How do you get ideas for "cutting edge" articles?

Well, if you are going to write cutting edge stuff you need access to those kinds of sources. Just using the Psychology Today example, I'm 100% sure that the editors there read all the major research journals. Pitching them a story out of one of those without any other insight is not going to get you the gig.

Ideally, you want to work in areas that you do have some level of contact or insight that the editors at a publication do not have. The two pubs you mention are both major pubs in specialized areas. They are looking for writers with a lot of expertise in their subject matter. If that's not you, then you need to take a step back and think about what you DO know how to write about, and find publications that are looking for those kinds of stories. It could be a hobby or interest, or even just something local.

Your bio says you are in Boston -- so am I, actually -- well, if you want to write about science, why not familiarize yourself with what some of the universities here are doing? Maybe there's something in there that you could pitch to Psychology Today. When it comes to tech, there's tons of tech here and yet most people don't think about Boston as a tech city, why not pitch a story about something related to that? You mention that you knew someone you want to write about, but they didn't want to talk to you. Well, then you need to find someone who is doing something that they want to talk about. Honestly, the people who haven't been covered in the media might well be more willing to talk than those who have been covered to death.

These are just off the top of my head, but my point is that you need to use the resources you have. And you might be setting your sights too high in terms of publications. There are a ton of smaller pubs. If you really want to write about psychology and understand it, then why not offer to write about research studies for a smaller publication? That might get you contacts that could help you develop a story idea for Psychology Today.

Lady V,

I don't believe you are setting your sights too high at all! Each rejection is a learning process. And this post shows you ARE learning from each one, and asking the right questions.

But I do agree that you need to forge connections in the industry for publications where you want to write... so that might mean writing for smaller publications, interviewing expert sources FOR those publications, and then making them part of your network. You can "ping" them once a month, or every few weeks, with a friendly, "Hey, what's new?" Or if you have a vague idea for a story, you can run it by them and see if they can help you refine it with industry news/new research/relevant material.

Also, Brooklyn is right in that you can look for local news and then give it a national twist. Make friends with some of the professors... it's totally okay to call and say you're pitching a story to such and such and would like a little background to write a stronger pitch -- and you'll be in touch when the story sells for a follow-up interview.

Also, you can build up those credentials for a publication like Psychology Today by writing for smaller magazines and websites. (I guess... maybe that's kind of like saying you are setting your sights too high, but I don't look at it that way. You are just taking a different approach and climbing the rungs of the ladder, rather than skipping to the top. You can still continue to query big-name publications AS you build up clips with smaller magazines.)