The JFCP is a peer-reviewed journal published three times a year by the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education®. JFCP features original research and descriptions of effective approaches to education and practice concerning all aspects of financial counseling and planning. Readers expect to find detailed recommendations for education and practice in journal articles. JFCP also publishes book reviews.
POTENTIAL TOPICS
Papers can be research reports, theories and tools, literature reviews, policy reviews, and case studies. Preferred topics should be relevant to household finance, consumer finance, personal finance, and behavioral finance. Specifically, topics of interest include but are not limited to:
- Consumer financial well-being
- Consumer financial literacy
- Consumer financial capability
- Consumer financial education
- Consumer financial behavior
- Consumer borrowing behavior
- Consumer saving and investing behavior
- Retirement planning
- Financial counseling and coaching
- Financial planning
- Health and financial issues
- Consumer financial protection
- Financial issues of low income consumers
- Cross-cultural comparisons of consumer financial issues
- International issues of consumer finance
For more information on the Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning visit Springer Publishing Company.
AFCPE is seeking submissions for The Standard Newsletter and AFCPE’s blog. Whether you are a seasoned writer or want to be published for the first time, we believe you are the expert at what you do. We can work with you to formulate an interesting topic and guide you through the publishing process.
Which medium is best for your work? Read more to find out before submitting.
AFCPE’s quarterly newsletter, The Standard, seeks authors for articles on all aspects of financial counseling, including research and practical application. We rely solely on articles contributed by staff, AFCPE members, and experts in the field. The Standard is published quarterly in the months of January, April, July and October.
Read the most recent issue of The Standard here.
Submission Topics
The Standard Newsletter is seeking submissions for the following:
- Book reviews: A review of a personal finance book or topic that is helpful for practitioners in their day-to-day business.
- Articles on Military, Extension, or Practitioner issues: Including (but not limited to): working with clients; crisis counseling; budgeting; debt management; repairing a credit report; credit management; getting back on your feet; taxes; saving and investing; starting over; and, motivating clients.
Deadlines
The Standard Newsletter is published quarterly in the months of January, April, July and October.
Q1 | Due December 15
Q2 | Due March 15
Q3 | Due June 15
Q4 | Due September 15
Before you begin:
- Identify your audience: Who are you writing this article for? The Standard Newsletter attracts mainly a professional audience. Article submissions should be original, thought-provoking, and well-researched. They should spark conversation among peers and colleagues!
- Research Key Phrases: All good articles begin with some kind of key phrase research. What are readers searching for? When thinking of a topic, ask yourself, what word/phrase would my reader use to search for this topic. This should absolutely inform your piece.
- Pitch your idea to AFCPE’s Newsletter Task Force: Submit your pitch through the form below. The Newsletter Task Force meets on the 4th Friday of every month. During the meeting, they will review article pitches. You will receive an email from an AFCPE Staff Member with feedback for your article after the meeting.
Got the green light on your topic? Let’s start writing.
Follow these style guidelines to maximize readability and Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
- Tone: Approachable, professional, helpful, and easy to understand.
- Write as though you’re writing for a 15-year-old reader and use transition words (So, thus, etc.…). Vary the length of your sentences to keep the flow interesting and write in the active voice whenever possible.
- Equity Screen: At AFCPE, every decision we make goes through an equity screen. Here are the questions we ask ourselves when making decisions or pursuing new initiatives. Before submitting, please make sure your article has a lens of inclusion.
- Length: Newsletter articles should be between 850 – 1500 words.
- Sub Headings: Subheads provide a positive user experience and enhance readability. They also enhance SEO, allowing others to more easily find your article in an internet search. Be sure to use your key phrase in those headings!
- It’s generally a good practice to use subheads every 250-300 words. This helps the reader easily scan the article. Keep paragraphs to around 150 words.
- Bullets are great too!
- Links: Give credit where credit is due! If you reference a study or quote research, please include links in your copy. Links are also a great way to cross promote articles and connect readers to AFCPE resources or your own work.
- Key Phrases: Use the keyword/phrase within your introduction and throughout the copy. Search engines love this! It’s called keyword/phrase density.
- Title: When coming up with a title for the article, keep it short and catchy. If possible, use your keyword/phrase within the title.
