Write for The Conversation: How to get involved as an academic

The Conversation is a news analysis and opinion website with content written by academics working with professional journalists. It is an open access, independent media charity funded by more than 90 UK and European universities.

Worldwide, The Conversation global network comprises ten editions operating in Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, France, Indonesia and Spain, publishing in six languages and supported by more than 500 member institutions and funding partners.

Submitting an article to The Conversation is a great opportunity to communicate your research to the public and reach a wider audience. The Conversation aims to provide the expert insight needed to better understand current affairs and the complex issues we face. Their team of editors work with experts drawn from universities and research institutes across the world, sharing their knowledge in a way that is accessible to non-specialists.

Bringing expert insights to current affairs, explaining new research findings, or shining a light on topics that deserve greater discussion, they strive to improve the quality of public debate and ultimately to help everyone make better, more well-informed decisions.

Expert Requests
The Conversation publishes daily emails requesting expertise on particular topics across a range of subject disciplines. Daily expert requests can be viewed online (also available in the navigation bar above – see The Conversation). The requests often require a quick response and the webpage will be updated by 11.30am each day with the latest requests.

Testimony from Dr Kay Ritchie, Associate Professor in Cognitive Psychology
“I’ve written three articles for The Conversation. The first two focussed on a specific recently published study, and the third was a more general overview of a research area in relation to a current topic (photo ID and elections). The Conversation is a great way of reaching a non-expert audience, in total my articles have been read over 45,000 times so far. Their tagline is ‘academic rigour, journalistic flair’ so it’s an excellent outlet to write for lay audiences, and The Conversation staff editors help you with that process. Following on from that last article on photo-ID and elections, my colleague and I were invited to give written and then oral evidence to a Parliamentary inquiry, so writing for The Conversation also helps to build your profile.”

Membership of The Conversation is supported by the Lincoln Policy Hub. Please contact policyhub@lincoln.ac.uk for queries or more information.