Blog Guidelines

European Evaluation Society Blog Guidelines

To assist contributors with their submission, we’ve compiled a list of some of the main style issues to bear in mind when drafting an article for the European Evaluation Society Blog along with a note on the editorial process.

In case of questions or if you need any assistance in submitting the blog contribution please contact Gregory McGann, the EES Blog editor, at eesblog@europeanevaluation.org.

Length and format

The blog post should be between 800-1200 words and should cover one or two central points. Paragraphs should be made up of no more than six sentences. Sentence length should also be reduced for readability.
It is possible to submit “long read” blog posts if a topic is particularly suited to the format but remember that most readers will not finish more than half.
Please send us your draft article in Word format, with your name, affiliation and full contact details at the top.

Audience, writing style and language

Please bear in mind the importance of writing accessibly and in a manner that can be readily understood by both fellow practitioners and the educated general public.
Blogs are typically written in the more conversational style typical of journalism. However, given the international readership of the EES, it is best to avoid colloquialisms that might confuse readers with English as a second language.

Referencing

As is normal for the blog form of writing, the EES blog uses links rather than citations for references. Please try to avoid using footnotes wherever possible and integrate material directly into the text.
Please use hyperlinks to relevant sources including any official documents, laws, treaties or other legal texts that are mentioned. Hyperlinks must link only to legal or respected news sources. The editors make the final decision over what constitutes a respectable source.
The reader should be able to follow the links to find out more about your information source. Links should also be used to direct readers to more detailed reports, further research, related news items or other blog posts.
Open access sources are preferred to those behind paywalls.
Please insert a hyperlink at the relevant point of your argument that you’d like to reference and avoid hyperlinking entire sentences.
If you are unsure how to create hyperlinks, simply place the URL in parentheses where you would like it placed and we will format it.

Titles

The title and subtitle of your post should be as clear and succinct as possible. The editor may advise an altered title based on search engine optimisation (SEO).
Try to use narrative titles – a single sentence that sums up the main argument of the article. Avoid questions (Why is Japan vulnerable to seismic events?) general topics (Japan and Earthquakes).
Try and keep titles to twenty words or less.

Graphs and Charts

Charts, maps and relevant photographs are an important component of blogs and greatly assist their readability. The editor may request higher resolution photos or other visual aids if they are felt to be below the minimum quality required. Alternatives may also be suggested.
Graphs and charts are preferred to tables because they are easier for readers to interpret quickly.
Charts and graphs need to be appropriately labelled with, for example, units of measurement, a readable scale and key.
Data series must be clearly distinguished from each other and a brief note on sources provided. Lines must be thick enough and distinctively coloured. Charts should use a numerical progression to make comparisons more visible. For the purposes of copyediting, we would ask that, if possible, the original source or dataset is provided for inspection.

Editorial Process

The Communications and Outreach Team will review and acknowledge submissions as quickly as possible. Occasionally, if an article may not be sufficiently related to the role of the EES, authors may be advised how best to rewrite it so that it is suitable for publication. The team will not alter the argument of the piece. The most likely edits include:

The addition of an introduction framing the issues and perhaps introducing the author
Editing for length if overlong

The Communications and Outreach Team may reject the following types of articles:

Articles that are potentially libelous or defamatory
Articles in which there is a potential conflict of interest
Articles that are insufficiently rigorous: blog articles are highly diverse in their form and academic content, with no strict requirements of academic rigor, but submitted pieces should meet a basic professional standard.
Articles that may impact on the reputation of the author or the EES

Creative Commons policy

All of our articles are published under the Creative Commons licence (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) and other blogs and publications are free to use them with attribution accordingly.