Opinion guest essays were known as Op-Eds because they appeared in print opposite the editorial page. At its core, an Opinion guest essay provides an argument defined and substantiated with evidence. Rich discussion and debate, combined in a unique way, offer New York Times readers a better understanding of the world. Inviting “intelligent discussion from all shades of opinion” has been core to the work of The Times since 1896, when our publisher Adolph Ochs declared it part of the newspaper’s mission.

We believe in the value of creating space for people who aren’t journalists and who often have no institutional affiliation with The New York Times to speak directly to readers instead of being mediated through a reporter. By design, these arguments and voices often contrast with or challenge those of our newsroom and our own Opinion columnists and editorials. 

Guest essays should provide New York Times readers with the most robust, wide-ranging and distinctive collection of arguments and ideas available.

Guest essays can take many forms, such as: 

• A place for experts to share knowledge and offer illuminating counterarguments: Where experts can present findings, highlight problems and propose solutions to the public and to one another. We seek out essays from experts in which they make an original, robust argument based on their unusual or deep expertise. Economists, lawyers, doctors, teachers, psychologists, playwrights and many others may have expertise on a given topic that can advance an important argument.
• First-person accounts: Where everyday people can share their experiences in their own words, often coupled with reporting or research, in a way that compels readers to see the world in a different light.
• A platform for public officials: Where public officials can make their case, explain their position or tell their stories. Because these individuals already have significant platforms, their essays are held to especially high standards and offer readers newsworthy insight.

We discourage essays that are fundamentally responses to other Opinion articles, columns or editorials. The best forum for responses is the Letters page. To send a letter, email letters@nytimes.com.

This is an ever-evolving question because what we look for depends on the news and the issues in public conversation at any given moment. 

The best Opinion essays: 

• Challenge and engage audiences that do not necessarily agree with the writer’s point of view. 
• Give specific and original insight into complicated problems or thorny ideas. 
• Anticipate readers’ questions and even confusion around news that has an impact on their lives and the world. One important role of a guest essay is to clarify and explain the stakes of changes and world events.
• Start conversations, influence policymakers and have an impact far beyond the pages of Times Opinion. 
• Delight readers with great writing and originality and open a window to a world they might not otherwise see.
• Have a word count typically from 800 to 1,200 words, although we sometimes publish essays that are shorter or longer.

Our Standards

Originality: Essays must be original and exclusive to The New York Times — meaning they cannot have appeared elsewhere in any form in print or online.

Ethics and conflicts: Guest writers are expected to avoid any conflict of interest or the appearance of such conflict and comply with The Times’s policies on ethical journalism.

Fact-checking: Before we publish your article, it must be fact-checked. If an essay is accepted for publication, the guest writer will be asked to submit an annotated copy of the essay, listing the relevant sources for each factual assertion.

• We focus our checking on verifiable facts (for example, the number of Americans without health insurance, the median household income, the date a law was enacted).
• We also investigate broader factual assertions (for example, “No one named to the court in the postwar period was as conservative as Justice Scalia or as liberal as Justice Brennan,” “Laos is one of the world’s most corrupt nations”) that may need to be qualified, explained or stated with greater precision or nuance.
• We look at the factual evidence cited to verify that the methodology is sound and that the data is presented with precision and balance. 
• We prefer primary sources (for example, an N.I.H. research paper) to secondary ones (a news article about the paper’s findings).
• If we determine that a particular fact cannot be verified, we will not publish it. 

We will work to verify the facts in your article, but as the writer, you bear the ultimate responsibility for the accuracy of your work. We cannot fix anything after publication without appending a correction, and corrections are permanently archived. Past errors are a factor when we consider whether to accept future work from a writer.

To submit your guest essay, please complete this form. 

When submitting your essay: 

• Explain the professional or personal background that connects you to the argument or idea in your essay. 
• Include sources (in hyperlinks in the text or in parentheses) for key assertions made in your essay. 

A member of our staff will read and review every submission, but because of the large number of messages we receive, we may not be able to respond to everyone individually. Unfortunately, we have to reject many excellent essays and ideas. If you do not hear from us within three business days, you should feel free to submit your work elsewhere.

• To contact the Editorial Page editor, email editorial@nytimes.com. 
• To report a factual error in a news article, email corrections@nytimes.com. All letters asserting factual errors will be forwarded to the appropriate editors.
• To contact Op-Docs, email opinion.video@nytimes.com. 

To send a letter to a specific Sunday section:

• Book Review: books@nytimes.com  
• Magazine: magazine@nytimes.com 
• Metro: metro@nytimes.com  

To send feedback or story ideas to the newsroom, please contact the The Newsroom. For more options on how you can reach The New York Times, visit our Contact Us page.