GradTerp Forum Author Submission Guidelines

The GradTerp Forum blog welcomes contributions from graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate alumni of the University in any field and at any level. Blog posts should be related to the submitter’s specific field of study rather than being broadly about an area of interest. For example, submitters are encouraged to submit a post about their research findings, their artistic production, the processes, methodologies, theories, or challenges of their field of study, their experiences teaching, performing, or communicating their areas of expertise. In other words, a post need not be limited to a summary of your research findings but should reflect your work as a scholar.

Length, Style, and Format:

Length: Blog posts should be roughly 750 words or a multimedia production of no more than 3 minutes.
Illustrations: The final post must include an image that illustrates the research being discussed in some way. The illustration may be a figure, diagram, photo, etc. Images should be either the property of the submitter or should respect all laws and University policies governing intellectual property. For more information about copyright and fair use, please see http://lib.guides.umd.edu/copyright.
Students talking about a process (such as what happens in a lab) are encouraged to include a short (30 seconds maximum) video that provides an overview of the process being described. The video should be mp4 or another format compatible with youtube.com.
Bio-statement and image of the author: all posts must include a brief (about 50 words) bio of the author (name, degree program, area of interest and/or research, etc.); authors are welcome to include an image (headshot only) to accompany the post. The bio-statement must be included with the application, and the image, if included, must be provided by the final deadline. Authors are also invited to include their social media contacts (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) to be posted with their bio-statement.
Audience: The primary audience of the blog is members of the University of Maryland community; that is, the primary audience is a broadly academic, multi-disciplinary audience.
Link to resources: Whenever possible, links to reference and resources should be accessible by active hyperlinks. Also, authors are encouraged to submit additional information or links to resources where readers can find additional information on the topic.
Style: Posts should be written with attention to the constraints of the medium; writing for the web generally features shorter paragraphs and sentences than typical academic writing and should include active hyperlinks.
Keywords (optional): Submitters are invited to include 3-6 keywords
All submitters must agree to the copyright submission statement that is available on the submission portal.

Some things to consider as you develop your blog post:

Identify one area of your research or expertise to highlight and focus on it; the narrower the focus, the easier it will be write. The blog posts do not need to be “blog your dissertation in 500 words or less.”

Develop a catchy, brief title. You can have a subtitle that provides more details.

Think about how your readers might connect to the subject and what a “take-home” lesson might be. These should be addressed early in the blog post to capture your reader’s attention and compel them to continue to read.

Think also about how much or what type of context readers will need to understand your post. Where should this context be provided, how much might be linked to other sources for more in-depth reading?

Consider what a curious person will find interesting in your post. A post that somehow relates to everyday life, to current events, to familiar situations will be more accessible to readers.
Your post should be supported with clear evidence. This might be extended in a link, but it should be evident in the body of the blog.

How to submit:

Please submit your contribution via the GradTerp Forum Submission Form.
Blogs should be submitted in Microsoft word; any illustrations should be jpeg or png; video should be high resolution. You will also be asked to provide the citation information for any images you include with your submission.
Please include a bio-statement of no more than 50 words with the submission. If you elect to include an author image with your blog post, you can submit it later; you are not required to submit the author image with the blog submission.
We will send a confirmation of every submission.
As a condition of publication, all submitters must agree to the the copyright submission statement that is available on the submission portal. If you have any questions about the copyright statement, please contact Linda Macri at lmacri@umd.edu. The copyright submission statement will be required before the blog is published (not at the time of submission)

Editorial timeline:

Submissions will be received on a rolling basis.
Once received, authors will be informed of an editorial decision within one week.
After authors have been informed of the editorial decision, they will have two weeks to submit any revisions.
Finished versions (including title, revised text, image(s), and bio-statements) must be agreed upon by author and editor no later than the Friday before publication.