Submission Guidelines

A. Submissions and Monthly Themes

Matria Magazine accepts article submissions according to the theme of its current or upcoming monthly issue.

Every submission must demonstrate a meaningful connection to the announced theme.

The theme is not merely a suggestion. It is the editorial foundation of each issue.

Submissions that do not meaningfully engage with the relevant theme will not be considered, regardless of their individual quality.

B. Originality and Authorship

All submissions must be original, unpublished, human-written work.

Contributors must submit writing that they have personally authored.

The following are strictly prohibited:

• Plagiarism.
• Copying another author’s work.
• Unattributed quotations or borrowed material.
• False claims of authorship.
• Republishing previously published material without permission.
• Submitting work that violates another person’s intellectual property rights.

Contributors are responsible for obtaining permission to use any third-party material included in their articles.

C. Strict Artificial Intelligence Policy

Matria Magazine maintains a strict policy against AI-generated and AI-written submissions.

All articles must be entirely human-written.

The following practices are not permitted:

• Generating articles using artificial intelligence.
• Using AI to write paragraphs or sections of an article.
• Using AI to generate arguments, analysis, or creative passages presented as original authorship.
• Using AI to rewrite, paraphrase, or substantially edit an article.
• Submitting AI-generated material with minor human modifications.
• Using AI to produce substantial portions of submitted writing.

The editorial team will take this policy seriously and reserves the right to investigate reasonable concerns regarding the originality and authorship of submissions.

Articles found to violate the policy may be rejected or withdrawn from publication.

AI-detection tools must not be treated as conclusive proof on their own. Editorial decisions should consider the submission as a whole and any relevant evidence of authorship.

D. Publication Fees and Copyright

Matria Magazine does not charge contributors for publication.

Accepted articles will be published free of charge.

Contributors retain copyright and ownership of their original writing.

Submitting or publishing an article does not transfer ownership of the work to Matria Magazine.

Upon acceptance, contributors grant Matria Magazine permission to publish, display, archive, and promote their articles through its website and official publication channels under an agreed publication licence.

Any additional commercial use, licensing, or transfer of rights must require the contributor’s agreement.

E. Editorial Review Process

Every submission is subject to editorial review.

The editorial team reserves the right to:

• Accept an article.
• Reject an article.
• Request revisions.
• Request clarification.
• Make reasonable grammatical, spelling, and formatting corrections.
• Edit for consistency with the magazine’s editorial style without changing the author’s intended meaning.

Submission does not guarantee publication.

The final decision regarding publication rests with the editorial team.

F. Unacceptable Submissions and Editorial Standards

Matria Magazine operates within the Pakistani cultural and social context. Its editorial policies should reflect cultural awareness, ethical responsibility, and respect for the religious and social environment in which it is published.

The following content will not be accepted:

• Material promoting religious hatred or deliberate religious provocation.
• Content promoting contempt or hostility towards religious communities.
• Extremist, terrorist, or sectarian propaganda.
• Content encouraging violence, persecution, or discrimination.
• Writing that promotes hatred against individuals or communities.
• Personal attacks, targeted harassment, and defamatory allegations.
• Explicitly pornographic or sexually graphic content.
• Material glorifying exploitation, abuse, or violations of human dignity.
• Content encouraging illegal activities or deliberate harm.
• Material that violates another person’s privacy or intellectual property rights.
• Plagiarised, misleading, or falsely attributed writing.

However, Matria Magazine should not confuse responsible intellectual inquiry with inappropriate content.

Thoughtful discussion of religion, politics, gender, culture, social institutions, history, and controversial subjects is not automatically prohibited.

Respectful criticism, literary exploration, academic discussion, historical analysis, and reasoned disagreement are welcome.

The objective is to maintain an intellectually serious, culturally aware, and ethically responsible publication without unnecessarily restricting meaningful discussion.

G. What We Look For

Matria Magazine welcomes writing that demonstrates:

• Original thought.
• Intellectual curiosity.
• Literary quality.
• Critical thinking.
• Strong arguments.
• Cultural and historical awareness.
• Compelling storytelling.
• Thoughtful feminist perspectives.
• Fresh interpretations of familiar subjects.
• Nuanced engagement with women’s lives and experiences.
• Meaningful engagement with the monthly issue’s theme.

We are interested in writing that has something substantial to say.

Prioritise depth, originality, and quality over unnecessary complexity or decorative language.

H. How to Submit

Submit your work through the Submit an Article page when submissions are open. Provide your full name, email address, article title, selected monthly issue, and either your article text or a link to a shared Google Doc or Drive file. Share the document with the editorial team or set it to “Anyone with the link can view.”

You must confirm that the work is original, unpublished, entirely human-written, and compliant with these guidelines. You will receive a confirmation after the form successfully receives your article.