FAQS: How do I write a text for The female Scientist?
How do I create a profile?
To write and publish an article at The female Scientist, please register with us. Once you have done that, you can get started. If you decide that you prefer to remain absolutely anonymous, you can just the account for anonymous users without creating a profile. If you just want to send in some comments, you can also send your thoughts to contact@thefemalescientist.com.
Do I have to publish the article under my real name?
No. As we are aware that – besides portraying yourself as a scientist and presenting your work – you may not want to write about personal experiences in sciences under your real name, you can always choose between publishing an article under your real name, a pseudonym or anonymously. The first option is to create an account with a pseudonym and log in with it to write the article. The second option is to use our account for anonymous users.
What kind of texts can I publish?
There are three large categories of texts we aim to cover. 1. Profiles of women in science (for questions, see HERE), 2. Texts about recently published research of women in science, including a link to the original paper, and 3. articles covering a wide range of topics of interest for (women) scientists.
Which topics are of interest to the reader?
Regarding articles, topics that are especially inspiring to our readers are concrete real life experiences from women working (or have been working) in sciences. What do you love (and/or dislike) about a job in sciences? What were difficulties you had to overcome, how did you overcome them? Career themes are as exciting as more private thoughts and portraits of interesting personalities. To help future or younger colleagues, you can also write a guideline, e.g. on how to write an abstract, common mistakes made when writing a thesis, or similar. For more inspiration, questions and topics see HERE and HERE.
Are only women in science welcome to publish texts at The female Scientist?
As our aim is to support women in science and bring more attention to their achievements and problems, profiles and recent research will focus on women in science, including every scientist that identifies as such. However, we welcome all scientists, explicity also including non-binary and transgender scientists, to write articles or guides, as long as they follow our Netiquette and stay with the topic of interest for The female Scientist.
Will I get money for my texts?
No, we are not able to pay authors of texts.
How do I benefit from publishing a text?
There are numerous benefits for you to publish an article with us. The female Scientist is designed to share and discuss current research, knowledge, ideas and experiences of women in academia. You can introduce yourself and your expertise with exciting texts, expand your network and draw the media’s attention. With your texts, you not only present yourself and your research, you also enrich the community of female scientists.
How do I submit an article?
The editor with which you can write your article is relatively simple. In order to save your article, you need a title, a teaser (a short text that summarizes the topic of the article), the actual text, and a category. In order to save it or publish it, you also have to confirm that you have read our Privacy statement and the Netiquette. You can then either save the text and edit it later (you can find it in “Drafts”) or submit it to the magazine. Be aware that you cannot save your article and work on it later if you use our account for anonymous users. The editor will be notified if you have submitted your article and will decide if the article can be published as it is or if some corrections are needed (in this case the editor will get back to you).
How should I format the texts?
All texts should contain a headline, a teaser (a short introduction to the text) as well as, depending on the length, some subheadings. Please use bold print for subheadings and for interview questions. In addition, you can link further articles in the text and add additional pictures or videos.
What is the scope of the texts?
The scope of the texts is category and topic dependent but should be within a range of 1.500 to 10.000 characters. To make them more readable, please structure your text with subheadings.
I have already published the text elsewhere. How do I mark it?
If you have already published the text you have published on The female Scientist on your own blog, please mention this with a sentence below your created text. Here you can also link your own blog or scientific profile (e.g. research gate).
How do I deal with quotations?
As scientists, you will be familiar with using references. So, if you use quotes, make sure you specify the source and/ or link the quote to the original source.
What images can I use?
Only images that are royalty-free are allowed for use at The female Scientist. So, best use a picture that you shot yourself. If you have none to hand or you are unsure about the royalty of a picture, do not use it. You can find license-free pictures in the CC-Search at Pixabay, Flickr.com, unsplash.com or Pexels.
Can I include a link or video in the text?
Yes, links and videos can be integrated into the texts. Just copy the link to a website or to a video and paste it into the video tool from our toolbar.
What happens when I submit an article for the magazine?
If you have the text for the magazine, the editorial office gets a message. If it fits thematically, we will either publish it as it is or edit it before publishing. We will only edit it a minimum, e.g. exchange pictures or change the Heading/subheading. We will not add or change something in your article – if larger changes are needed, we will contact you. If you have any questions regarding the article, please contact us at contact@thefemalescientist.com.
What happens with the comments under my text?
If your text is commented on, you will be notified. So you are always up to date and can react to it. The editor will also look at the comments and reserve the right to moderate them if needed. If the commentators do not keep our netiquette, we will remove the comments.
Which texts are not published?
We will not publish articles that include advertising. Furthermore, we reserve the right to remove texts that violate our Terms and Conditions and Netiquette. This applies in particular to texts that violate applicable law, that are offensive or discriminatory, or violate what is important to us.
We did not answer your question?
If you have further questions, you can contact us at contact@thefemalescientist.com. Alternatively, comment this text and we add the question and answer to the FAQs.