Write for the Economic History Blog
The LSE Economic History Blog encourages submissions of posts from 600 to 1,200 words that are written in an accessible way. We’re interested in all aspects of economic history as a discipline and research field, both within LSE and beyond, the different dimensions of student experience in economic history at LSE, and the activities and achievements of our alumni community.
Contributions from current and former LSE students of all levels, faculty, academic visitors and fellows are welcome. Contributors from outside LSE should normally be university faculty, studying at doctoral level, have obtained their doctorate, or have significant professional expertise in the subject they are writing about.
You are welcome to propose ideas informally to our commissioning editors by email. Our team are happy to advise and help, so you are welcome to suggest ideas to them for feedback. To submit an article for consideration, please email it in a Word file to us.
Style Guide
Length
Articles should normally be between 600 and 1,200 words. Articles should include a short abstract that gives an appealing introduction to the article. We are also happy to post longer essays of over 2,000 words if appropriate for the topic, and short contributions of around 300-400 words to note publications, events or activities. Please discuss this with the editors. Please send your draft article in Word format.
Style and Language
Your post should be written with a general audience in mind. Avoid language that is too technical. If you must use acronyms, please define them. Focus on the findings of your research not the methods.
Use short paragraphs made up of a few sentences. Take good journalism as a model, and put your main point towards the top of the article and begin with a strong hook to encourage a reader to engage with your post.
Write your post so it can be read on its own, even if it is based on a longer research paper.
Referencing
Use direct web links for references to sources. The easiest way to do this in Microsoft Word is to highlight the words you would like to act as the link, press “ctrl+k”, and then paste in the URL of the relevant page you would like to link to. Links should direct readers to more detailed reports or other pieces of research, news items or other blog posts. Open access sources are preferred to those behind paywalls.
Try to avoid using footnotes wherever possible and integrate material directly into the text.
Graphs and Tables
We welcome the use of graphs and tables. If possible, please include the original data as an Excel file so the editors can edit images to meet our requirements. If you can’t do that provide a large, high quality image (e.g. a JPG or PNG file that is at least 1,000 pixels wide) and ensure it is clearly presented, with labelled axes and units of measurement clear to the reader.
Pictures and photographs
If you have a good photo or image that illustrates your post, please do include it.
Biography and Contributor Photo
Please send us a three to four line biographical note, with your academic position, research interests, and details of any recent books.
Please also send us a small colour photo headshot.
Our Editing Process
In most cases submitted articles will be reviewed and edited speedily by the commissioning editor. We will send you the final version of the article, and give you an opportunity to make any corrections. Although we review all of the submissions we receive, it is not possible to publish everything that is submitted. Unfortunately, we cannot provide detailed feedback on unpublished drafts, but we seek to treat all submissions fairly and judge them on merit.
All of our articles are published under a Creative Commons licence and other blogs and publications are free to use them, with attribution. If you do not wish for your article to be republished anywhere else then please let us know during the editing process.
The LSE Economic History Blog encourages submissions of posts from 600 to 1,200 words that are written in an accessible way. We’re interested in all aspects of economic history as a discipline and research field, both within LSE and beyond, the different dimensions of student experience in economic history at LSE, and the activities and achievements of our alumni community.
Contributions from current and former LSE students of all levels, faculty, academic visitors and fellows are welcome. Contributors from outside LSE should normally be university faculty, studying at doctoral level, have obtained their doctorate, or have significant professional expertise in the subject they are writing about.
You are welcome to propose ideas informally to us email. Our team are happy to advise and help, so you are welcome to suggest ideas to them for feedback. To submit an article for consideration, please email it in a Word file to Zane Jennings (z dot jennings at lse.ac.uk).
