Guidelines for Publishing on Investopedia's Advisor Insights

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Join Advisor Insights Before Publishing:

  • Before you publish on Advisor Insights, first make sure your application to join Investopedia’s Advisor Insights has been approved. Advisor Insights is a free content marketing platform where registered financial advisors can showcase their personal finance expertise and connect with our 27+ million monthly readers.

 

How to Answer Questions and Publish Articles

Answer Questions in the Advisor Insights Q&A Dashboard:

  • Members can access the Q&A dashboard here.
  • Log in with the email and password you used to register for Advisor Insights.

Submitting Articles to the Advisor Insights Editors:

  • Submit your articles to our Editors: https://goo.gl/forms/UbrGWB47bb102JgD3
  • Article limit: Please limit your article submissions to three articles per calendar month. We will not review more than three articles by the same advisor in the same month.

Article Guidelines:

  • Standards: Investopedia will make every attempt to assist advisors who submit high-quality, original content. We reserve the right to decline submitted content.
  • Topics: We accept educational articles related to all areas of financial planning, including: retirement, investing, saving and budgeting, Social Security, insurance, taxes and employee benefits.
    • We do not publish timely market commentary or individual security analysis. Timely means articles that should be published within a few hours or a few days in order to be relevant.
    • If the topic of your article is not related to financial planning, you can contact the Advisor Insights team to see where else we may be able to publish your writing as an Investopedia contributor.
    • If your article is not accepted, one of our editors will send you feedback explaining why it doesn't meet our editorial standards. Depending on the article, they may also offer advice for revising and resubmitting your article.
  • Length: Articles must be at least 500 words and no more than 1,500 words. This does not include the title or any disclosures.
  • Plagiarism: We run all articles through an ‘originality’ filter to check for plagiarism; if you’re copying liberally from content that someone else wrote or that you published on a different third-party website, we’ll likely have to send it back to you for revision or reject it. You can also review Investopedia’s terms of use.
  • Repurposing: We can publish articles you have already posted on your own website, in your newsletter, and shared on social media provided that you wrote them yourself, but cannot publish content that is already on any third-party site.
  • Self-promotion: Articles should not be self-promotional. Please avoid referring to yourself or your practice unless it’s relevant to the subject you’re writing about. Articles that are promotional in nature will be edited or rejected. 
  • Syndication: Your article may also be published by one of our syndication partners. If so, it will include links back to the Investopedia version and your profile page. We cannot make changes to individual articles if they are picked up by syndication partners, but we will send you links to them when they are published.

    Article Style:

    • Headlines: Please suggest a headline for your article. Our editors will refine it, but this will help us craft the best one for you.
    • Introduction: Your first paragraph should serve as a concise summary of what you’re trying to convey in the article. Try to avoid starting with long anecdotes.
    • Sources: Include links to any supporting sources that you mention in your article. This includes studies, reports, news, white papers, and similar resources. If you’re not sure whether to include a source link, here are some examples of when we will request a link:
      • If you directly quote an article or study published by someone else.
      • If you refer to ideas or commentary published by someone else.
      • If you paraphrase information you found in a research report/study/white paper.
    • Images: Charts, tables, and graphs that complement your writing are allowed, but you must have permission to use them. Stock photos will be provided by our editorial team as needed.
    • Disclosures: If you are required to include a disclosure in your article, it must be included at the end of every article you submit.

      Answer Guidelines:

      • Helpfulness: We recommend answers of around 150-200 words or more, giving the reader more than a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ response. Longer answers tend to earn higher helpfulness ratings.
        • If your answer is approaching 500 words or more, feel free to turn it into an article!
        • We reserve the right to edit or remove answers if they clearly violate the guidelines and style listed here.
      • Topic & Assumptions: Answers should address the reader’s question directly, or provide relevant, educational information if you can’t offer a direct answer. You can make assumptions if not enough information is provided by the reader, in order to write the most informative answer.
      • Readers: Remember that you’re not only answering one individual person’s question - thousands of other Investopedia readers who are searching for this information will see your answer as well.
      • Self-promotion: Answers should not be self-promotional. Please avoid referring to yourself, your practice, or your services in your answers. Answers that are promotional in nature will be edited or may be removed.
      • Plagiarism: If you’re copying liberally from content that someone else wrote or that you published on a different third-party website, we reserve the right to edit or remove it from the dashboard. You can also review Investopedia’s terms of use.
      • Multiple Answers: Most questions end up being answered by more than one advisor. If you see something that you disagree with, you can offer your own advice by answering the question as well. But focus on helping the reader, not targeting fellow advisors.

      Answer Style:

      • Length: Answers should be a minimum of 50 words in length.
      • Signatures: Do not include a signature at the end of your answer - our system automatically adds your name, picture, location, and website every time you respond to a question. In addition, readers will see a red button they can click on to request a consultation with you. See an example here. Additional signatures added to answers may be removed.
      • Links: Do not include more than 1-2 links to external sites in your answer, and only include a link if it is essential to the points you’re making. Remember, any information you provide will influence the impression readers have of you as an advisor. Links to irrelevant content may distract them from reading further answers you post.
        • For readers, the most useful links you can add are related definition pages on Investopedia, and links to relevant studies, reports, or other educational content.
      • Charts & Tables: You cannot include images and charts in your answers. However, you can insert a link to an image, if necessary, and you can create a table using the “table” feature in the “Answer Question” box when you are answering questions in the dashboard.
      • Disclosures: If you and/or your compliance department requires a disclosure on your article, this must be included at the end of any answer you submit.

      Questions? Email our editors: articles@investopedia.com. Need more information? See our FAQ.