The Natolin Blog is an online platform which aims to promote discussion and reflection on a range of topics related to the subjects covered by the European Interdisciplinary Studies programme, as well as any other relevant topics highlighted by staff members, students and alumni of the College of Europe in Natolin.
Terms of use
The blog aims to provide the wide Natolin community with a common space in which to exchange ideas about European Affairs and International Relations. Contributors are encouraged to submit any pieces which promote discussion and are relevant to the focus of the EIS programme as well as to their own interests. In order that this can be done in a respectful and constructive way, creating a productive and rewarding exchange of ideas, we have established the following rules governing contribution to and use of the blog.
In particular users shall not:
- generate illegal, obscene or offensive content;
- engage in conduct which may be considered to be bullying, victimisation or harassment;
- post content that is defamatory;
- disclose confidential information or sensitive personal data;
- use the blog to deliberately damage the reputation of the College of Europe;
- use the blog to conduct personal business or for any commercial purpose not authorised.
Users are reminded that:
- Blog content expresses the personal views of the author of the post, who is responsible for the content. Also, all opinions expressed by users of this site are expressed strictly in their individual capacities.
- The default setting for this blog is that all material will be publicly available and therefore searchable.
- Any uploaded media files such as sound, image, and video, should be necessary and relevant to the theme of the blog post and supported by appropriate contextual text. The source for those files must be stated.
Notes for contributors
We encourage submissions of posts from 800 to 1200 words that are written in an accessible way. We are keen to include tables, charts, and relevant figures where appropriate.
Our Editorial Committee would be happy to advise and help, so you are welcome to propose ideas informally to them. To submit an article, please e-mail it in a WORD or ODT file to Adam Reichardt, Blog Manager: adam.reichardt@coleurope.eu
Please also include Excel files for figures and charts so that these can be modified.
Style recommendations
To help authors with the submission process, we have written a list of suggestions:
Length and format
In order to increase readability and accessibility, we aim for our articles to be between 800 and 1200 words.
Please send us your draft article in Word format, with your name at the top.
Audience, writing style and language
- Our main aim is to increase the public understanding of the topics related to the EIS programme in Europe and its Neighbourhood. Your article should be written with a relatively wide audience in mind, including policy-makers and other non-academics.
- We recommend that you avoid overusing acronyms and academic terms, or specific terminology that may not be well known outside disciplinary circles. Also try to go straight into your discussion of the topic.
- Use short paragraphs made up of four or five sentences.
- If possible, convert lists and bullet points into full paragraphs.
- The articles can be submitted in English or French.
Referencing
- We prefer links to 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 or simply place the URL in parentheses where you would like it to be placed and we will link it ourselves
- Please try to avoid using footnotes wherever possible and integrate material directly into the text.
Titles
Keep titles to twenty words or less.
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. In all cases, please send us the raw data of your chart, table, or figure in Excel format. Please always include the source of the data.
Authors/Contributors
We would like to give contributors full attribution for their articles. Please send us a three to four line biographical note, with your research interests, and details of other publications if you have them.
Our editing process
In most cases submitted articles will be reviewed speedily by the Editorial Committee (peer review) and referred to the advisory board for language check and approval, enhancing readability to the blog’s wider 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.
Authors will usually be asked to introduce revisions. Once this revision is finished and approved, we will send you the final version of the article for final edits before publication.
In a few cases, significant revision may be called for or even rejection, in particular in the case of:
- articles that are potentially controversial or defamatory;
- articles where the blog team has concerns about potential conflicts of interest regarding the author;
- articles that are insufficiently evidence based;
- any other articles that may impact on the reputation of the author or of the College of Europe.
Creative Commons and article sharing policy
All of our articles are published under an Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons Public License, and other blogs and publications are free to use them, with attribution (more information can be found on the link provided)
Role of the Editorial Committee
The Communications team may refer the following types of articles to the Editorial Committee (which may cause your blog’s publication to be delayed):
- articles that are potentially controversial or defamatory;
- articles where the blog team has concerns about potential conflicts of interest regarding the author;
- articles that are insufficiently evidence based;
- any other articles that may impact on the reputation of the author or of the College of Europe.
For any other questions please write to adam.reichardt@coleurope.eu