Call for blog posts
Share your research knowledge with musicians in an accessible way!
The aim of the Flourish blog posts is to create an accessible way for musicians to learn about performance science research. The posts will be hosted here on our website.
Next deadline: 30th September 2024
General requirements
- The content should be relevant to musicians. Examples of suitable topics include (but are not limited to): performance anxiety, effective practice, musicians’ health and wellbeing, career management, performance-related pain, focal dystonia, psychological skills training, and hearing health.
- The content should be based on scholarly literature.
- Please note that research that involves music but is not directly relevant to musicians (e.g., the effects of music therapy on dementia) are outside the scope of our project and will not be accepted. If you are unsure about the suitability of your topic, please email us.
- Remember that the intended audience is musicians, not researchers! Therefore, the language used should be non-technical and relatively informal.
- The length of the posts should be 800 words, although it depends on the type of post and the content, so posts that are significantly shorter and longer will also be considered. (But do remember that quality is more important than quantity!)
- We can include graphics such as diagrams in your posts. Please provide them as png or jpeg files.
- If you have an idea for a blog post which does not fit into any of the types that we currently offer, please email us – we are always open to new ideas!
Types of blog posts
We currently publish three types of blog posts.
Type A: Standard post
The aim of a standard post is to provide useful, evidence-based information or tips to musicians. It should be on a specific topic. Please provide all citations in AMA style: we use AMA style to make the posts more reader-friendly for non-academic audiences, as AMA style uses author-number rather than in-text citations. Please also ensure to include a reference list (in AMA style) at the end, and ensure that each reference contains the DOI (if applicable).
Standard posts may also be spread out over multiple posts (e.g., Part 1 & Part 2). If you wish to do this, please submit all posts at the same time and clearly indicate in which order you wish for them to be published.
Below are some examples:
Type B: Article summary
This post is for researchers who wish to summarise their own paper in an accessible format. This can be a great way to a) generate interest when your article is published and b) share findings in an accessible format with non-academic audiences. This post must be based on an article in a peer-reviewed journal which you have authored. In addition to the main findings and implications, the post should briefly describe the methods you used.
Here is an example of an article summary post: https://psycformusos.com/2021/05/08/new-article-what-makes-practice-perfect-how-tertiary-piano-students-self-regulate-play-and-non-play-strategies-for-performance-success/
Type C: Research project spotlight
This post is for researchers who wish to share their progress on a project but have not fully completed the project yet. It may be suitable for PhD students who are halfway through their studies, for example. You should at least have some preliminary findings to share but do not need to have all the final results.
The process
To ensure that the information we provide on our website is of the highest quality, we conduct an informal peer-review process at Flourish.
Once we confirm the suitability of your post for your project, one researcher will be assigned to review and edit your post before it is published. The reviewer will usually be someone from our network who is knowledgeable in the topic that your post addresses. Their job will be to ensure the accuracy and rigour of your post, as well as the suitability of the style (e.g., language). The review will not be blinded; rather, the idea is for the reviewer and the author to work together to refine the post.
Deadlines
There will be multiple opportunities to submit your post throughout the year. The next deadline is on the 30th of September 2024.
Future deadlines for the 2024/25 academic year will be posted here in due course.
Submission
To submit a blog post, please email musiciansflourish@gmail.com with the following:
- The blog post as a Word document
- A short bio (max 200 words) about yourself
Please also specify in the email what type of blog post you are submitting (i.e., standard, article summary, or a research project spotlight)