Guidelines: writing a blog post for EPRN


What is a blog post?

A blog post is a short piece of writing on a specific topic published online. Blog posts are often written in an informal, conversational way and often aim to reach a wider audience rather than a specific professional or academic piece of writing.

What is the EPRN blog?

The EPRN blog is located on the EPRN website. Blog posts are also shared via the EPRN LinkedIn page and the EPRN email discussion list.

Why write a blog post for EPRN?

EPRN is a diverse international community of researchers and practitioners working on, or interested in, addressing energy poverty. The EPRN blog series offers an opportunity for community members to share their work and experiences, or to open up discussions to others in this field. It is a way for the community to stay connected and up to date with ideas, evidence, progress and learning from around the world. It can also be a good opportunity to test ideas in a friendly space.

What topics does the EPRN blog cover?

EPRN blog posts cover a range of topics relating to energy poverty, energy disadvantage, energy justice and related concepts. This includes but is not limited to:

  • New academic research,
  • Updates and commentary on policy and program developments,
  • Case studies attempting to improve energy poverty outcomes,
  • Lessons learnt from where things have not worked as expected,
  • Analysis or explainer pieces to answer key questions that the community might have.

What are best practices of writing a blog post?

We are flexible and encourage contributors to approach the article in a way that best helps them to communicate their findings and ideas. We suggest the following:

  • 400-800 words.
  • Include figures/tables/images where relevant.
  • Write for an international audience. This means writing out key acronyms for programs, government agencies or locations and not assuming specific local knowledge.
  • Keep your tone professional yet friendly. Imagine an intelligent, non-expert reader.
  • Keep paragraphs short, use dot points where appropriate.
  • Use subheadings to help structure the writing and break it up into key sections for the reader.
  • Remember that many readers will skim the post for key information – think about having the key points upfront and then explain them in more detail in the rest of the post.
  • Have a catchy title that encourages readers to discover more in the body of the blog.
  • Use simple language to ensure those who might not know all the technical terms can still find the post informative.
  • Include links to key evidence, examples or where people can find out more about key points (if relevant). Place hyperlinks in the flow of the text, rather than using footnotes.
  • Make sure you include the key take home message or call to action at the end.
  • Disclose any funding that supported the work or ideas presented in the blog post and any conflicts of interest you may have.

Interested in writing a blog post for EPRN?

Have an idea for a blog post? Feel free to email (trivess@fuelpovertyresearch.net) with a short outline of a pitch and we can let you know if it will be suitable.

A pitch should include:

  • Proposed title
  • A summary of the key points you wish to make (dot points are fine)
  • Any other relevant information (e.g., a government policy announcement has just been made making this topic timely to discuss).
  • A suggested publication date.
  • Include your name, short bio (up to 50 words) and a way for readers to contact you (e.g., work email). While blogs can be co-authored, nominate one corresponding author.

You can also send through fully drafted blog posts to: trivess@fuelpovertyresearch.net

The EPRN team will review all blog posts for suitability and clarity.

Examples

The following are recent examples of EPRN blog posts. See our blog page for more.