Summary of Editorial Policies

Here is a simplified A-to-Z guide to Seeking Alpha’s most relevant editorial policies:

AFFILIATE LINKS

Affiliate marketing links are not allowed in articles.

ARTICLE LENGTH

There is no specific minimum or maximum number of words. However, here are two rough guidelines:

  1. Articles that are less than 1,000 words are usually too short to provide the depth of analysis that subscribers value.

  2. Readers tend to lose interest in articles that are longer than 2,500 words.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)

  • Do not use AI to create any of the text in an analysis article.

  • Do not use AI tools, including Grammarly’s advanced features, to revise or enhance your article.

BIOTECHS

The 5 key elements of biotech coverage are:

  1. Core Scientific Competence (a solid grasp of the underlying science); 

  2. Fundamental Analysis (an assessment of the financial health of the company); 

  3. Potential Risks (under what scenario(s) would you reconsider your thesis?); 

  4. Time Horizon: (what is the roadmap for developments, and how long it will take for the investment thesis to play out?); 

  5. Quality Sourcing (include links to reputable sources to support claims). 

BLACK BOX ANALYSIS 

  • Avoid presenting price targets based on valuation methodologies or algorithms that readers can’t vet or duplicate.

  • Make your assumptions and inputs to your valuation model as transparent as possible.

  • Walk readers through your calculations, rather than just providing the output.

BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS 

  • If you have a business relationship with a company or fund that you are analyzing, it must be declared in the Disclosures step of the submissions process.

  • Whether SA will allow coverage is at editorial management’s discretion. Please email Submissions@seekingalpha.com to pitch the idea before writing the article.

  • Paid promotion is never acceptable. If a third party pays you for research or coverage, the article will be declined and the contributor status may be jeopardized.

CEO INTERVIEWS

Articles should always focus on the analyst’s own independent research and original analysis. Here are 4 steps for including interview content:

  1. Start the article with your general view of the company, its potential opportunities, and investment risks. 

  2. Explain what you were hoping to achieve by interviewing the CEO.

  3. After each question and answer, add your independent commentary about whether you agree with the answer.

  4. Sum up the interview by explaining what you learned and how it affects your outlook for the stock or ETF.

CRYPTOS

  • Bitcoin and other cryptos lack fundamentals, so valuation methods can include technical analysis and on-chain analytics.

  • Focus on a unique new angle or insight that advances the conversation.

  • Avoid introductory-level content, highly speculative cryptos, and clichéd arguments.

DISCLOSURES

  • In the Disclosures section of the submissions form, indicate whether you currently hold or plan to open a position in any of the securities discussed in the article. 

  • You do not need to disclose holdings that are not mentioned in the article.

  • See also “Business Relationships.”

ETFs

  • Include a brief description of the fund, as well as its strategy and performance.

  • Go beyond the publicly available information on the fund website, and focus on your unique and independent analysis.

  • Discuss how the ETF is better or worse than its peers, such as 1) how concentrated it is (e.g. what % in top 10 holdings), 2) rebalancing frequency, 3) the criteria to select the stocks, 4) expense ratio, 5) liquidity, bid-ask spread, etc.

  • Include a discussion of the key risks unique to the ETF.

EXTERNAL LINKS

  • Provide support for facts, figures, and quotes by linking to sources like SEC filings, SA news items, and earnings call transcripts.

  • Embed the link in a word or brief phrase within the article text, rather than displaying a raw URL.

  • Links that direct readers to the contributor's offsite subscription service or newsletter are not allowed.

FOLLOW-UP COVERAGE

  • Analysts with deep knowledge and insights about a stock or ETF are encouraged to write multiple articles on the same ticker per quarter.

  • Each new article should bring something original to the conversation – analysis of new data or events – beyond just changes in share price and/or rating.

  • Include a reference to your previous analysis, embed a link to it, and explain what inspired you to write a new article.

IMAGES IN ARTICLES

  • Do not use illustrations (photos, charts, tables, memes, screenshots, etc.) that are copyrighted, unless you have written permission to reproduce them.

  • You are free to use images from public domain sources, such as company presentations, press releases, and government websites, as well as YCharts and photos you’ve taken yourself.

LEVERAGED ETFs

  • Definition: Leveraged ETFs are built using derivatives to gain 2x exposure, 3x exposure, and sometimes inverse leveraged exposure (-2x, -3x etc.) to an underlying index.

  • Only recommend a leveraged ETF as a short-term tactical investment, not as a long-term holding.

  • Describe the risks of beta slippage (value erosion) from holding leveraged ETFs, and refer to warnings from the ETF sponsor or FINRA.

