Submission & Content Warning Policies

Counterpoint’s Submission Policy

Counterpoint invites all Wellesley students to submit articles, art, photography, comics, or other printable media. The magazine accepts non-fiction submissions that are respectful, are submitted with sufficient time for editing, and have not been published elsewhere. We encourage cooperation between writers and editors but reserve the right to edit all content for length and clarity. Email submissions, ideas, or questions to the Editors-in-Chief (senglis2 or myang5). The views expressed in Counterpoint do not necessarily reflect the views of the magazine staff or the Wellesley community. Counterpoint does not solicit specific pieces from students, rather we publish the pieces that we receive each month and do our best to publish all appropriate submissions that we receive. 

Counterpoint’s Content Warning Policy

In an effort to be more transparent about our content warning policy, we wanted to illuminate the process behind our selection of particular content warnings. Counterpoint staff does not wish to prioritize any person’s particular trauma over another’s, but logistically, we as an editorial board must make decisions about what content warnings we use. We acknowledge our individual and collective biases, while honoring that we are a diverse group of people who share knowledge from many different racial, socio-economic, religious, political, ethnic, and regional backgrounds. In combination with our recently adopted community standards, which apply to both interactions among staff and interactions between staff members and the student body, the content warning policy serves as a safer space policy for the printed space that constitutes Counterpoint.

Authors are encouraged to write content warnings for their own articles, particularly warnings relating to an author’s identity or experience. Counterpoint reserves the right to include or exclude suggested content warnings based on the content of the article and how it could affect the student body. Though a reader of Counterpoint cannot expect to avoid all discomfort, they should be able to avoid major distress. Content warnings will be as specific as possible in order to be of most use to readers. Content warnings for text are included at the top of an article; content warnings for images are included in the table of contents, indicating the relevant page. In general, content warnings will address topics related to mental illness, abuse or violence, and discrimination.

Our magazine can never represent the needs of every person on campus, but we nevertheless want to make it as inclusive as possible. We do not view content warnings as a political or fully partisan issue, rather as a tool our publication can use to best serve our community.

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