How to write a successful blog and make sure people read it Jo Thompson Coon PHoCuS meeting – Plymouth – March 2018

How to write a successful blog? Why do people blog? What do they blog about? Top tips for things to do and avoid …and make sure people read it?

Why blog? Help establish writing as a routine Small, self-contained, motivating to see something finished Helps you to get to the point Short, no room/time for waffle, highlight what is really important Encourages you to write for a specific audience Helps you to reach & discuss with different audiences Freedom to explore ideas Opportunity to invite comment and discussion Easy to share via social media / email Boosts citations of your research

Why blog? Communicate research findings / accompany publication of a paper / avoid paywall Discuss research ideas with a relevant audience Think through an idea Comment/reflect on/share take home messages from a conference Discuss methods and methodological choices Engage with potential audience throughout a project Raise the profile of your research or group Comment on topical issues Personal ‘web space’

Why blog? To communicate research findings http://www.evidentlycochrane.net/dressings-healing-pressure-ulcers/

Why blog? To communicate research findings https://researchthatcares.com/2017/04/10/and-the-beat-goes-on/

Why blog? Discuss research with relevant audience https://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Blog/tabid/3097/Default.aspx

Why blog? Discuss research with relevant audience

Why blog? To think through an idea LSE Impact blog EPPI-Centre blog

Why blog? To share research findings from a conference evidsynthteam.wordpress.com

Why blog? Raise the profile of your research http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/realisthive/

Why blog? Discuss topical issues https://headofdepartmentblog.wordpress.com/

Top tips before you start What’s it for? Who’s it for? Write FOR your audience Which platform? Wordpress.com – free and easy How often? Should be a pleasure not a chore What will you blog about? Research, conferences, things I learnt? Own blog or a contributor e.g. National Elf Service, The Conversation Group blogs – share the work, diversity of ideas, invite guest posts Use images – your own if possible! unsplash.com Use DOI links to publications – so that picked up by Altmetric etc.

Things to avoid Jargon / acronyms Making it too long and complex – 1000 words max – most readers don’t read to the end of web content A writing style that is wordy & waffly – keep sentences and paragraphs short Commit to writing too often so that it becomes a chore Using images without permission – plenty of free image sources e.g. unsplash or use your own If writing up reflections on a conference – get them out quickly whilst people are still thinking about it

How to turn a journal article into a blog post Should take 2-3 hours max Aim to reduce paper from 4-5000 words to 1000 words Cut out methods – not important to blog reader – link to paper for details Cut out introduction – just need a couple of sentences to provide context Cut out discussion – just need a couple of sentences with what next Write a narrative title – describes research – 280 characters max Include a trailer paragraph – 3 or 4 lines – why is this interesting? Main body of blog should address - What did your research efforts discover or conclude? What do you make of your key findings or conclusions? Front load / start with high impact/most interesting Include at least one table or chart – explain properly / do they help tell the story? Use digital links for references End with a decisive/interesting statement Include clear link to paper with DOI number http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2016/01/25/how-to-write-a-blogpost-from-your-journal-article/

… and make sure people will read it… Social media – Twitter / Facebook Tag the people you want to read it Tell people you’ve tweeted Tag them into your tweets Use topical hashtags e.g. #WorldChocolateDay #WednesdayWisdom Don’t be afraid to bang on about stuff, ask people questions, tag in your heroes, refer back to what you’ve been doing/writing about

#thingswelearnt at #GESummit17

#thingswelearnt

https://evidsynthteam. wordpress https://evidsynthteam.wordpress.com/2017/09/19/if-you-want-to-go-fast-go-alone-if-you-want-to-travel-far-travel-together/

13/02/2015

Why bother?

Where can I look for inspiration? EPPI-Centre – thoughtful, reflective posts Mental Elf – blogs by many researchers hosted by Andre Tomlin Evidently Cochrane – often combine findings from several reviews into one blog written by a clinician Why the long words – Zoe Ashton – health literacy PenCRU Family Faculty – posts from families The MESS – Methods in Evidence Synthesis Salon – specific methodological comment The Realist Hive – lively, fun posts about realist methods Sifting and sensemaking – reflections on methodological/decision-making processes in projects Research that cares – wide variety of posts – personal focus Learning, Knowing, Doing – implementation science Head of Department’s blog – English