Editorial Approach and Standards

This page serves as a guide to the way we approach HowlRound’s editorial projects, which include the HowlRound Journal, HowlRound Podcasts, and HowlRound TV.

HowlRound Is a Knowledge Commons 

The knowledge that emerges on HowlRound belongs to everyone. The content is neither a commodity nor a product, but a gift or contribution generously peer-produced for mutual benefit. This commons enables new knowledge production and liberates, amplifies, and validates underrepresented perspectives. All who participate—and anyone can participate–co-create this space to practice an alternative to market-based arts culture and a different relationship to each other and to the field. All content is licensed with a Creative Commons license.

HowlRound Is by and for Theatremakers 

HowlRound platforms contemporary ideas and learnings from and for the global theatre community. That means theatre is at the heart of everything we publish, though we are open to broad, evolving definitions of what constitutes “theatre.” 

We invite anyone to participate in the HowlRound Journal, Podcast, and TV projects by reading/listening to/watching HowlRound content, leaving a comment, or contributing to these projects. Other programs—convenings and Learning Circles—center real-time gathering, and we share invitations to those as they become available. 

HowlRound Is Collaboratively Edited 

Contributors to HowlRound can expect that their submissions are reviewed thoughtfully by our full editorial team. All written content—including podcast transcripts, event text for HowlRound TV livestreams, and other web pages—is copy edited by our editors according to our style guide (see below). 

Those writing Journal pieces (essays and conversations) will work with an editor who will provide feedback ensuring clarity of language and argument, grammar, and style. Most pieces go through two or three rounds of edits before publication, and the writer always has final approval over the text and title. HowlRound is not a source of breaking news, so essays are typically published several weeks to several months after they are submitted. 

HowlRound Adheres to a Style Guide

All written content on HowlRound conforms to our style guide, which is Chicago Manual of Style with in-house modifications informed by resources like Gregory Younging’s Elements of Indigenous Style and the Trans Journalists Association’s Stylebook and Coverage Guide. We believe in the centrality of a writer’s positionality. We strive for plain language and precise, inclusive writing. For example, we avoid language like “post-pandemic” to acknowledge COVID-19’s ongoing prevalence and the removal of tools used to measure that infection rate. Also, “theatre” is always—yes, always—spelled “-re” rather than “-er” unless an organization spells its name differently. 

HowlRound Is a Place for Positive Inquiry

HowlRound asks all participants to prioritize curiosity and generosity by employing positive inquiry. This means writing, commenting, or otherwise engaging in order to understand and learn, not to dismiss or reduce. We still welcome critical perspectives, disagreement, and critique, but these should take care to invite further response and open conversation.

We do not publish personal attacks or outright pans. Contributions should address broader ideas, not target individuals. This ethos extends to our comments section, where we expect engagement to be respectful and focused on dialogue. 

HowlRound Is Not a Promotional Platform 

The HowlRound platform is a place for discourse and knowledge-sharing, not selling or promoting. We don’t work with publicists to place pieces, and due to the volume of inquiries we receive, we generally won’t respond to press releases. With very occasional exceptions, we will not publish pieces about a show during its run.

If you’re an artist who wants to have your production featured on HowlRound, please see our Frequently Asked Questions for more information. If you are an author interested in holding a book launch on HowlRound TV, please submit your idea through the Contribute Content form. 

HowlRound Publishes a Variety of Viewpoints 

HowlRound platforms the perspectives of theatremakers of all backgrounds, identities, and lived experiences. Content published here exclusively represents the opinions and viewpoints of these theatremakers rather than of HowlRound or our editorial team. We do not, however, platform every viewpoint and will not prioritize those that do not uphold our values of equality, justice, and access. If you’d like to provide a counterpoint or a contrasting perspective to a published essay, we encourage you to utilize the comment section or submit your idea through the Contribute Content form.

HowlRound Is Not Anonymous (Mostly) 

All HowlRound content is linked to an author or producer. As a rule, we do not publish anonymous pieces or allow for anonymized sources in HowlRound content. We believe that positionality and accountability are important and work with authors to publish work they feel confident standing behind.

Of course, all rules have exceptions. HowlRound very rarely allows for anonymity in cases where someone’s safety or wellbeing may be compromised if they are identified. For example, the column I Don’t Know How They Do It! is published anonymously because it often features otherwise identifiable details about minors. If you have an idea that you believe qualifies for an exception to this policy, please write to HowlRound’s editorial team at [email protected]. 

HowlRound Is Human Generated

HowlRound content is written and edited by people. Our written content does not use large language models (LLMs), machine translation, or other generative artificial intelligence. We hold contributors to the same standard and decline to publish AI-generated writing. 

Where HowlRound does make use of AI tools, we choose services that minimize data sharing by selecting privacy-respecting, locally run softwares. Humans meticulously review all outputs of these tools. For example, to prepare podcast transcripts and interviews for the Journal, audio files undergo machine transcription (via private and locally run automatic speech recognition software), and then our editors copyedit those transcripts.

HowlRound Prioritizes Accessibility

Exclusion and ableism are the norm in our performing arts culture. Therefore, removing barriers to participation is a fundamental desire for our content. We are always trying to improve accessibility in both a technical and cultural sense.

HowlRound Does Not Own This Content

All content on HowlRound is published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CCBY 4.0). By licensing it this way, we encourage the broad sharing of all contributions while maintaining content as copyrighted work. When any work is reposted, it must be attributed to the original author as the permanent copyright holder. For more information about our Creative Commons license, check out our Intellectual Property page.

Authors are responsible for sourcing photos for their own essays. With all photos published on HowlRound, we credit as many creatives involved as possible. If you believe that a photo is miscredited or used without permission, please let us know at [email protected].

This page was last updated on 15 April 2026.