Ultimate Guide to write an Academic Blog
How to write an academic blog
Academic blogging is instrumental in enhancing the market penetration of your research among target audience at extremely low costs. It plays a significant role in garnering loyal readership, sparking debates on topics of global importance and also building up citations.
Academic blogs act as a bridge between academic reports and social media websites like Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter, thus making information easily accessible to readers. There are three major types of blogs: solo, collaborative and multi-author. While solo blogs primarily focus on areas of expertise of the writer, collaborative and multi-author blogs offer greater consistency of content owing to editing done at many levels.
Tips for academic blogging:
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Keep it crisp:
Do not include any irrelevant details in the blog. Make sure your blog contains information that readers may find useful. The title of the blog must indicate its content. Example: Bloggers at “ProfHacker” clearly highlight the content of the blog through the title itself. You could also use your blog to seek opinions of readers by including questions. This could serve as an ideal example of collaborative writing.
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Use pictures at appropriate places:
The images that you use in your blog must be strategically location so as to gain maximum attention. The use of images has to be in sync with the topic of discussion, or the reader could feel disconnected. Example: Ryan Cordell’s ProfHacker post shows how pictures can be used for adding an extra element to attract readers to your blog.
To attract more readers to your blog, you could write a guest blog
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Multimedia + analysis are the key:
Academic media is about integrating relevant links from YouTube or other popular websites so as to help readers understand the context better. However, the standalone use of multimedia does not serve the purpose as far as academic blogs are concerned. They must be followed by an introduction and consequently an apt analysis.
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Be yourself:
Different authors may choose to express themselves differently. Find your own unique style of discussing your thoughts, opinions or studies. Read several academic blogs to be able to differentiate between the various kinds of tones used in them depending on varied genres.
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Watch out for infringement:
Remember that a blog is counted as a publication. Make sure that you do not unintentionally cause infringement of intellectual property by revealing intricate details about potential inventions that have not yet been patented.
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Be regular with blogs:
It is important that you decide on how regular you intend to be with blogging even before you start publishing. This is because your readers may begin to expect follow-up blogs on topics of interest. Hence, it is best that you clarify how often you will write since the very beginning, lest your readers should be disappointed.
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Keep University in the loop
It is recommended that you keep the line manager at your University informed about your intentions to start a blog. You wouldn’t need their permission; however, it is ideal that the University be informed in advance to avoid the blog coming as a surprise to them at an inappropriate time.
Academic blogs are frequently used as an assessment tool in Australian Universities. For instance, the University of New South Wales (UNSW) is following a specific criterion to access the blogs written by their students enrolled across all courses. If you are a student enrolled in a nursing course, then you are expected to go through specific journal papers and articles, and share your reflections in your assigned academic blog. In such cases, it is wise to learn academic blog writing from academic bloggers in nursing to prepare your draft for submission.
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Use Social Media
The efficient use of social media could potentially increase the reach of your post by many folds. Post your content on popular social media platforms and encourage your friends and family to share the same.
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Avoid using jargons
Even if you are writing the blog for academicians, ensure that you use words that are easy for all to interpret. Use of jargons and technical terms reduces readership of blogs. If using a jargon is a necessity, add a hyperlink to the word or phrase to help readers understand its meaning.
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Use Subheadings:
The use of subheadings makes it easy for readers to scan through your post in one glance and figure out if it is worth a read. It also helps display useful information in a structured manner.
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Guest blogs:
To attract more readers to your blog, you could write a guest blog. Find a blog in your domain with a readership that is higher than yours and request the blog owner to let you contribute. You could also get started using web courses and programs like A-List Bloggers.
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Proofreading is important:
Before you publish your blog, revise. Do not neglect minute errors as that affects your credibility adversely.
Pitfalls to be aware of while writing a blog:
- Before writing a blog, check with your employer’s social media privacy terms and conditions.
- Clearly state in your writings that your work is depictive of your personal opinion and is not reflective of the views of your organization.
- Be aware that your content may be used for plagiarism and may even be misinterpreted or reproduced without permission in columns you may not wish to be associated with.
- Your blog could potentially spark trolls or trigger unpleasant comments by non-serious readers on public platforms. This could serve as a de-motivating factor and could possibly land you in a vulnerable position.
Act as a bridge between academic reports and social media websites
Famous academic blogs to learn academic blogging:
While each one of you may have a peculiar taste of reading, here are a few of my favorite blogs:
- Edible Geography: Spatial investigations of food by Nicola Twilley
- Robert Hooke’s London: A catalog by Felicity Henderson about Hooke’s experience in the city
- 99 Percent Invisible: Neither a blog, nor written by an acclaimed academic, this is still one of the finest works by Roman Mars
- Wynken De Worde: Early modern culture as described by Sarah Werner
- Language development: Blog by Dorothy Bishop
