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Guest Author Submission Guidelines

Thank you for contributing to the EcotoxBlog! Please kindly follow the guidelines below to limit the processing time of your article.

Terms & Conditions:

  • If accepted, your contribution will be displayed on our website and will then reside permanently within our archives
  • Your contribution will be promoted on our social media accounts
  • Please carefully read our imprint

Submission Procedure:

  • Email your contribution to msc-ecotox@uni-landau.de
  • Attach text in Microsoft Word format (e.g., .docx)
  • Attach visual elements as separate files (e.g., .jpeg)

Text Formatting & Content Requirements:

  • There is no length limit, but keep in mind how willing you are to read very long posts or articles; we may ask you to shorten your submission if needed
  • Choose a title that is catchy and brief (max. 60 characters incl. spaces); try to be non-scientific here
  • Start your post with one stand-alone sentence that introduces the reader to your content and summarizes the main message; this sentence must be unformatted (e.g., no bold or italic letters) and must contain no hyperlinks
  • Each paragraph should not be longer than ~140 words
  • Embed hyperlinks in the text
  • If your post is related to a scientific publication, there are specific requirements; please see section “Contributions on Scientific Publications”
  • Please also see section “Tips & Tricks for Effective Blog posts”

Visual Elements (Photos, Images, Graphics & Videos):

  • Every post should be accompanied by at least one visual element
  • Ensure your visual element is of suitable quality: For photos, images and graphics we prefer dimensions of 615 x 350 pixels or 350 x 350 pixels and a max. size of ~40 kb
  • Videos can be embedded from Youtube or other platforms
  • You must hold the legal use rights for each submitted visual element, or have written permission from the artist/creator to use their works; Creative Commons content may be considered
  • For each visual element, you must provide a descriptive caption that includes the copyright (e.g., name of the photographer/creator) and a link to the source if retrieved online
  • For each visual element, provide alt text (i.e., alternative text) which helps screen-reading tools describe images to visually impaired readers
  • For graphs or other data visualizations, consider using a colorblind-friendly palette to increase accessibility for readers with color vision deficiency; you can check your figure using this Color Blindness Simulator

Meta-Information:

  • Indicate the category that your contribution best fits in (you may choose two): “Blogteam”, “Cultural”, “Event”, “Masters program”, “Media coverage”, “Research”, “Thesis/Job opportunities”, “Workshop/Meeting/Summer School”
  • List up to six topic-related tags (keywords); please consider the tag-cloud on our website which indicates most frequently used tags to identify suitable ones

Social Media Information:

  • Please provide a catchy summary of your post of up to 280 characters incl. spaces
  • Indicate relevant Facebook and Twitter pages to be included in our social media promotion; consider your collaborator, university, event page, journal of your publication, etc.
  • Provide your Twitter handle if you want to be mentioned in our promotional tweet
  • We encourage you to actively promote your post within your network

Contributions on Scientific Publications:

  • Your post must end with one paragraph that includes all full author names and the journal the paper was published in
  • For authors that are currently affiliated with University of Koblenz-Landau, please hyperlink their names with their current university website
  • Please hyperlink the journal name with a link to your publication
  • See this example blog post

Tips & Tricks for Effective Blog Posts:

Unlike other scholarly works, blog posts are more conversational and to the point. Effective contributions consider the following key points:

  • Write in simple English language
  • Treat your title and first paragraph like a meta description: work in your primary key words and something actionable that encourages readers to continue reading
  • Break up paragraphs and sentences to make your content quick and easy to scan
  • Explain key terminology and abbreviations with their first use
  • Avoid jargon to increase accessibility of your content to our diverse audience which includes non-specialists
  • Make sure the flow of information is consistent and organized
  • Consider bullet points or numbering when you have several coherent points to make
  • For longer posts, use subtitles that accurately describe the upcoming information
  • Include visual elements that help convey your main message
  • End with a strong conclusion, e.g., a recap of the main takeaways or a call to action to increase engagement