- Your Byline: Be sure to use your credentials and link back to your website, LinkedIn profile, or organization.
- Plagiarism: Plagiarism is prohibited. We run each of our submissions through a plagiarism checker prior to publication. Please cite any references or sources in your article.
Want CEUs or Experience Hours for your submission? Make sure your content ties back to the AFC Core Competencies. Email certification@afcpe.org for more information.
What should I do once I finish my article?
Please send your final submission to communications@afcpe.org.
- Each submitted article will be reviewed by at least 2 members of the Newsletter Task Force. Your article will be checked for plagiarism during the editing process.
- Your article will be returned to you so you can approve the edits. Please return the article no later than a week before publication.
- AFCPE will finalize the edits (including a scan through Grammarly).
What happens once the article is posted?
AFCPE will publish the new issue of The Standard on the website and distribute it through email and social media.
We encourage you to share your published articles through social media and email.
Once approved, CEU credit or Experience Hours are available for AFCPE certified professionals and Candidates. Approved articles must be posted within the current reporting period to be considered for CEU credit.
If you have questions about submitting to The Standard, please contact communications@afcpe.org.
AFCPE’s blog is designed to provide new and insightful personal finance information for financial professionals – information that can be shared with both clients and consumers and provides new insights into education and practice.
See the latest posts on AFCPE’s blog here.
Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis and published based on openings in AFCPE’s editorial calendar.
Before You Begin:
- Identify your audience: Who are you writing this article for?
AFCPE blog posts attract mainly a professional audience, but consumer focused posts are good ways to direct clients to our professional community. Article submissions should be original, thought-provoking, and well-researched. They should spark conversation among peers and colleagues! - Research Key Phrases: All good blogs begin with some kind of key phrase research. What are readers searching for? When thinking of a topic, ask yourself, what word/phrase would my reader use to search for this topic. This should absolutely inform your blog.
- Pitch your idea to AFCPE. Fill out the form below.
- Identify your audience: Who are you writing this article for?
Note: While we prefer original content on our blog, we will occasionally repost an article. If submitting a repost, please indicate the original source when submitting for consideration.
Got the green light on your topic? Let’s start writing.
Follow these style guidelines to maximize readability and Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
- Tone: Approachable, professional, helpful, and easy to understand.
- Write as though you’re writing for a 15-year-old reader and use transition words (So, thus, etc.…). Vary the length of your sentences to keep the flow interesting and write in the active voice whenever possible.
- Equity Screen: At AFCPE, every decision we make goes through an equity screen. Here are the questionswe ask ourselves when making decisions or pursuing new initiatives. Before submitting, please make sure your article has a lens of inclusion.
- Length: Blogs should be at least 500 words. Many search engines like longer blogs (i.e. 1,500 words) but from a readability standpoint, we prefer 500-700.
- Sub Headings: Subheads provide a positive user experience and enhance readability. They also enhance SEO, allowing others to more easily find your article in an internet search. Be sure to use your key phrase in those headings!
- It’s generally a good practice to use subheads every 250-300 words. This helps the reader easily scan the blog. Keep paragraphs to around 150 words.
- Bullets are great too!
- Links: Give credit where credit is due! If you reference a study or quote research, please include links in your copy. Links are also a great way to cross promote articles and connect readers to AFCPE resources or your own work.
- Key Phrases: Use the keyword/phrase within your introduction and throughout the copy. Search engines love this! It’s called keyword/phrase density.
- Title: When coming up with a title for the blog, keep it short and catchy. If possible, use your keyword/phrase within the title.
- Your Byline: Be sure to use your credentials and link back to your website, LinkedIn profile, or organization.
Now it’s time for AFCPE to review.
Articles are edited by AFCPE staff and all edits are confirmed by the author before posting. Please allow staff 7-10 business days to review. If a publication date was provided at the time the topic was approved, timelines may adjust accordingly.
What happens once the article is posted?
We encourage you to share your published articles through social media and email by linking back to AFCPE’s blog. If you’d like to re-use the article on your own blog, please provide a link to the original source.
Once approved, CEU credit is available for AFCPE certified professionals. Approved articles must be posted within the current reporting period to be considered for CEU credit.
If you have questions about submitting to AFCPE’s blog, please contact communications@afcpe.org.
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