Upcoming article by Rod on emperor (8)
I believe the answer is:
napoleon
'emperor' is the definition.
(I know that Napoleon is a emperor)
'upcoming article by rod on' is the wordplay.
'upcoming' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'article' becomes 'an' (indefinite article).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'rod' becomes 'pole' (pole is a kind of rod).
'an' in reverse letter order is 'na'.
'na'+'pole'+'on'='NAPOLEON'
(Other definitions for napoleon that I've seen before include "Solo, perhaps" , "card game" , "Ruler" , "dictator" , "Former French gold coin" .)