to write a guest column for the News, but it is strongly preferred that submissions come from those with connections to Yale/New Haven. The column should make a clear, defensible argument using credible evidence, and it should address issues that pertain to the Yale-New Haven community. The decision to accept articles is made at the discretion of the editors, and they are not required to provide an explanation for their decision. 

In general, we will refuse to publish articles that are blatantly discriminatory, and we will refuse to publish articles that come from individuals and/or organizations known to be prejudiced and/or discriminatory. We will also refuse articles that don’t substantiate their claims, articles that unnecessarily target individuals, and articles that generally rely on speculation to advance their argument. Articles that are accepted are done so on a conditional basis and are subject to revisions from the opinion editors, the copy-editing desk and the Editor-in-Chief. Writers will be contacted during the revision process to confirm the changes that are made to their piece. Writers unwilling to work with editors during the revision process will have their drafts rejected.

Authors will be contacted regarding any major changes.

Letters to the Editor are subject to the same guidelines as guest columns. More details on submissions can be found here.

Additional Information 

All submissions to the News must be previously unpublished. Newspapers and other organizations looking to republish Yale Daily News opinion pieces in print should email editor@yaledailynews.com for further information.

Please include your full name, any affiliations with Yale University or other institutions and organizations relevant to the content of your letter, and an evening or mobile phone number so that you can be contacted if your piece is chosen for publication.

We strongly discourage groups of people from submitting articles together except when absolutely necessary. In such cases, we will likely restrict primary authorship to one or two individuals, while acknowledging the additional authors in their contributing role.

As a policy, we do not permit anonymous submissions. However, if you believe you absolutely cannot write without anonymity, please email opinion@yaledailynews.com with an explanation of your situation.

If you are considering writing a letter to the editor or a guest column, please feel free to contact the opinion editor by email at opinion@yaledailynews.com to discuss your topic before submission.

How best to increase your chances of publication:

1. Email the opinion editors with your pitch before you submit a draft. We’ll work with you to refine your focus and offer any needed suggestions. Know that we do not make decisions about publication until we see a draft from an author.

2. Read the opinion section regularly. Our staff columns provide a model for quality opinion writing.

3. Adhere to the word limit. In most cases, we simply don’t have space to publish anything longer than 800 words.

4. Choose a relevant topic. Though we’ll consider submissions about everything from international politics to art, as the Yale Daily News, we especially are interested in commentary on life and issues specifically relevant to Yale or New Haven.

5. Be a member of the Yale community. We look forward to hearing from students, alumni, faculty, staff, administrators and anyone else with a connection to Yale.