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Guidelines for member submissions to AuthorAID

Thank you for considering to contribute a blog post!  Before you start writing,  we recommend that you read the following guidelines.

Who we are

AuthorAID is a global network that provides support, mentoring, resources and training for researchers in low and middle income countries.

We promote equity by actively addressing the needs of men, women and non-binary community members across all our work and by addressing issues of power within the research and knowledge system.

We welcome contributions from all members who would like to share practical tips, resources and experiences which are useful for other researchers.

Before you start writing, we would recommend that you check that your topic hasn't been covered already on the AuthorAID website, at least not recently. If it has, consider how your contribution would introduce a new or novel angle, or an updated perspective. If you would like to discuss contribution ideas first with the AuthorAID editorial team, please email us at authoraid@inasp.info.

Style guide

Approx 500–700 words* of body text, ideally written using plain language (some written pieces may require technical language, as appropriate); the 500-word minimum limit is strictly observed for contributed guest posts.

Please bear in mind that many readers of the AuthorAID blog are non-native users of English. The content and language level of blog posts should be geared accordingly.

Topics and relevance

We welcome posts on topics related to improving the skills and confidence of researchers – e.g. article and grant writing, data and stats, publishing in journals, speaking and presentations, digital research tools, artificial intelligence in reseach, career tips or inspirational stories. (Note, this is a non-exhaustive list of suggestions.)

You are welcome to talk about your own research and experience, but please bear in mind that the AuthorAID community is diverse and multidisciplinary, so we only tend to publish such pieces if they contain insights, tips or inspiration that are applicable to a broad range of researchers.

Click on the following links to see examples of previous AuthorAID blog posts:

*please note that we occasionally publish longer posts, for example:

Preparing and Submitting a Guest Post:

For readability online, paragraphs should be relatively short and with subheadings wherever appropriate. If you include a list, consider putting it in bulleted format. The title should be clear and not too long, e.g. "10 tips for writing your research paper" or "Picking an appropriate journal for your research".

  1. To begin drafting your article, go to the News page and click on 'My articles', then click 'Add Article'. You can also click here to get started. You can save your draft until later.
  2. When you are happy with your work, you can then submit for review. Don't forget to hit the 'submit' button as otherwise we won't see your post!
  3. All submissions are subject to (light-touch) review by the AuthorAID review team for relevance and appropriateness. In most cases, posts will be reviewed by our team of experienced Stewards.
  4. We will inform you via email if your article has been accepted or requires revisions.
  5. If your article requires revisions, please check the 'Feedback Log' at the bottom of your post to read comments from the reviewers.
  6. If appropriate you can make edits to your article and resubmit.
  7. We will inform you once your article is ready to be published and provide an approximate publication date (subject to change without notice).

Within the article text, please include the following details:

  • your name as you would like it to appear
  • your job title and affiliation (as part of your bio).
  • a brief bio of 2–3 lines with a description (1–2 lines) on what the post is about. The bio will be published in italic font at the bottom of the post. The description should be rendered in straight font (not in italics); it will appear on the AuthorAID home and news pages.

Pictures:

  • Once your article has been accepted, we may ask for your photo (headshot) or other thumbnail image via email in gif, png or jpeg format.
  • If you would like to also include any other relevant images that add meaning to the blog post, we may also be able to incorporate them. Please make sure that you either own the copyright of the material you wish to publish or use copyright-free images.

Please note:

AuthorAID reserves the right to decline to publish a submitted guest post for any reason, including duplication of recent topics, the need for significant rewrites, pieces that are self-promotional, pieces that are discriminatory or offensive, or if the topic doesn’t fit with our needs. Because of the moderation process, blogs will not be published immediately. We usually publish new posts on Mondays, approximately in the order of acceptance (so if you are asked to make some revisions, it is in your own interest to return the revised version promptly).

Blogs published on the AuthorAID website may be republished in other INASP/AuthorAID publications.

Also, blogs posted on the AuthorAID website are welcome to be republished on the author’s own blog, or on any partner blog that the author agrees to. Please include a hyperlinked tag that says, “This piece was originally published on the AuthorAID platform on [mm/dd/yy]."

Please ensure that the work is your own intellectual property. We will remove any material that is found to infringe copyright or plagiarises the work of others.

Blog contributions are undertaken on a voluntary basis. AuthorAID is unable to pay for contributed blogs.