Leadership and entrepreneurship · Tier one
How to get featured in Harvard Business Review
How to get published in Harvard Business Review: what HBR editors look for, how to submit through Submittable, its evidence bar, and why it is not a PR outlet.
- Website
- hbr.org
- Owner
- Harvard Business Publishing
- Lead time
- HBR.org pieces: typically weeks to months from accepted pitch. Print magazine articles: often many months of development.
- Last verified
At a glance
Audience. Senior managers, executives, and business educators looking for evidence-based ideas on management and leadership.
- Strategy
- Leadership
- Organizational culture
- Innovation
- Technology and AI in management
- Decision-making
- Careers and talent
- Staff reporting
- HBR is primarily an ideas publication: editors develop and edit articles by outside experts rather than running news reporting on companies.
- Contributed articles
- Most HBR content is written by outside authors, usually academics, consultants, and experienced practitioners; pitches go to an editor or through HBR's Submittable portal.
- Opinion and op-eds
- There is no separate op-ed desk. Argument-driven pieces are pitched through the same contributor process and judged on expertise and evidence.
- Press releases
- HBR does not publish press releases or company news, and its guidelines say it does not publish content that promotes products or services.
Pitching Harvard Business Review, step by step
Read HBR's contributor guidelines and recent articles on your topic before pitching.
Develop an idea that is new or counterintuitive, useful to senior leaders, and backed by research, data, or deep experience.
Submit through HBR's Submittable portal unless you already work with an HBR editor.
State the central message, what is new, why leaders need it now, your authority, and your supporting evidence.
Disclose financial relationships with any companies you cite and any AI use, as the guidelines require.
How Harvard Business Review decides what to cover
Harvard Business Review is an ideas publication, not a news outlet. Its editors develop articles on strategy, leadership, culture, operations, innovation, technology, decision-making, and careers, mostly written by outside experts. Ideas can appear as articles, graphics, podcasts, videos, or newsletters, and HBR decides whether a piece runs digitally, in print, or both.
The bar is set out in HBR’s contributor guidelines: expertise, evidence, originality, usefulness, and good writing. HBR says you do not have to be well known to contribute, but you must demonstrate real expertise. Most authors are business school faculty or consultants, because those roles allow research across many companies, but practitioners with genuine insight are not excluded.
How to pitch Harvard Business Review
If you already work with an HBR editor, pitch them directly. Otherwise, HBR asks authors to submit through its Submittable portal. There is no single required format; some authors send a short pitch, others an outline or full draft. A strong pitch states the central message, what is new or counterintuitive about it, why senior leaders need it now, why you are the right author, and the research or examples behind it.
HBR does not promise a reply to every unsolicited proposal. Acceptance is not final until late in the process; several editors review each piece, and if HBR passes, the author is free to take it elsewhere.
Contributed articles and op-eds
Contributed articles are HBR’s core format, but the rules are strict. HBR does not publish pieces that have appeared elsewhere, does not publish content that promotes products or services, and requires authors to disclose financial relationships with companies they cite. Authors are accountable for accuracy, sourcing, and originality, and any AI use must be disclosed to the editor. Executive ghostwriting that does not reflect the author’s own expertise is a poor fit for these standards.
Frequently asked questions
Can you pay to be featured in Harvard Business Review?
No. HBR editorial content is not for sale, and promotional content is excluded by its guidelines.
Does Harvard Business Review accept guest posts?
Yes, in the sense that most articles are by outside authors, but every piece goes through a rigorous pitch and editing process.
Who should I pitch at Harvard Business Review?
An HBR editor you already know, or the Submittable portal described in the guidelines.
A PR-led agency approaches Harvard Business Review by helping executives turn proprietary data or deep experience into a genuinely new management idea, then shaping a pitch that meets HBR’s evidence bar. See how we run media relations and executive thought leadership.
Mistakes that get pitches ignored
- Pitching content that promotes your company, product, or services.
- Submitting work that has already appeared elsewhere.
- Ideas without evidence, research, or deep first-hand expertise behind them.
- Expecting a reply to every unsolicited pitch; HBR says it cannot respond to all.
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