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A guide to writing blogs for Mental Health Research UK

We welcome occasional blogposts from guest bloggers. We do not pay for posts, but we are happy to consider a blogpost on a pertinent mental heath topic.

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This guide has been written to make writing blogs for Mental Health Research UK as easy as possible! If you have any questions that are not covered here, please email trustees@mhruk.org

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  1. Audience

  • Consider your audience when writing for Mental Health Research UK. The blog may be read by our supporters who raise funds for us - some of them have been supporters for many years. Other audiences may be recipients of our PhD scholarships and their supervisors as well as people who just find us on the website because they have an interest in mental health. The blog can be an opinion piece or give information that is likely to be of interest.

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  2. Language and tone

  • Use an informal, conversational tone and share your personal views, where appropriate. It is important to engage people.

  • Keep the language plain and simple, avoiding jargon. If you need to use technical terms, please explain them.

  • Always expand on acronyms the first time you use them.

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  3. Length and structure

  • 500 words is about right. But don’t feel bound by this. Sometimes a shorter blog will get a message over clearly.A

  • Try to use short sentences and paragraphs, too. This makes your writing easy to read and digest.

  • Consider breaking up your blog with sub-headings or numbers. For example, “5 ways to boost your mood this winter”.

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  4. Reviewing a paper

  • If you’re reviewing a paper, it’s a good idea to summarise the methods and key findings, as well as providing some critical appraisal of the paper.

  • Link to the work you’re reviewing so people can read it if they want to.

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  5. Engage people

  • Ask people questions in the blog, inviting them to connect with you to discuss the topic.

  • Use an engaging title for the blog to grab people’s attention.

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  6. Use hyperlinks

  • If you’re referencing papers, events, organisations, studies or other content online, use a hyperlink so the reader can click through to find out more.

 

  7. Using your name

  • Our standard practice will be to use your name on the blogs we use online.   

 

  8. Publishing on the website  

  • Please send your blog to trustees@mhruk.org

  • We may edit your blog, usually for typos, or ease of reading. We also might edit your blog to ensure it fits with MHRUK’s identity, remit and key messages. We will never publish a blog without your sign-off on the final version.

  • We reserve the right to not publish a blog if it doesn’t comply with MHRUK’s core values, such as being inappropriate or inaccessible.

  • If you can, please include a relevant photo as this makes blogs much more engaging, especially when shared on social media.

 

  9. Publishing your blog elsewhere

  • If you have your own blog or website you are free to post the blog there. Please post a link back to Mental Health Research UK if you do so.

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