QEX Author Guide

QEX: A Forum for Communications Experimenters is published six times a year by ARRL. QEX presents practical and theoretical technical articles related to amateur radio, with material that is often more technically detailed than articles published in QST. Its purpose is to advance the technical art, encourage experimentation, and help radio amateurs build on amateur radio’s legacy of innovation.

QEX is a forum for radio amateurs and communications experimenters who are inventing, building, measuring, testing, modeling, repairing, improving, and explaining radio technology. Most QEX authors are not professional writers, and many have never published before. The most important qualification is that you know your subject and have something useful to share with technically curious amateurs.

QEX welcomes manuscripts across a wide range of technical subjects, encompassing new and emerging technologies as well as innovative approaches to old problems. We have published manuscripts on construction projects, station improvements, antennas, RF design, measurement methods, test equipment, software-defined radio, digital signal processing, microwave work, propagation studies, simulations, and operating experiments. Articles may range from practical “how I built it” projects to advanced technical analysis. Experimental results, careful measurements, clear schematics, open-source software, and honest descriptions of what worked — and what did not — are all valuable to QEX readers.

What Makes a Strong QEX Article

A strong article manuscript should explain the problem, goal, or technical question; describe the design, experiment, method, or analysis; and provide enough detail for other technically capable readers to understand, evaluate, or reproduce the work. Manuscripts should be thorough but concise: include the information readers need without unnecessary length or repetition. Include supporting measurements, figures, photographs, equations, references, software, data, or source-code listings where appropriate.

Your manuscript does not have to be perfect. Clear, accurate, complete technical content matters more than polished prose. The editorial team can help with grammar, organization, drawings, captions, and presentation.

When preparing a manuscript, choose a descriptive and appealing title. Follow the title with a short subhead that summarizes the manuscript in an engaging way. In the opening paragraphs, explain why the subject matters and define the scope of the article. Use short, direct sentences, logical subheadings throughout the text to guide the reader through the piece, and clear progression from problem to method to results.

Define abbreviations and acronyms when they first appear — for example: infinite impulse response (IIR). Use standard abbreviations where possible. Use standard electrical units and be consistent with metric or US customary dimensions.

Most QEX articles are most effective at about 2,500 to 4,000 words, excluding captions, references, tables, and source-code listings. Longer articles are welcome when the topic truly requires it, but please contact the editor before preparing manuscripts much over 5,000 words, especially if they include many figures, equations, tables, or software listings.

Originality, Artificial Intelligence, and Open Technical Content

Submitted manuscripts must be original and not previously published elsewhere.

Manuscripts may not be written, in whole or in part, by Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI may be used, if necessary, to process data relevant to the manuscript, but the text of the article must be written by a human being. If you have questions about whether a proposed use of AI is acceptable, contact qst@arrl.org or qex@arrl.org.

If the article includes hardware designs, software, firmware, simulations, or digital tools, the essential design details, schematics, and computer code must be open source and available to readers.

Preparing the Manuscript

We prefer manuscripts to be written in Microsoft Word, but this is not mandatory. When preparing the manuscript on a computer, use a standard character set. When possible, use the Microsoft Word Symbol font for Greek characters and mathematical symbols.

Place footnote references in the text as superscript numerals. Put the actual footnotes and any bibliographical information at the end of the manuscript. Do not use your word processor’s automatic footnote feature. Instead, insert the reference numbers in the text, and place the numbered notes at the end of the file.

All notes should be referenced in numerical order as they first appear in the article. Double-check all references for accuracy. Include complete reference information, such as author name, book or article title, publisher, date of publication, and page numbers.

Figures, Photographs, Schematics, and Tables

Good visual material is especially important. Provide high-resolution photographs, schematics, drawings, charts, graphs, screen captures, plots, and tables whenever they help explain the work.

Number all figures and refer to them in numerical order in the text. Place image files at the end of the manuscript rather than inserting them into the body text. Do not overlay captions or labels directly on images. Provide a separate list of figures, by number, with captions, at the end of the manuscript.

Photo credit information should appear at the end of each caption in square brackets. For example: “Three generations of amateur radio operators, from the left: Jim Smith, WA3XYZ; Joe Smith, K3ABC; and Susan Smith, KA3ZZZ.” [Lara Smith, KA3ZZY, photo]

Original image files are strongly preferred. Low-resolution graphics, website images, or screenshots pasted into documents may not reproduce well in print. Graphs should have readable labels, units, legends, and captions. Photographs should be sharp, well lit, and uncluttered. Schematics and diagrams should clearly show signal flow, component values, test points, and connections.

Sketches or schematic diagrams should be clear enough for ARRL’s technical illustrator to work from them. Professional line drawings are not required. Electronic illustrations, such as TIFF files, are welcome, and ARRL can redraw figures when their content is clear.

Photographs are best supplied as high-resolution digital files, although color prints may also be submitted. Digital photos should be at least 300 DPI, 24-bit color, to ensure print quality. If you are unsure whether a photo is 300 DPI, the image should generally be about 1240 to 1400 pixels wide, with more pixels needed for highly detailed images. TIFF files or minimally compressed JPG files are preferred. Use the highest practical resolution available from your camera.

For more specific information about image requirements for ARRL publications, contact qst@arrl.org.

Submissions and Inquiries

Completed manuscripts are preferred for formal review. Authors may also contact the editor with questions or an inquiry if they are unsure whether a project, experiment, measurement, software tool, or article idea is a good fit for QEX.

Include an email address and daytime phone number with your submission so the editorial staff can contact you during review and production.

Send submissions or inquiries to:

qex@arrl.org

or

QEX Editor
ARRL
225 Main Street
Newington, CT 06111 USA

Submissions may also be sent to qst@arrl.org.

Letters and Technical Discussion

Readers often identify points that need clarification or challenge assertions that seem questionable. QEX welcomes this kind of discussion in its letters section.

Correspondence intended for publication should be addressed to:

Editor, QEX
American Radio Relay League
225 Main Street
Newington, CT 06111 USA

Email may be sent to qex@arrl.org. Preference is given to letters of 500 words or less.

Editorial Process

After review, ARRL will either send an acceptance letter and Publication Release form or return the manuscript.

If your manuscript is accepted, ARRL cannot begin production until the signed Publication Release form is received. After that, the article is edited for grammar and technical content and prepared for layout. You will have an opportunity to review the edited manuscript before it goes to the printer.

The content of each issue is subject to change until the issue is sent to the printer, so ARRL cannot always predict when an article will appear until well after it is edited. Expect six months to one year to elapse between acceptance and publication.

Author Compensation

Authors are compensated for published articles at the rate of $50 per published page or part thereof. The number of magazine pages an article occupies depends on factors such as illustrations, equations, and issue space restrictions. Payment is made upon publication. Authors also receive three complimentary copies of the issue in which their article appears.

No compensation is given for published letters.

ARRL and IARU officials, including officers, Directors, Vice Directors, and officials of IARU member societies, are not eligible for compensation. For authors currently under contract to ARRL, such as Contributing Editors, the provisions of the contract apply. If you are a US citizen or resident alien, ARRL must have your Social Security number before payment can be made.