Three tips for writing a Behind the Paper post

Behind the Paper is a popular channel where we invite authors to write about their recently published research article.
Published in Microbiology
Three tips for writing a Behind the Paper post
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I often get asked what makes a good Behind the Paper post, so here are my three top tips. Feel free to add your own experiences and examples in the comments section!

  1. Make it personal – tell the story behind the study, what worked well and what didn’t. Include anecdotes about people you met at conferences, or in the bar, who you collaborated with and who helped the project.
  2. Use images – I can’t say this enough. Images really help elevate the attractiveness of the posts. Field work clearly lends itself to images, but they could also be of the experiments or the experimenters. We can also host animations, video abstracts or other related content either within the post or in a separate video post.
  3. Speculate – The conclusion of your research article must be supported by the data. Use the freedom of your community post to speculate on what the results might mean or what opportunities this opens up for the future.

Once you’ve written your post, make sure you wait until the day of publication to post it. We don’t want you to break your own embargo!

I would also encourage you to think about other relevant posts for the community – this could be a recent news article, a conference you have attended, other published research, a personal anecdote about peer review, your grad studies or your experiences as a professor - or some poetry.

I’m always available to answer any questions you have about the community. Just comment on this post or send me an email!

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Go to the profile of Ry Young
over 3 years ago

Do we title the post "Behind the paper" and then give the title of the paper?

Go to the profile of Emma Thompson
over 3 years ago

'Behind the Paper' is a channel in the Community; you should select 'Behind the Paper' from the list of Channels when drafting your post. The title of your post can be something catchy, a question, a fact or something that draws attention.  It doesn't need to be the same as the title of your manuscript.

Go to the profile of Hundeep Kaur
almost 3 years ago

Can one use a combination of same images/figures used in the original paper to be published?

Go to the profile of Evelina Satkevic
almost 3 years ago

Hi Hundeep,

You can use images from the original paper as long as they are correctly cited.

Best wishes,

Eve