Applications are open!

Applications are extended until February 5th, 2024.

Regular Author Application Details

• Apply here by February 5, 2024 by midnight in your timezone.

• Application materials: 

  • SciCommBite sample post (~750 words). See the guidelines below.

  • Personal statement (< 500 words) describing why you want to write for SciCommBites.

  • SciCommBite sample post and personal statements are reviewed anonymously. Please do not include any identifying information in your statements like name, affiliation, etc.

  • Optional demographic Information. Demographic information will be anonymous and only used internally to assess bias in our hiring processes.

• Author responsibilities: Authors alternate writing a SciCommBite one month and editing a SciCommBite the next month.

• Author commitment: Authors will be asked to commit to SciCommBites for one year.

• Author benefits:  Authors will be compensated with a small stipend on the order of a few hundred dollars per year. Other benefits include professional development and networking with people from institutions worldwide. 

• All early-career science communicators are encouraged to apply. We aim to cover a wide variety of research topics from a diverse set of perspectives. Individuals from underrepresented groups and non-native English speakers are especially encouraged to apply. If you are passionate about sharing the latest research in science communication research and enjoy writing, we want to hear from you! 

• Applications will be accepted until January 1, 2024. Upon submitting the complete application, applicants will receive a confirmation email. Hiring decisions will be sent out approximately one month after the application deadline. Applicants will be notified by mid-January for authorship beginning in February 2023.

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Personal Statement Guidelines

Your personal statement should give us an idea of why you're interested in writing for us and what you hope to contribute to SciCommBites. Use this as another chance to show off your writing style!

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When crafting your personal statement, keep the following questions in mind:

• Why are you interested in writing about research on the science of science communication?

• What is your prior experience with science communication research (or communicating science more generally)?

• What do you hope to bring to SciCommBites? This can be in terms of your specific science communication interests, unique perspectives, new ideas we could pursue, or anything else.

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SciCommBite Sample Post Guidelines

A SciCommBites post is a ~750 word summary of a research paper on the science of science communication that has been published within the last five years. Please submit a sample post summarizing a science communication research article following the SciCommBites style. Read the posts on our site to understand the type of posts we write. (Please check to make sure that the article that you select has not been already covered by SciCommBites.). Make sure to include the following in your sample post:

• The post's title — (that is, make people want to click and read!)

• The details of the research paper, including paper title, authors, year published, and a link to the published paper. Do not select a paper that has already been covered on SciCommBites.

• The TL;DR — 1-2 sentences in plain language summarizing the key result or point of the research paper

• The "Why I chose this paper" — 1-2 sentences describing why you chose the paper you did

• The intro/lede to the post — The first 1-2 paragraphs of a typical SciCommBites post, summarizing the main context, question, and answer of the research study. These paragraphs should make us want to see the rest of the post!

  • Write at a level appropriate for undergraduates, avoiding unnecessary jargon and succinctly explaining unfamiliar concepts.

  • We encourage you to add hyperlinks to existing SciCommBites posts or other websites for additional context where appropriate. 

• A figure from the paper you would include in your post, with a caption to put the figure in context with the post (i.e. not the paper's original caption)

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Please do not write about one of your own papers or one from a group you're affiliated with.

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 We recommend reading a few published SciCommBites to get familiar with how posts are structured. Make sure to save your sample as a PDF before you go to complete the application form!

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If you don't want to commit to a year of writing, you can sign up to be a guest author. Please visit our Write For Us page to learn about becoming a guest author.

Questions?

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions either by email or our contact form!