The Hague Diplomacy Blog: Guidelines for Authors
The Hague Diplomacy Blog intends to stimulate debate among academics and policy makers on the diplomatic aspect of international politics. The blog is edited by Saskia Postema, Caitlan Read and Clotilde Facon.
Readership
The readership of this blog consists of academics and policy makers exploring the impact of diplomacy on international politics, the intersection between diplomacy and technology and the impact that scholarly work can have on the practice of diplomacy. Our readership is diverse and contributors should not assume they are familiar with academic concepts or theories. It is thus incumbent on contributors write clearly and in an accessible style that appeals to both academics and practitioners. Blog writers should offer a short definition of academic concepts or theories and, if relevant, briefly explain methodologies used in academic studies.
Our readership is well informed on global developments and diplomatic processes. Contributors are therefore not required to offer background on major events or explain the workings of diplomatic bodies. Our readers are interested in the topics our blog covers, yet they also look for an original viewpoint. Blog posts should engage the reader. Usually a Hague Diplomacy Blog post starts with a strong opening paragraph that introduces the issue at hand, its relevance to the reader and an original viewpoint.
Length, Citations and Hyperlinks
Blog posts should not exceed 1,000 words. We look for pieces that are pithy and convey a lot with few words. We recommend to less experienced blog or op-ed writers that they write their first draft without taking note of the word count. The second and third drafts should aim to steadily reduce the word count to 1,000. We do not accept blogs with more than 1,000 words.
When citing external sources such academic works, books, policy briefs or working papers, contributors should include hyperlinks to these sources. Activate hyperlinks when submitting the blog post. All external sources should be cited using a maximum of five (5) endnotes.
Use of Multimedia
We encourage the use of multi-media ranging from images to GIFs and videos. Similarly, contributors may use content from social media including tweets, Facebook posts, etc. However, contributors should ensure that they have obtained the rights to use such multimedia. When using content from social media, contributors include working hyperlinks to the original content when available.
Engagement with Readers
We encourage our readers to comment on blog posts and send their reaction in an email to the Blog Editors, who will notify authors when readers comment on their post. We encourage authors to reply.
Online Promotion
The Hague Diplomacy Blog will promote all blog posts on social media and we ask contributors to promote their posts online through social media profiles, emails to colleagues and other interested parties and professional profiles pages (e.g., LinkedIn).