20 of 26 publications take outside articles without a fee.
We read what 26 publications, from The Washington Post and Harvard Business Review to Forbes and trade outlets, say on their own pages about publishing articles by outside writers.
Key findings
Short answer: Most publications still take articles from outside writers without charging: 20 of the 26 we checked have a free route, where editors decide what runs. 6 sell a membership or sponsorship that lets members publish, and for 5 of them (including Forbes, Fast Company and Entrepreneur) that is the only route for outside writers we found. The rules are strict almost everywhere: 12 ban self-promotion and 10 want the piece to be exclusive.
What we checked
We picked 26 publications founders often aim for: national news and business titles, management journals and trade outlets in technology, marketing and finance. For each, we found the page where the publication itself explains how outsiders can contribute, and recorded what it says: the route, any fee, who may write and the main rules. We only counted what the page says, and we left out outlets where we couldn't find a current page of their own. Every page is linked in the table below and in the sources.
Three ways in
Free, editors choose (20 outlets). You pitch or send a draft, and editors decide. This is how op-ed pages (The Washington Post, USA TODAY, The Guardian), management journals (Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review) and most trade outlets work. One, Business Insider, even pays writers for first-person essays.
Membership or sponsorship (6 outlets). Forbes, Fast Company, Newsweek, Entrepreneur and Rolling Stone run membership programs whose members can publish bylined articles; The New Stack ties contributed articles to a sponsorship. None of the membership pages shows a price; Entrepreneur's says the fee comes once you're accepted. Newsweek runs both: a paid Expert Forum and a free route for personal essays.
Closed (1). TechCrunch says it no longer accepts guest columns at all.
How outside writers get published
26 publications; Newsweek counts in both groups
Source: Edamame PR & Strategy study of each publication's own contributor page, November 2026.
The rules: no selling, and keep it exclusive
12 of the 26 say, in one form or another, that the article can't promote the author's company or products. AdExchanger's is the strictest: you can't reference your company's business model, products, research or events at all. TechRadar Pro allows your company's name only in the author bio.
10 want exclusivity: the piece must not have appeared anywhere else (Federal News Network asks for at least 75% exclusive content). 4 limit who may write: academics only at The Conversation, senior executives or engineers at AdExchanger, DatacenterDynamics and SDxCentral. And two rule out text written by AI: InformationWeek bans articles written with generative AI, and The New Stack asks for human-written work.
What the rules require
Number of the 26 publications whose page says so
Source: Edamame PR & Strategy study of each publication's own contributor page, November 2026.
Outlet by outlet
| Outlet | Route for outside writers | What the outlet's own page says |
|---|---|---|
| Harvard Business Review | Free: editors choose | Pitch, outline or draft through Submittable; no pieces that promote products or services or have appeared elsewhere; disclose financial ties. |
| MIT Sloan Management Review | Free: editors choose | Drafts only, not proposals, 1,000 to 2,500 words. |
| The Washington Post | Free: editors choose | Op-ed form; a finished piece of up to 800 words that hasn't appeared elsewhere; full name required; no answer within a week means no. |
| USA TODAY | Free: editors choose | Opinion columns of 550 to 750 words by email, with a short bio and a photo. |
| The Guardian (US opinion) | Free: editors choose | Ideas from anyone; a 3 to 5 sentence pitch, not a draft; disclose conflicts of interest; no answer in four business days means pitch elsewhere. |
| Newsweek | Free route and a membership | Two routes: My Turn personal essays (600 to 2,500 words, no fee) and the Expert Forum, a membership program sold in packages, open to US and Canada residents. |
| Business Insider | Free: editors choose | First-person lifestyle pitches through a form; Business Insider pays writers, from $240 for about 600 words. |
| Forbes | Membership or sponsorship | Forbes Councils: invitation-only communities; members choose a membership package after approval and can submit bylined articles to Forbes.com. |
| Fast Company | Membership or sponsorship | Fast Company Executive Board: application and membership packages; members publish bylined articles on FastCompany.com. |
| Entrepreneur | Membership or sponsorship | Entrepreneur Leadership Network: free to apply, paid after acceptance; the help page names no other route. |
| Rolling Stone | Membership or sponsorship | Rolling Stone Culture Council: a private, vetted community whose members publish bylined articles. |
| The New Stack | Membership or sponsorship | Contributed articles come with a sponsorship; original, human-written and informative rather than salesy. |
| TechCrunch | No longer accepted | "We no longer accept guest columns"; sponsored posts are sold as advertising. |
| The Conversation | Free: editors choose | Only scholars and researchers at a college, university or research institution. |
| Psychology Today | Free: editors choose | Blog proposals from clinicians, scientists, mental health experts and writers. |
| HackerNoon | Free: editors choose | Anyone can submit, free; editors review, and not every story is published. |
| CFO.com | Free: editors choose | Opinions of experts in the industries it covers; exclusive; promotional pieces rejected. |
| Social Media Today | Free: editors choose | Opinions of industry experts; exclusive; promotional pieces rejected. |
| AdExchanger | Free: editors choose | Very senior contributors only (CEO, director, C-suite); exclusive; no reference to your company's business, products, research or events. |
| TechRadar Pro | Free: editors choose | Pitch first for approval; exclusive; no naming your own company or products outside the author bio. |
| InfoWorld | Free: editors choose | Contributed articles are edited; no marketing collateral. |
| InformationWeek | Free: editors choose | Columns from IT practitioners (vendor staff sometimes); unpaid; exclusive; no product promotion; no articles written with generative AI. |
| DatacenterDynamics | Free: editors choose | Vendor authors must be C-level, senior executives or engineers; exclusive; no product endorsements. |
| SDxCentral | Free: editors choose | Vendor authors must be C-level, senior executives or engineers; one author per article; exclusive; no product endorsements. |
| Corporate Compliance Insights | Free: editors choose | Vendor-connected authors may be considered; "We do not publish content marketing." |
| Federal News Network | Free: editors choose | Commentary form, 750 to 1,250 words, at least 75% exclusive, not product-focused or marketing. |
What it means for founders
- The free route is real, and selective. Editors choose a small share of what they get. A piece that teaches readers something, with your own data or experience, has a chance; a piece about your product doesn't.
