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How your article is reviewed

Every article on MoonX is reviewed before readers see it. This page explains what happens after you press Submit for review, what each result means, and what you can do next.

What MoonX publishes

MoonX is a magazine about spiritual and wellbeing subjects. When you write, you file each article under one of our eight categories: Moon, Astrology, Astronomy, Healing & Health, Coven, Tarot, Personal Journey and Holidays.

Subjects we publish include moon phases and lunar rituals; astrology; tarot, oracle cards and other divination; witchcraft, magic, spellwork and pagan practice; energy healing, chakras, reiki and crystals; meditation and mindfulness; seasonal celebrations and sabbats; spiritual and personal growth; goddess archetypes; emotional wellness, relationships and self-care; and mental health, written in a supportive tone.

Some subjects are outside MoonX, even when they are written in spiritual language:

  • drugs, including psychedelics such as ketamine, LSD, psilocybin, DMT, ayahuasca or MDMA, also as therapy, as medicine or as a path to spiritual awakening;
  • politics;
  • social activism, protests and manifestos;
  • current events and news.

An article does not have to be about one subject only. If at least four fifths of it is about subjects we publish, it fits. Poems are welcome, and they are judged by the same rules as prose. You can write in English, Spanish, Polish or Russian.

Before you submit

The editor shows a checklist, and Submit for review works once every line is ready. At present an article needs:

  • 300 to 7,000 words;
  • a title of 10 to 70 characters and a subtitle of 10 to 100 characters;
  • one category;
  • at least one image, with a cover image of at least 1600 x 900 pixels.

You also need to have accepted the current Author agreement and Editorial standards.

What happens after you submit

The review starts as soon as you press Submit for review. Your article shows as In review. While it is in review, you can withdraw it until a decision is made.

The review has four steps:

  1. Safety. An automatic check looks at the text and the cover image for harmful content: harassment, hate, threats, violence, illegal activity, sexual content and self-harm.
  2. Length and shape. We check that the article is complete, with at least 300 words.
  3. Theme. An automatic check reads the article and decides whether it is about the subjects MoonX publishes.
  4. Quality. An automatic check reads the article as an editor would: is it clear, specific and useful to the reader, is it well organized, and does it read naturally?

We also check that the text is not a copy of an article that is already on MoonX.

The automatic checks use models from OpenAI. We send them the title, the subtitle and the text of your article, and the cover image for the safety check. We do not send your name or your contact details. The models do not make decisions: they report what they find, and MoonX's own rules decide the result.

The three possible results

Published or Scheduled. If your article passes, it is published at once. If you chose a go-live date, it shows as Scheduled and is published at that time. We let you know either way.

Needs changes. If something must be put right first, your article comes back to you as Needs changes, with a review letter. Being sent back is not a rejection: it is the normal shape of editing. The letter lists each issue as a note, with a level:

  • Minor - a suggestion about the writing;
  • Worth fixing - something that weakens the article;
  • Important - something that must be fixed before the article can be published;
  • Serious - a serious breach of our standards that must be fixed before the article can be published.

Some notes also carry a suggested wording. Using it is up to you. Notes about the writing never stop you from resubmitting: they are yours to take or leave. Notes about safety or theme do. They are marked "Holds up the resubmit" until you mark them as resolved.

With a person. Sometimes the automatic checks cannot decide. Then a person on our team reads your article, and we tell you so. A person always reads an article when:

  • the safety check finds signs of self-harm or suicide, or of sexual content involving minors;
  • its quality is close to the line between passing and needing changes;
  • it is shorter than the checks expect, or a check could not give a clear answer;
  • a check was unavailable (see below).

Making changes and resubmitting

  1. Open the article. The review letter and its notes are beside the text.
  2. Make your changes in the same editor.
  3. Press Mark as resolved on each note you have dealt with.
  4. Press Resubmit.

You can resubmit once every note that holds up the resubmit is resolved, and once you have changed something since the review. Your article then goes through the checks again. If it was a person who asked for the changes, a person reads it again, the same person when possible, whatever the checks find.

You cannot reply to a note inside the cabinet. If you disagree with a note, write to us (see below).

How long it takes

The checks start the moment you submit, and many articles get their result soon after. Most articles get a decision within three working days. When a person reads your article, we aim to decide within three working days.

If your article is tied to a date, such as a full moon, an eclipse or a holiday, submit it at least two weeks before that date.

If a check is unavailable

If an automatic check does not answer, we try again. If it still cannot answer, a person on our team reads your article and decides. No article is refused because a check was unavailable. If the review cannot start at all for a while, your article stays In review and we keep trying.

Asking a person to look again

Our checks are automatic, and automatic checks can be wrong. You can always ask a person to look again at a decision about your article:

  1. Write to [email protected].
  2. Give the title of the article and tell us which decision or note you disagree with, and why.
  3. A person on our team reviews the decision and answers you within five working days.

After your article is approved

Once your article is published or scheduled, we translate it into the other languages of the MoonX magazine. There are 14 languages in all. The translation is done by MoonX's own translation service, using a language model from Anthropic, and the translated versions are published with your article. This happens to every approved article. You can see the translations in your article's history. If you spot a problem in a translation, write to [email protected].

Once an article is published, you cannot edit it yourself. If something in it must be corrected, write to [email protected].

Questions

Write to [email protected] about anything: an article, a review decision, your account or payments.

See also the Editorial standards and the Community rules.