Welcome to the website of CIBSE Journal, the leading monthly magazine for building services and related professionals internationally.
We are also the only publication circulated to all members of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, or CIBSE.
The Journal, originally launched in February 2009 by CIBSE, provides all the news, analysis, comment, features, technical articles, regulatory advice and learning tools needed by the wide range of professionals working in the modern building services world.
Send us your ideas for coverage in the magazine, and tell us what you think – whichever part of the built environment sector you’re working in.
Alex Smith | Editor
editor@cibsejournal.com
How to write for CIBSE Journal
CIBSE Journal publishes articles from a range of contributors, including journalists, experts in the field, building services professionals, academics, consultants, product makers, and so on.
If you have an idea for a feature, please send a synopsis of 200-400 words to the editor Alex Smith at editor@cibsejournal.com or call 01223 273520. Most features are about 1,500 words, although they can run to 2,000 words.
The synopsis should outline briefly what the main idea is and what might be included in the article, as well as an overview of its likely structure or order of content.
Please also indicate what (if any) publishable supporting technical data or findings will be available to include within the article or alongside the main text.
Indeed, we like to provide boxes (known as ‘sidebars’, ‘panels’, ‘box-outs’, etc) that provide ‘added value’ for the reader: that is, which can provide a range of summary or supplementary information such as specification details, performance data, explanations of specific technical terms or topics at the heart of the article, or a simple ‘ jargon buster’ or glossary of key terms/concepts.
Such boxes (longer versions) can also be used to provide one or possibly two relevant case studies per article, where these are available; such a case study will give an example of the topic in a practical application in the built environment.
There are also opportunities to write short viewpoint pieces for our Opinion section. These can vary in length from 300 to 900 words (though tend to be midway between these lengths).
These pieces work best when they argue a case pointedly and simply (in ‘soap box’ style) and do not promote any particular services, products or other offering. Don’t forget also that a briefer viewpoint of up to 300 words can make an excellent letter for publication.
We will also consider ideas for longer ‘think pieces’ that can run to two or more pages – ie, up to 1,500 words – and discuss key issues and topical developments within the building services, construction or related sectors, or the broader engineering field. Such pieces can have a technical, philosophical, practical or political (with a small ‘p’) slant, for example.
The best way to get a feel for what the Journal has published to date is, of course, to look through editions; this can be done by visiting our ‘Archive’ section where you will be able to read all the current and back issues.
The above categories are used as examples only. If you have an idea that does not fit any of the above but feel it is right for the Journal, do send it in.