Help:Writing Assignments

This is a WIP DRAFT.

You can receive monetary rewards for writing for the JFA Wiki at justiceforanimals.org. Our current rate of eight cents per-word USD is at least competitive, if not high, for non-profit assignments. As an example of what you can earn, our 6,568-word article on Chickens would pay $525, while a short article like the one on Honey would pay $123. These numbers assume you have contributed all the words to the article.

Background

Justice For Animals' recent conversion to a wiki expanded the mission of the site to include being an encyclopedic and collaborative resource for animal rights and vegan advocacy, not just a resource to aid in answering objections. This calls for new foundational articles on a variety of topics—one for each species of farmed animal; one for each kind of product made from animals; one for each of the ways we exploit animals; one for each of the health problems that are mitigated by a plant-based diet, etc.

The way in which these articles substantially differ from articles on other wikis such as Wikipedia is explained in our Content Guidelines.

We expect these paid assignments to continue until at least the foundational articles needed are completed. These paid assignments will in no way stop writers from contributing their time to the wiki without remuneration.

Expectations

Before you consider writing for us, you need to understand the kind of writing that will be expected and accepted. This is explained in the Content Guidelines. But the best way to get a feel for what is expected is to familiarize yourself with existing articles. As the Content Guidelines explain, the articles on this site are written in an informal academic tone with an objective point of view.

Because providing credible citations for factual statements is a requirement, much of the time spend on an article will be spent in research. If you are a new contributor to the site, we will more closely monitor your progress on an article to help ensure you stay on track and that you don't waste time on content that will not be accepted.

Qualifications

Our ideal writer:

• cares about animal rights and veganism
• can write with a friendly voice
• holds a college degree or equivalent work experience
• has experience authoring and/or editing online content
• possesses a willingness and an ability to perform academic research
• is committed to providing high-quality, accurate information
• can take direction from editors and work in a collaborative environment.

Show Your Interest

If you feel you meet the above qualifications and wish to write for the JFA Wiki, create an account and your user page if you haven't already done so. Include on your user page the following:

• your connection with animal rights and veganism
• why you are interested in writing for the JFA Wiki
• examples of (or links to) your writing. Writing of an academic nature involving research gets higher consideration.
• the topics you would be interested in writing about
• the articles you would be interested in contributing to. See Articles Needed.

Finally, go to Preferences -> User Profile, scroll down to Email Options and make sure Allow other users to email me is checked. This will show your interest in writing for us and also allow us to contact you for further information, or with an invitation to write a specific article.

If you need help with this process, contact your.friends@justiceforanimals.org.

Receiving and Accepting an Invitation

If you have been selected for a writing assignment, an invitation will be posted on the talk/discussion page associated with your user page. It's a good idea to create an empty user talk/discussion page after you create your user page, and then make sure you are watching the page. This will ensure that you will receive a notification if an invitation is posted.

You must receive an invitation specifying the rate per word in order to receive a reward for your writing. You can still contribute to an article without an invitation, but you will not receive remuneration.

If you do not accept the assignment within 48 hours, the invitation may be rescinded without notice so that we can invite another writer. You will be instructed in the assignment how to accept the assignment.

If you accept the assignment, a beginning draft article will be created for you to begin work.

Collaboration

You will compose and edit the article on the JFA Wiki. This will allow the progress on the article to be monitored. As you write, guidance and instructions may be provided by topic editors, copy editors, or the managing editor via direct edits or by comments on the discussion page for the article. This will potentially avoid your spending time on sections of the article that might not be accepted.

Rewards

Pay per Word

The following assumes you have received an invitation to write as discussed above.

You will be paid the per-word rate for the number of accepted words in the article written by you at the time the article is moved from the draft namespace to the main namespace. You may continue to edit the article without remuneration after that time. The word count used for remuneration is based on the count shown by the Mediawiki software when the article is listed in a search result.

A word count is shown for each article in a search results page. But because articles in the draft namespace do not by default show up in a search results page, you will have to click on the Everything link at the top of the search results page to entice the system to show draft articles.

The word count may be adjusted downward for boilerplate text used or for contributions to the article that you did not make. Also, edits by a topic editor, copy editor, or managing editor during the process of writing the article while is article is in the draft namespace may result in words being removed from the article, lowering the word count.

Paypal Payment

When a paid article you authored is moved from the draft namespace to the main namespace, we will send a payment via PayPal using the email address you have provided. If you do not have a PayPal account, you will receive an email informing you how to create one. You must already have a PayPal account or create one before we can pay you.

Please realize that payments to recipients outside the United States are subject to exchange rates. Paypal operates in over 200 countries and 25 currencies. If you do not live in one of these countries, we cannot pay you and it's up to you not to accept a paid assignment.

Here's the procedure: When it's time for you to receive a payment, we will send you an email through the wiki email facility, asking what email address you want to use for the payment. If you have a PayPal account, reply giving the email associated with the PayPal account in the text of the reply. If you don't have a PayPal account, we still need an email address so that you can receive an email from PayPal informing you that you have a payment available, and that you need to set up a PayPal account.

Early Termination

It is our intent to develop a trusting relationship with a number of writers. We know, however, that not everyone who accepts an assignment will work out. Because of this, we can notify you to discontinue working on an article for remuneration. You can still be paid for the number of accepted words you have contributed to the article up until such notification. Such a payment will occur only by request after the article is moved from draft to the main namespace.

Arbitration

Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these terms shall be settled by arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its Arbitration Rules, and judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator(s) may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.