Become a Contributing Writer

One of the goals of the Genetic Literacy Project is to give scientists, journalists, activists, industry representatives, students—and anyone with a thoughtful opinion grounded in science—an opportunity to share their thoughts and reach a wide audience. The GLP offers a unique opportunity to take part in a discussion and be part of a community of readers and writers that want to give  issues the thoughtful attention they deserve. We are looking for blog articles, with hyperlinks. Their length can range from a few hundred words to as long as you can sustain a critical piece. If you are interested in becoming a contributing writer, here’s how it works:
    1. Apply here with a valid email address. We strive to keep everything as transparent and open as possible on the GLP, so make sure to put your real name in your Contributor profile.
    2. In a sentence or two, note your title and background and your website if you have one. This information will appear on your archived Contributor page after you are approved as a Contributor.
    3. Once you’ve finished filling out the registration page, send the request to the GLP.
    4. We will immediately review your registration and once approved, we will upgrade the status of your user account to Contributor.
    5. Your name will appear on the Contributor page underneath a blank picture, so you’re not quite done yet. On the Contributor page, in the middle column, click “Edit My Profile”. Upload a picture of yourself. You can change your picture or description of yourself or your website at anytime.
    6. Now that you are approved and your picture and bio details are posted, login to go to the Dashboard and start writing!

Writing for the GLP

  1. Logging in takes you to the Dashboard. Click “Add New” and start writing. Note that you can add images to your piece and place them where you want by clicking on the “Add Media” icon and uploading pictures from your files or non-copyrighted images from the web. Add hyperlinks so readers can review your sources. Note that if you write the article initially in a word processing application like Microsoft Word and you have already created hyperlinks, when you cut and paste that document on the GLP Dashboard and all the hyperlinks will be automatically preserved (even if you do not see them). They will show up when your article is posted.
  2. When you are finished writing your article and making it look the way you want, make sure that you have a bio line at the bottom. This is a good opportunity to link to your own site or profile so readers can learn more about you or get in touch with you. If you want people to follow you on Twitter, let them know and link to your Twitter account.
  3. A GLP editor will add the Categories for each piece.
  4. You may edit and save your draft(s) to update at your leisure. Once a post is complete, save as a draft without a publishing date, and let us know by email that the blog is finished. If you find a mistake or just want to make a change, return to the Dashboard, hit “edit” and make your changes. It’s never too late to update your story.
  5. After reviewing the article, we will schedule it in the proper section on the GLP site—in Gene-ius or in GeneTrends—Food and Agriculture.
  6. As soon as it’s posted, join in on the discussion as people read and respond.

Contributing Writer Application

To apply to write for the Genetic Literacy Project, please send an email to [email protected] with your full name and an overview of your background.

Thank you for your interest!

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