Write For Us

We are enthusiastic about world history because of the diversity of opinion that it creates. We want to encourage and promote that diversity in our public history space. Our main goal is to give equally enthusiastic graduate students a space to share their historical opinions. Therefore, we are flexible about how contributors would like to write for us. Below are some guidelines of what we are looking for:

  • An argument based in world history. This does not mean that you need to use primary sources, but the main argument needs to be related to world history. For example, you can write about current affairs if the main argument is related to historical evidence (secondary or primary). Moreover, you can take a personal/reflective approach to explore a history-based concept in your post.
  • An original argument/idea. This can be an original synthesis based on historiography.  What matters is that your analysis is original. You can even hypothesise something original without arriving at a conclusion. 
  • The post appeals to a wider audience. We want accessible academic writing; write for an informed public audience. Often history can be alienating, and we do not want to add to that development. Try to write something that can resonate with non-academic history enthusiasts. This way you might inspire someone to pursue a deeper understanding of your topic.
  • Share your research. A dissertation of 10,000+ words is usually not read by more than the markers and your proof readers. However, dissertations are often fascinating research projects that inspire students to write passionately. You can edit out a part of your research that you feel is important/special for a blog post. Or you can summarise the arguments of your dissertation (or parts of it) in a blog post.
  • Clear Titles. The title is the first part of your blog that the reader will see. From the blog title, the reader will determine if they will click on the blog and read it. Therefore, it is important to have clear titles that articulate what the blog is about (themes/ideas/arguments) and what is the geographic context of the blog. On social media links, the first 10 words appear on news-feeds; so, ensure that the initial part of/short title catches the browser’s attention.

Formats

We offer two formats to present your work, decide which is the best fit for your topic:

  • Blog postsA short argumentative post of 600-850 words based on primary and/or secondary sources. 
  • Visual Posts A short argumentative/explanatory post of 400-600 words that is based on a visual source(s). This type of post can be focused on the source itself, detailing its history, or it can connect the visual source to the wider historiography of the post’s topic.

Remember, we are flexible. If you have an idea but do not know if it fits here, contact us and we will see how we can make it work. Also, if you are unsure of how to go about making your work into a blog post, then send us your idea and we will collaborate with you to help with the process.

Ultimately, please look at our blog posts already in circulation to get an idea of what is a good fit for the centre.

If you have have a pitch, please get in contact with our editorial team at: SCGH@dundee.ac.uk.

Image Copyright

Please submit an image with your blog post. We will put a default image of the centre with your post if you do not wish to select one. Images must meet copyright standards. You can use photos that you have taken yourself, or send us an image that is free from copyright restrictions and available for reuse. Please send us the link for the image if you take it from an online space. We recommend Wikimedia Commons as a good starting point for sourcing public domain images.

Copyright of Your Post 

Your work will be under the Noncommercial Creative Commons licence Attribution ShareAlike. Your post will be available for others to use provided that they cite it correctly.

Plagiarism 

Plagiarism rules for the SCGH public history platform are equal to what would be expected for any university student’s essay submissions. We follow the same guidelines as the University of Dundee. These can be found here.

References

References are to be added as endnotes. You can choose whichever style you wish that incorporates endnotes. Keep your referencing style consistent.