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These guidelines will help you to get your article published with LSE Latin America and the Caribbean as quickly as possible. Please see our editorial policy for further information about what to expect after submitting your article. If you have any questions about your contribution, please email the editor.

Length and format

  • For reasons of readability and accessibility we aim to keep articles between 800 and 1,200 words.
  • Please send us your draft article in Word format (or similar).

Audience, style, and language

  • Our main aim is to use social-science research and expertise to further public awareness and understanding of Latin America and the Caribbean. With this in mind, your article should be written for a relatively wide “educated general public” that might include policy-makers, journalists, and other non-academics.
  • Readers respond better to articles written in a more natural style, so we recommend that you avoid overusing acronyms and academic terms (such as Latin words or terminology unfamiliar outside of particular disciplines).
  • You are welcome to speak in the first person (“my/our research”, “I/we believe” etc.) and to adopt a conversational tone.
  • Avoid excessive signposting (e.g. “In this paper I will…” or “The following section outlines”) and dive straight into your topic.
  • Use short paragraphs made up of four or five sentences.
  • As with journalistic pieces, front-load your piece with your most interesting arguments, analysis, and facts to catch the reader’s attention.
  • Write your article as a standalone piece, even if it summarises material in a longer paper or journal article. Try to present all of your argument and evidence within the text and avoid relying too heavily on information contained in external sources. Avoid phrases such as “in my recent paper, I have shown that political pollsters tend to get it wrong…” and simply say “Political pollsters get it wrong because…” Remember that many journal articles are behind a paywall and not all readers will have access to them.
  • For good examples of blog style and presentation, have a look at other LSE Research blogs.
  • If you’re writing based on a research article, consider Patrick Dunleavy’s “eleven easy steps“.

Referencing

  • We use links rather than citations for references. Links should direct readers to more detailed reports or other pieces of research, news items or other blog posts. Open access sources are preferable compared to those behind paywalls.
  • Please insert a hyperlink at the relevant point of your argument that you’d like to reference (by selecting the link phrase and pressing ctrl-K in Word). You can also simply place the URL in parentheses where you would like to include it, and we will add the link for you.

Titles

  • We prefer narrative titles, i.e a single sentence that sums up the main argument of the article. The more succinct yet expressive the title, the more likely the article is to be read. Try to avoid general topics (Inequality in Brazil) and overlong titles with various clauses. Some examples of good titles:

Donald Trump’s presidency will be a stress-test for American politics

We need to start thinking of borders not as barriers, but points of connection

  • Try and keep titles to twenty words or less, if possible.

Graphs and Charts

  • We encourage the use of charts and figures. Graphs and charts are preferable to tables, as they are easier for readers to interpret quickly. Ideally, we would create our own graphics from the raw data of your chart, table, or figure in Excel format.
  • Each chart needs a clearly labelled heading, labels for the X and Y axes or histogram bars, including units of measurement and a readable scale or background grid.
  • There should be a clear legend distinguishing multiple data series from each other and a brief note on sources. Lines must be thick enough and distinctively coloured. Charts should use a numerical progression to make comparisons more visible.

Biography and contributor photo

  • We like to give our contributors proper credit, so please send us a three or four line biographic note with your position, research interests/relevant expertise, and one or two recent publications.
  • Please also send a small colour photo headshot. We prefer a more formal portrait style rather than a photo taken at an event.

Our editing process

  • Most submissions will be reviewed quickly, with editors doing their best to enhance readability for the blog’s varied audience.
  • All articles should be evidence-based. With this in mind, editors may double-check the factual accuracy of certain points, or ask you for links to supporting information.
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