Guidelines for Authors

We appreciate contributions from all early-career paleo-/ and Earth scientists out there!

You are welcome to contribute to any of our categories (Science Stories, Views and Experiences, Advice). Send us an email if you're interested in writing a post. We will give you some directions before you start writing and provide thorough feedback before publication.

Please note that your contribution will be peer-reviewed by two early-career researchers, who may or may not be working in your research field.

Seeing as we're already here, though, we'll gladly share our guidelines with you:
  1. Target audience: The post should be aimed at non-expert scientists and interested/educated non-scientists. This means there should be enough background info to understand the context of your contribution and to make it accessible to non-experts. The same is to be considered regarding jargon, expressions, and general language style.
  2. All submissions should be well organized.
  3. Post length: We recommend that you aim for ca 600-1000 words, but this is flexible.
  4. Please provide a short summary (a few sentences) of your post with the clearly stated aim and outcome (Science Stories) or main thought (Advice, Views and Experiences). 
  5. The format of our blog requires sub-headings within the text. Add at least 2-3 subheadings to improve the flow of the text.
  6. Figures: At least one picture (and not more than three) should be provided to complement the text. Please send the figures separately as jpg or png files and indicate in the text document where they should be placed. Please provide captions for each figure. 
    Please make sure you have permission to publish all the pictures you want to use and please provide credits. If it is taken from another website or publication, it is not enough to cite the source, you will generally need permission by the author or publisher (unless the picture is labeled for reuse).
  7. All references mentioned in the reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa. Please use a number system (e.g. [1], [1, 2]) for in-text citations.
  8. All submissions should be in either British or American English consistently throughout. We routinely provide feedback and check for grammar and spelling mistakes. 
  9. Genus and species names should be in italics.
  10. Please provide links to any publications featured in your post. Please also provide your contact details and let us know if you’d like us to link to your social media.

Happy writing!

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