Submission Guidelines

Palette Issue X submissions are now closed.

Mission Statement

Palette is a student-led publication that fosters artistic expression, collaboration, and dialogue within the medical community. Featuring talent in the visual arts, creative writing, and lifestyle, Palette provides a platform to celebrate creative authenticity and unite the diverse interests among students.

Categories of Accepted Work

Visual Arts: Photography (including photos of 3D art pieces), sketches, drawings, paintings, digital art

  • Photos and scans (i.e., no screenshots) of any art pieces must be at least 500 DPI in resolution

  • For photos: please ensure optimal lighting (i.e., natural, direct and bright) 

  • Files: please send photos as individual files, separate from any word documents

Creative Writing: Short stories, poems, personal reflections, prose, etc.

  • Maximum 1,000 words 

  • All written pieces should be on a Word document 

Lifestyle: Any element of student life outside of medicine and the academics, such as (but definitely not limited to!) travel blogs, recipes, fashion statements, condo tours, personal tips, workout routines, and recommendations for music, movies, books, YouTube channels, etc. 

  • Guidelines for visual arts and creative writing apply

[ONLINE FEATURE] Performance Arts: Videos and/or media of dance, singing, acting, instrument, stand-up comedy or improv, or any other performances

Submission Criteria

All submissions are confidential between the contributor and Editor-in-Chiefs (Jinny Kim and Ali Almail) before publication. We will thoroughly review all submitted pieces and work with each contributor individually to provide feedback and edits. Each submission will be required to meet the following criteria: 

  1. Privacy and professionalism are our utmost priority. If a piece includes a description of any patient, colleague, friend, or family member, you ideally should obtain written consent from the individuals that you mention in your work. It is your responsibility to keep that consent on file. Alternatively, you must change their name and omit or alter any other identifying characteristics to ensure confidentiality. 

  2. The piece is an original work and all contributors are listed. You, as the contributor, retain the copyright for your piece(s). 

  3. Permissions from images and illustrations used must be included. If applicable, links to any external resource, including images and illustrations, must also be provided. 

  4. The piece has not been previously published or in consideration before another publication. 

  5. You are submitting no more than 1 piece per category (i.e., Visual Arts, Creative Writing or Lifestyle) and 2 pieces per issue.

Submitting Work

Please submit your work through this Google form.

We will follow up with contributors if their submission has been approved for publication. Creative Writing and Lifestyle pieces are passed along to our editors for content editing. You will then receive a draft with comments and suggested changes to your piece, which you will have the opportunity to review and make edits to, if applicable. Please be sure to regularly check your email after submitting to Palette to ensure you do not miss these important communications! We will not be able to publish your piece if we do not receive your approval for our suggested changes.

We are always open to new ideas. Feel free to email us at palette.utoronto@gmail.com with any suggestions!