MANAGEMENT INTENT

  • Avoid ascribing intent to management.

  • Focus on what management did; don’t speculate about why they did it, or what they were thinking.

  • Example of ascribing intent: “Management clearly was hoping that investors would be so distracted by the dividend increase that they wouldn’t notice the revenue miss.”

MICROCAPS

  • Applies to a stock with less than $1 share price, OR  $100M market cap ($500M for biotechs).

  • An article about a stock with a share price less than $0.50, OR a market cap lower than $25M, is unlikely to be published, due to excessive risks.

  • Microcap articles must discuss risks to the thesis.

  • Financial analysis must include quarterly cash burn, expected cash runway, liquidity, and potential need for additional financing.

  • No excessive hype (pumping).

PLAGIARISM

SA has zero tolerance for plagiarism, which we define as any of the following practices:

  1. Directly copying phrases or sentences produced by another individual or party, without clearly identifying that you did not originally create them.

  2. Closely paraphrasing the work of another individual or party, without clearly identifying that it was drawn from someone else’s work.

  3. Repurposing someone else’s unique ideas, calculations, or arguments, without attribution.

  • Present any material that you copy in quotation marks, with a link to the source.

  • Avoid repurposing your own content from previous articles. Self-plagiarism is not allowed, but you can quote yourself minimally from your previous article for context.

  • Discipline for plagiarism ranges from a 6-month suspension to a permanent ban from contributing.

POLITICAL CONTENT

Articles that include a political discussion should:

  • Focus on your actionable investment idea.

  • Not opine in favor of one candidate/party/policy over another.

  • Include support from credible sources for any claims. 

  • Avoid policy advocacy.

  • Be respectful of opposing views.

PRIMARY TICKERS

  • Articles with primary tickers appear on the quote page and trigger Real-Time Alerts for the ticker’s followers.

  • Typically, no more than one primary ticker is used per article. 

  • To qualify, the article must provide in-depth analysis of the covered company.

  • The name of the company should be in the title.

  • Two primary tickers can be used in cases of mergers, acquisitions, comparison articles in which two stocks or ETFs and stocks are both analyzed in depth, and stocks with two U.S. listings (example: GOOG, GOOGL) or a U.S. and a Canadian listing.

REBUTTAL ARTICLES

Follow these best practices to write an article as a rebuttal to another SA’s analyst’s article:

  • Focus the article on your independent thesis.

  • Briefly summarize the original article, and embed a link to it.

  • Critique the other analysis in a polite and professional manner.

  • Avoid point-by-point rebuttal.

SECONDARY TICKERS

  • Articles with secondary tickers are visible when readers click on Related Analysis on the quote page.

  • There is no limit on how many secondary tickers can be used, but the article should contain at least some useful information about the security if a secondary ticker is applied.

SHORT IDEAS

  • Include links to sources to support key claims.

  • For allegations of accounting irregularities or management wrongdoing, you must contact the company via email and give them an opportunity to respond to your allegations; you must give them at least 24 hours (excluding weekends or holidays) to respond; you must include the company’s response in the article, or note the lack of response from the company; you must forward the email that you sent to the company to Submissions@SeekingAlpha.com so we have a record of it.

  • We do not allow exaggerated, inappropriate, or legal terminology such as scam, scheme, fraud, illegal, etc. in titles.

  • We do not allow analysts to repeat allegations made by others (such as short sellers) in their articles.

  • Do not use legal terms such as “guilty” or “fraud” unless there is a link to an official legal authority with evidence of that.

  • Discuss costs to borrow shares and timing of the trade, if applicable.

  • Include a discussion of risks to your bearish thesis, as well as risks to your shorting strategy. 

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

We welcome articles that primarily focus on TA as long as they:

  • Offer more than basic charting reviews.

  • Present insights on technical indicators that can inform entry/exit points from a long-term investment perspective, rather than short-term trades.

  • Include some discussion of business fundamentals, recent developments, or valuation metrics.

  • Add the label (Technical Analysis) in parentheses at the end of the title.

VIDEOS IN ARTICLES

  • Embedded YouTube videos are not allowed in articles.

  • Embedded Vimeo, Loom, or other videos are acceptable if:

  1. The core thesis is presented in the text, so the article does not depend on the video content. 

  2. There are no calls (neither visual nor audio) to subscribe to a competing investment service.

  3. There are no pop-up links.

  • Links to YouTube videos that contain key supporting material are allowable if:

  1. There are no calls within the video to subscribe to a competing investment service.

  2. The video is timestamped to the precise moment of the statement used as source citation.

If you have any questions about Seeking Alpha’s editorial policy, please email submissions@seekingalpha.com.