Guidelines for contributors

Guidelines for contributors

Table Of Contents
  1. Introduction
  2. Excerpts
  3. Imagery
  4. Language options
  5. Tagging
  6. Checklist

Introduction

Thank you for contributing to the Global Black Geography website.

The aim of the online zine is to create a space for Black scholarship which is relevant, accessible. To that end, when submitting a piece for the website it is important to be mindful of the following:

Excerpts

The website includes short excerpts from the article which are displayed on feeds and landing pages. This helps readers know what to expect.

When submitting your piece for translation, please include an excerpt. The word limit is 40 words.

Any piece without an excerpt will use the first 40 words of the article.

Imagery

All imagery requires metadata to make it accessible. A template is available here to fill in with the necessary information about images in your article.

Alt text

All imagery should have alt text provided so that it is accessible to screen reader users. This will also help the content be more likely to show up in search engine results.

Please note, articles will not be published if there is no alt text provided. If you have any issues providing alt text, please let us know in advance by sending an email to globalblackgeographers@gmail.com.

Suggested reading:

Featured image

On the website, featured images show up in the header of the article and on any feeds/landing pages where your article is linked. When submitting an article, please make note of which imagery you would like to be featured. 

Ideally, a featured image should have a width of 1000px. If you have any concerns, please let us know by getting in touch to globalblackgeographers@gmail.com.

Any articles without a featured image will be supplied with the default artwork depending on it’s category.

Captions

A way of adding more context to imagery for all readers is by providing captions which are displayed best on larger images. 

Captions are not the same as alt text and will be read separately by screenreaders.

Layouts

If there is a particular way you would like the imagery/video and text to work with each other, please let us know. 

An example of content layout for image focussed articles

Click here to see an interactive example of a content layout for image focussed articles.

Language options

A key aim of the Global Black Geographers site is to create a space which does not centre any particular language. If you can let us know which language is your preferred or first language, this option will be presented first in the available translations. 

Your article excerpt will also be displayed on feeds and landing pages in your primary language:

The image shows a card in an article feed which contains the article's featured image, the categories, date of publishing and the excerpt which is in Spanish, the primary language of the writer. The other cards have their excerpt in English, as that is the primary language of those writers.

In an article feed, the excerpt will be in the primary language of the writer. Within the article itself, the first tab will also be for the primary language of the writer.

Tagging

Please provide a list of tags which we can use to categorise your content. This enables readers to find similar research, but also to perhaps make unexpected connections.

Tags can include academic research interest, or be totally bespoke to you! 

Checklist

Use this table to ensure that your content is submitted with:

  • Featured image (with alt text)
  • Alt text provided for all images (bullet pointed notes are fine)
  • Include the primary language
  • An excerpt/introductory paragraph (40 words max)
  • Preferred layout for image focussed content
  • Tags – these could be academic research themes, keywords
Download checklist