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How to Create a Blog Post from an Academic Study

The SMS Explorer provides authors of articles published in the SMS journals with a platform for translating research results and conclusions from empirical studies, conceptual papers, editorials, and review articles into practical implications. There are good reasons to translate a research article into a blog post:

  • Impact: Blog posts are much shorter than research articles and use more direct, accessible language. In doing so, they reach a broader audience, especially executives and consultants who would not necessarily consider reading full-length research articles.
  • Limited effort: With a length of about 500 words, blog posts are rather short. Therefore, writing a blog post takes only limited efforts relative to how much authors have invested into composing their research article.
  • Rapid publication: In contrast to potentially lengthy review processes, blog posts are published rather quickly in short dissemination cycles. This is so because the research article on which a blog post is based has already been accepted for publication in an SMS journal and, thus, gone through a quality-assurance process.
  • Engagement: A blog post allows authors to engage in dialogue with executives and consultants. Specifically, in contrast to research articles, blog posts have comments sections that generate feedback and spur conversations about the research findings.

As general guideline, blog posts published at the SMS Explorer aim at executives and consultants. Therefore, the blog posts are short (about 500 words) and clearly articulate the practical implications of articles published in the SMS journals. Here are some tips for creating such blog posts:

  • Start with a title that summarizes your practical implication(s).
  • Focus on no more than one or two main practical implications of your study. Remember: A blog post is not supposed to be exhaustive.
  • Structure your line of argumentation around these few implications in about three to five paragraphs (about 500 words).
  • Be clear on how the outcomes of your article could help an executive or consultant see things in an extended or new way.
  • Avoid using technical language wherever possible.
  • Embed hyperlinks as references, including to your own article.
  • Consider including or creating a figure, matrix, table, or picture that summarizes the main implication(s).
  • Write a short, 1-2 sentence bio to describe shortly who you are and what you do.

For additional tips on how to translate an academic study into a blog post, you may find this blog post helpful.

Please contact the SMS social media team with questions you might have.