In a magazine or newspaper, the imprint heading (also called a name tag) may appear on the cover or front page, but in a newsletter it may appear on the inside, often with slightly different elements.

While masthead and nameplate can be used interchangeably in the newspaper world, they are two separate elements for newsletter publishers. Know your industry to know which term to use. But again, if you know what each contains and where it is placed, it doesn’t matter what other people call it, as long as you know whether you are making it the fancy title on the front of a publication or the publication’s identification panel on another page.

Consider the masthead a permanent fixture in your publication. Except for changes in the names of contributors to each issue and the date and volume numbers, most of the information remains the same from issue to issue. Place the masthead wherever you like in your publication, but it is usually on the second or last page of a newsletter or somewhere in the first few pages of a magazine. Be consistent in its placement. Because it is not an article, a smaller font is common. The masthead may be framed or placed in a tinted box. The masthead may include some or (rarely) all of the following elements:

If the newsletter editor is a single person and the publication isn’t seeking advertisers, contributors, or paid subscriptions (such as promotional or marketing newsletters for a small business), you can skip the masthead altogether. There’s nothing wrong with a masthead in general, but for informal publications like blogs, it can seem a bit dated unless the content is presented informally and concisely.