Official information
Overview
- Publication
- Undark Magazine
- Eligibility
- No country list. First-time contributors must include a bio and clips.
- Writing
- Reported feature, essay, op-ed, review
- Payment
- Not publicly stated on the official pages checked
- Currency
- Not publicly stated
- Payment conditions
- Neither the submissions page nor the “What is Undark looking for?” page publishes a rate. Third-party guides have quoted other numbers. Those numbers are not copied here.
- When paid
- Not publicly stated
- Word count
- Not publicly stated. They run reported features, book reviews, photo essays, op-eds and about a dozen long-form narratives a year.
- Response time
- They will try to respond expeditiously; a small team, it may take time
- Status
- Open
- Deadline
- Not publicly stated
- How to submit
- Official online submissions form — do not email pitches
- AI policy
- AI-generated work prohibited
What they want
- Stories where science intersects everyday life — vaccines, climate, agrochemicals, renewable energy, AI, research culture, money and bias in labs.
- Use the form. Pitch meetings are generally Wednesdays 11 a.m. EST.
- If you have not written for them: bio plus clips.
What they don't want
- Emailing a pitch to a general inbox.
- A made-up fee.
- Pitches or drafts generated or line-edited by AI. Official exception only when AI itself is the subject, with disclosure.
- Purely historical yarns, or first-person outside the op-ed silo unless your presence is essential. Climate/environment pitches are the most common and the hardest to land.
Requirements
- Official form only
- Clips if you are new
- No AI pitch or draft
Rights
Not stated on the submissions page. Separate republishing guidelines exist for published Undark stories.
How to submit
- Read https://undark.org/what-is-undark-looking-for/ and https://undark.org/ai-policy/.
- Submit via the form on https://undark.org/submission-guidelines/.
Official source
Undark — Submissions (official) · Undark — What is Undark looking for? (official) · Undark — AI policy (official)
Last verified 2026-08-19. Always re-read the official page before you send work.
Information can change. Payment rates, submission requirements, eligibility, deadlines and response times are subject to change. Always check the publication's official guidelines before submitting. BRYME verifies listings as carefully as possible but does not guarantee acceptance or payment.