Frequently Asked Questions
I'm interested in The Triple Helix. How can I get involved?
We appreciate your interest in our journal! There are many ways you can get involved. You can participate in writing, editing, layout and design, marketing, and/or finance.
If you are interested in any of the areas listed, please e-mail our Editor-in-Chief at triplehelix@mit.edu indicating that interest. If you are not sure what you are interested in doing, or you are interested in something other than what was listed, please e-mail the Editor-in-Chief indicating so and we can help you get involved with our journal.
Who are the "department chairs"?
Writing and Editing - Managing Editor
Layout and Design - Production Editors
Marketing - Marketing Director
Finance - Treasurer
Web Design - Technology Chair
What is the time commitment?
Depends on you. Because we publish one issue per semester, the general answer to this question is: not much. If you refer to our publication time line per semester, you will see that each department is actively operating only several weeks out of each semester. This means you will be attending meetings and actively working for only those several weeks, unless you are in multiple departments and/or choose to be more involved. However, this does NOT mean that each department is non-existent for the rest of the semester. There will be other opportunities to be involved in each department beyond their "active" time period, but that decision is yours.
If you want to be involved in multiple departments, you will be more actively involved for more weeks during the semester. If you hold a position within a department or within several departments, then the time commitment expected of you is greater. If you would like clarification, please e-mail our Editor-in-Chief at triplehelix@mit.edu.
When is your next meeting?
We will rarely have general body meetings with all of our members during each semester. Instead, we will mostly have "departmental" meetings, such as writers and editors meetings, layout meetings, marketing meetings, and so forth. These departmental meetings will occur based on our production schedule, i.e. writers will be meeting at the beginning of each semester while layout staff meets towards the end of each semester.
With that said, please check our homepage for the time, location, date and purpose of our next meeting. If it is not listed, or if you have questions, please e-mail us at triplehelix@mit.edu.
What leadership positions are available?
Please e-mail the department chair of the department you are interested in getting a position in. They will let you know what positions are available and how you can get a position.
When an executive board position opens up, the Editor-in-Chief will notify the general body. The position will be filled based on an application process.
We want to make clear, however, that leadership positions will go to our most dedicated members. In some circumstances, we will even create positions so that we can accommodate our most committed members. Our goal is to involve as many people as possible in the production of our journal and the day-to-day decision making process. While many other organizations have limited spots for leadership roles, it is clearly evident, as shown by the operation of our meetings, that The Triple Helix attempts to distribute responsibility and decision-making power to as many dedicated members as possible. The availability of leadership positions really depends on you.
Can I submit an article if I am not a member?
Yes. Please consult our Article Submission page for details. We encourage non-members who are part of the MIT community to submit articles that they find interesting and valuable. We will do our best to publish non-member articles as space allows, however, there is no guarantee that we will be able to. The deadline for a non-member article is the deadline for final drafts.
What types of articles will be included in the journal?
We aim to publish 4 feature articles and 1 cover story (~2000-2300 words), 1 debate article (~1000 words, can be written by 2 people), 4 shorter articles (~1000 words), and 1 student-related article (~600 words).
This is by no means set in stone. It is simply a guideline for us to follow. Adjustments will be made based on the number of writers interested in writing, the number of writers willing to write which type of article, and so forth. The editorial board will decide which article topics will fall into which category.