Submissions

Would you like to write for The Swag? 

The Swag (and its predecessors) has been published for over 40 years by the National Council of Priests primarily to facilitate conversation between priests. The Swag has retained its focus on affirming and encouraging all ordained priests in their lives and ministry, but it also believes in and recognises the priesthood of all baptised people. We encourage all who wish to contribute to the conversation around pastoral and theological issues in the church to offer articles of 700-800 words or 1400 words for feature articles. Articles should be broadly around issues that concern the Catholic Church and its mission in the world.

Submissions must be received in the following format:

  1. Emailed as a Word Document. (Complete the 'Contact Us' form and the email address will be emailed to you.
  2. Name and contact details of the author and the person submitting the article if this is different from the author.
  3. As little formatting as possible (no indents or double spacing).
  4. Single spacing after full stops.
  5. ‘Single’ quotation marks.
  6. A brief author bio.
  7. A picture of the author or of the topic (at least 300 KB as a separate .jpg file - not embedded in the Word document).
  8. Photographs, graphics or other images must be sent as separate .jpg files, minimum 300 KB in size.
  9. We do not publish footnotes. All references need to be in the text in brackets and as brief as possible. Full referencing is not necessary as we are not an academic journal.

The editor has final say on all submissions and the right to minor editorial changes and article titles.

The editor will contact you if significant revision is required for publication.

We will not publish offensive or defamatory material.

Letters to the Editor: 

  • Letters between 200-300 words can be submitted by email (Word document).

Articles and Features:

  • Articles up to 700 words and major features up to 1400 words can be submitted by email (Word document).

Obituaries:

  • Obituaries up to 350 words can be submitted by email (Word document).
  • Images must be sent as a separate .jpg file, minimum 300 KB in size - not embedded in the Word document.