Synergise MERIT Article Assessment Process
print and keep for future reference 

Published articles must be of a high standard and our criteria for acceptance is based upon assessment within 5 categories, summarized by the following easily remembered acronym: MERIT:

• Memorability, resulting from the article's interest, appeal, character and entertainment value
• Expertise, as a travel writer, to establish a good 'voice' and style and to exhibit true professionalism (which will be penalized, as non-professional, if you need to submit several different versions of the same article)
• Rendition, or how well the article is structured technically with respect to grammar, flow and balance (ie writing quality), and technical presentation to requirements (ie using the template and minimizing the need to reformat).
• Images, how well and appropriately the article is illustrated with good quality pictures (3 to 5 supplied, together with a head-and-shoulders image of the author are ideal), and how easy it is to access those pictures. Feature articles MUST be illustrated.
• Travel content, considering how much the reader learns about the chosen location and how useful any recommended websites are in providing complementary information.

When we assess a submitted article for suitability as a 'Feature Article' we award points for each of the five different categories as follows (disregarding any improvements we feel we have made through editing):

• 0 = non-existent or poor
• 1 = well below average
• 2 = below average
• 3 = average standard
• 4 = good standard
• 5 = excellent standard

To qualify as a Feature Article, an article must score a minimum of 2 points in each category and have a total score of 18+; it must also be a suitable topic that fits into our publication plans. An article on a location already covered, for example, is unlikely to qualify. (From time to time we may change the qualifying points to reflect changing standards. )

Articles should should be around 1,000 - 3,000 words - and you need to read on to ensure you know our requirements.

Find the 'MERIT' of your Earlier Articles

We will publish the MERIT codes for articles published in previous batches - but not the current competition! Find the page number for a given FreeStyle article, to be found at the bottom left of the page (or calculate the page number by adding 1000 to the' Tale Number'), then look for this on the Site Map page (www.synergise.com/site-map.htm) within the 'Page ID' column. Look across to the 'MERIT code' column for the information you require. The first 5 digits are the respective M-E-R-I-T scores and these are followed by their sum: your totals score.

Last updated on8AUG06

You can locate this page from the Synergise.com home page by selecting the following from the upper dropdown menu: Contribute > Print MERIT Summary