- Know which route you're on. A membership byline and an article an editor chose are different things. Readers, journalists and AI assistants can often tell, so decide what you need before you pay for either.
- Respect exclusivity. Sending the same article to several outlets at once breaks the rules of most of them. Pitch one, wait for the answer, then move on.
- Read the page before you pitch. Length, format, who may write and how fast they answer differ from outlet to outlet. Writing for what editors want starts there.
How we did this
We read each publication's own page about outside contributors on November 5, 2026: 26 publications in total, listed with links in the sources. We recorded only what each page states. "No fee" means the page mentions no fee to the writer; membership pages generally don't show their prices. We left out publications where we found no current page of their own (for example, a page from 2017, or one we couldn't open). Rules change; check the page before you pitch.
Questions
Which major publications accept articles from outside writers?
Among those we checked: The Washington Post, USA TODAY and The Guardian (opinion), Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, Newsweek (My Turn essays), Business Insider (essays) and many trade outlets, at no fee. Editors choose what runs.
Do you have to pay to publish in Forbes, Fast Company or Entrepreneur?
For an article you write yourself, their own pages describe membership programs (Forbes Councils, Fast Company Executive Board, Entrepreneur Leadership Network). Being covered by their journalists is a different, editorial route.
Can I promote my company in a contributed article?
Usually not: 12 of the 26 publications we checked say articles can't promote the author's company or products, and some don't allow naming your company outside the author bio.
Sources
- Harvard Business Review: guidelines for contributors, Harvard Business Review.
- MIT Sloan Management Review: guidelines for contributors, MIT Sloan Management Review.
- The Washington Post: guidelines for contributors, The Washington Post.
- USA TODAY: guidelines for contributors, USA TODAY.
- The Guardian (US opinion): guidelines for contributors, The Guardian (US opinion).
- Newsweek: guidelines for contributors, Newsweek.
- Business Insider: guidelines for contributors, Business Insider.
- Forbes: guidelines for contributors, Forbes.
- Fast Company: guidelines for contributors, Fast Company.
- Entrepreneur: guidelines for contributors, Entrepreneur.
- Rolling Stone: guidelines for contributors, Rolling Stone.
- The New Stack: guidelines for contributors, The New Stack.
- TechCrunch: guidelines for contributors, TechCrunch.
- The Conversation: guidelines for contributors, The Conversation.
- Psychology Today: guidelines for contributors, Psychology Today.
- HackerNoon: guidelines for contributors, HackerNoon.
- CFO.com: guidelines for contributors, CFO.com.
- Social Media Today: guidelines for contributors, Social Media Today.
- AdExchanger: guidelines for contributors, AdExchanger.
- TechRadar Pro: guidelines for contributors, TechRadar Pro.
- InfoWorld: guidelines for contributors, InfoWorld.
- InformationWeek: guidelines for contributors, InformationWeek.
- DatacenterDynamics: guidelines for contributors, DatacenterDynamics.
- SDxCentral: guidelines for contributors, SDxCentral.
- Corporate Compliance Insights: guidelines for contributors, Corporate Compliance Insights.
- Federal News Network: guidelines for contributors, Federal News Network.
How to cite this report
Edamame PR & Strategy, “Which publications accept outside articles, and their rules: 26 outlets checked.” edamamepr.com/research/publications-that-accept-outside-articles/
You may quote any number from this report with a link to this page. For the full data, see the sources above.
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How to cite this report
Edamame PR & Strategy, “Which publications accept outside articles, and their rules: 26 outlets checked,” edamamepr.com/research/publications-that-accept-outside-articles/. Free to quote with a link to this page. All our headline numbers are on one page: PR statistics.
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