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One of the key aims of Transforming Society is to make academic research findings available and useful to the interested general reader, in the hope that this will help make steps towards positive social change.

To support you in writing an article for the blog, here are some guidelines. 

What should you write about?
Content and style
Points to note

 

What should you write about?

The subject matter of articles on Transforming Society should have a broad appeal across the social sciences and ideally fit into one of the following categories:

  • Current affairs: Articles that link research specifically to a current news story;
  • Global Social Challenges: Articles that explore the complexities of the global social challenges across disciplines and fields;
  • Transforming research: Articles that showcase new directions for participation and collaboration across disciplines;
  • Impact: Articles that tell the story of where and how research has had an impact on the ground;
  • Real voices: Articles that highlight the experiences of those affected by social issues.

 

Content and style

In terms of the content of your piece, here are some points to keep in mind:

  • Be relevant: Do you have an original or alternative way of looking at a news item or current debate?
  • Be opinionated: Writing articles, as opposed to standard academic writing, gives you the freedom to say what you think about a particular issue. This is your platform to express passionately and personally WHY you think your topic matters. Most importantly, how does your work have the potential to transform society?
  • Be story-focused: If there are interesting case studies and examples, highlight them. It helps to bring to life a story for someone else.
  • Be straight forward: Think about the key message in your research, and why it matters, and focus your article on that.

We can help with style in the copyediting but here are some things to keep in mind:

  • Articles should be 800-1000 words in length.
  • Headlines are important; they need to both catch the reader’s eye and represent what you have written. When writing your headline think about the main message of your piece and how you might convey that in a short, interesting way. If you’re not sure, we can help with ideas.
  • The first paragraph is crucial to get right. Your headline got them in, but this is what will make them stay. Some tips for getting your intro right are:
    • Get straight into what your article is about.
    • Open with a stat or interesting fact from your research.
    • Ask a question that you will answer in your piece.
  • Try to use short sentences and short paragraphs where possible. This will make your article much easier for people to read. Omit needless words and shorten long phrases to keep your copy tight.
  • Write for a layperson rather than a fellow expert in your field. Using niche terminology and acronyms will make it hard for the general reader to follow. If specialised words need to be used, then make sure you explain them the first time you use them.
  • Don’t include direct references to your book or journal article in the piece itself (‘My article includes…’, ‘In chapter 8 where I cover…’). Books and articles will be referenced and linked to at the end of the piece, but the blog piece needs to stand alone.
  • Make your closing paragraph powerful. Think about what you’d like readers to take away from your article and use that to craft your conclusion.

 

Points to note

  • We will schedule a publication date for your article but this may change if a news event that we need to respond to emerges. We will publish your post as soon as possible afterwards.
  • We reserve the right to make changes to your post, but will check any edits to content or meaning with you.
  • We reserve the right not to use your article if it doesn’t follow the guidelines above, but will give you the opportunity to make changes where possible.

 

Many of our pieces are commissioned in advance, but we welcome enquiries from prospective writers.

If you are interested in writing a post for Transforming Society, or have any questions, please contact bahar.muller@bristol.ac.uk.