The open desk
Contributor terms, without the fog.
You keep your copyright. Nothing auto-publishes. Nogical gets permission to review and host work it deliberately accepts.
Version 2026-08-07.1
Contributor Standards
Honest, humane, original and clean without becoming flavorless.
Whole people, not specimens
Write about people as people. Diagnosis can be useful context, but nobody should be flattened into a condition, inspirational lesson, tragedy or debate topic.
Clean does not mean flavorless
A well-earned F-word is allowed. A wall of profanity is not. Keep vulgarity occasional and purposeful; no pornography, graphic sexual content or sexual content involving minors.
No cruelty wearing a clever hat
No slurs, hate, threats, harassment, humiliation, stalking, doxxing or attacks on a person or protected group. Critique ideas and systems without turning people into targets.
Tell the truth about the kind of truth
Label lived experience as lived experience. Support medical, scientific, legal or statistical claims with reliable sources. Do not diagnose readers or promise treatment outcomes.
Bring only what you may share
Submit original work or material you have permission to use. Do not expose someone else's private information, confidential records or identifiable story without permission.
Give difficult material a doorway
Use a short content note for suicide, self-harm, abuse, violence, eating disorders or other material that may surprise a reader. A content note should orient, not sensationalize.
Disclose meaningful AI assistance
AI may help with brainstorming, organization or editing, but tell us when it materially shaped the submitted language. Nogical is not a home for undisclosed bulk-generated filler.
Editors still edit
Nogical may decline, request changes, add context or decide a piece is not right for the edition. Acceptance into review is not a promise of publication.
Version 2026-08-07.1
Contributor Agreement
Submission is an offer for editorial review, never automatic publication.
1. Eligibility and authority
You confirm that you are at least 18 years old and have the legal authority to accept this agreement. You also confirm that the submission is yours or that you have permission to submit every part of it.
2. You keep your copyright
You retain ownership of your submission. This is not a work-made-for-hire agreement and Nogical does not take your copyright merely because you submit or publish with us.
3. Permission to review and host
You give Nogical a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, review, copy, format, edit, excerpt, display, publish, distribute and promote the submission in connection with Nogical and its editions. Nogical may use service providers only as needed to operate those activities. You remain free to publish or license the work elsewhere.
4. Editing and meaning
Nogical may make copy, accessibility, formatting and house-style edits. We will seek your approval before a material edit that changes the meaning or substance of the piece.
5. Publication, payment and removal
Submission does not guarantee review, acceptance, publication, timing or payment. Payment exists only when a separate written arrangement says so. You may request withdrawal before publication. After publication, Nogical may remove future display on request, while retaining records reasonably needed to document the submission, agreement, editorial history, backups and prior editions.
6. Your promises
You promise that the submission does not knowingly infringe copyright, privacy, publicity or other rights; is not knowingly defamatory or unlawfully deceptive; and does not include confidential or unlawfully obtained material.
7. Editorial safety
Nogical may reject, unpublish, restrict or preserve evidence of material that violates the contributor standards, creates legal or safety risk, or is not a fit for the publication. Contributor access may be suspended for serious or repeated violations.
8. Versioned consent
Nogical records the agreement and standards versions, your authenticated contributor identity and the time you accepted them. If the agreement changes materially, a future submission may require fresh acceptance.