Your post should be original and never published before on the Internet.
The author(s) of the post should be members of the Duke community, including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, and alumni. There can be up to 3 authors per submission.
Please tailor your content to the Duke undergraduate student population, but note that graduate students, faculty, staff, etc. could also be reading.
We will accept posts on a wide variety of topics, but here are a few suggestions to get you started: Duke’s culture of “effortless perfection,” intersections of academics and wellbeing, finding your way to/through/after Duke, learning strategies, connecting career and purpose, etc. You can also email us at academicguides@duke.edu with blog post ideas/potential titles if you want to be certain the topic you want to write on is suitable for our blog and is relevant and timely enough for publication. Posts can appear as personal reflection, critique, in the news, informative/explanatory, shoutouts, satire, written interviews, etc. Though, please note, we do not require a topic or style to be pre-approved, and we accept submissions on a rolling basis.
500-1000 words
Write in a friendly, conversational voice/tone that’s less formal and more approachable. Put yourself into the post and make clear your positionality, whether you’re writing as a faculty, staff member, or a current or former student. The best posts are usually personal narratives but don’t shy away from using a key data point or two to support the case you’re making (and don’t forget to hyperlink it).
- Use short paragraphs, subheadings, and/or bullet lists to break up your article.
- Check your spelling and grammar. Attribute any quoted/paraphrased info with links to the sources.
- Include “extras” when applicable, such as audio files, YouTube links, or images/charts, GIFs or memes to enhance the post. Make sure to include URLs. If you have ideas for additional media, but aren’t sure how to execute them, please let us know so we can work with you!
Accompanying cover image is optional (we’ll include one if you don’t). If you wish to upload an image to go with your blog post, it should be attributed (provide image source URL), at least 200×200 pixels and in .jpg, .jpeg, or .png format. If you submit a stock photo, please ensure it is royalty-free and able to be shared and modified for marketing/commercial purposes.
Please provide one or more illustrations within your post. These may be photographs, graphics or cartoons. Pictures can be in .gif, .png, .jpg or .jpeg format. For each image you use within your submission, please include a caption directly underneath the image and the source of your image and any copyright information in brackets under the caption. Please note, the editorial team reserves the right to curate which images are, or are not, included on our website.
Additionally, it is also essential that we have permission to publish the image, either through a Creative Commons license or through explicit written permission from the copyright owner. Please provide a link to the source of the image if the image is from the internet, with evidence of its free to use status. Here are some websites to find great free stock photos: Unsplash, Nappy, Foodiesfeed, Pixabay, and Kaboompics.
Please upload the blog post via the Qualtrics submission form linked below. You can upload a .doc or .docx attachment or link to a Google Doc, but do know that we may need to reformat it for easier back-and-forth editing.
It may take up to two weeks before we respond to you. Your article will be returned to you with feedback from our editorial team. If your article is selected for publication, then it is your responsibility to review those comments and ensure you send back a “clean” version of the article which is ready to publish with no comments or tracked changes remaining within one week. If any comments or track changes do remain in the returned document, then we will assume that those changes are meant to be accepted and will accept all; the piece will then be published as is. Note, while we do our best to avoid them, we take no responsibility for any content mistakes or errors that may be present in the piece as a result of the document being re-submitted for publishing with comments and track changes still present.
If we publish your blog post, we have full rights to the content, including but not limited to edit, mix, duplicate, use, or re-use it in whole or in part as we so choose.
When we’ve published your article, we’ll give you the direct link to the post. We encourage you to promote your post on your social media outlets.
Even if we choose not to publish your blog post, you will get a response, explaining the reason.
- Title of the submission
- Author(s) name(s)
- Caption for any within-text images
- The source of within-text images and any copyright information in brackets under image captions
- URLs for any linked media
You will be asked to include a bio for each author in the submission form. Recommended length is 50-75 words per author. You can include 2-3 links in the author bio. Please also upload a clear, closeup headshot of yourself, at least 100×100 pixels, JPG/JPEG or PNG format. You can also include your Instagram handle.
Contributors are responsible for the factual accuracy of their work. Unattributed use of other people’s work is unacceptable and harmful not only to the author but also to the reputation of the blog. Responsibility for any plagiarism will rest with the author.
