Within the Research Communities, posts are grouped into ‘Channels’. Channels are a way to group the same type of content. For example, in the Behind the Paper Channel you will find blog posts discussing the behind-the-scenes from different research articles. Below you will find a summary of all available Channels on the Communities.
Before publishing your blog post, please ensure that you have familiarised yourself with the Communities’ Guidelines and Terms and Conditions and that your post aligns with these guidelines.
Channels
Help and Support
A compilation of posts to help you navigate your way through the Communities. In the Help and Support Channel, you will find helpful tips and suggestions on creating impactful and engaging blog posts, answers to frequently asked questions about the platform, and more.
If you do have a query that was not answered in this Channel, please do not hesitate to contact the team.
Behind the Paper
Behind the Paper posts provide authors and researchers with the opportunity to share the stories behind their recently published papers. The posts give readers a ‘behind-the-scenes’ look into research, from challenges and successes, to personal anecdotes and accounts from the team. We invite authors to share more about how their studies came to life, the impact of the research on the field and the future, as well as experiences of collaborating with peers and across disciplines.
When writing a Behind the Paper post, we recommend that you limit the use of scientific language and jargon. The Communities are openly accessible and are a space for researchers from all disciplines. Using simple terms, avoiding acronyms and clarifying difficult concepts helps all those who engage with your content understand your research and its impact.
After the Paper
The After the Paper series aims to showcase the impact your work has had – whether on your research field, in wider society, or on a more personal level on your career path. In an After the Paper post, we invite you to share that impact and look ahead to where you think the research is going next.
Find out what makes a good After the Paper post here.
News and Opinion
The News and Opinion Channel provides a platform for authors to discuss developments in the field, current affairs, and explore new ideas.
Here, Communities’ members have the opportunity to expand their reach and explore new avenues of their field, invite collaborators to explore new approaches, discuss the state of their field and more.
Whilst this Channel welcomes and celebrates the sharing of opinions, we do ask that you include wider information and resources when sharing your opinions to help others understand and draw their own conclusions. Blog posts should be explorations of new ideas backed by research. If you are in doubt at any stage, please refer to the Communities’ Guidelines.
From the Editors
As the title suggests, this Channel contains content from journal Editors, publishing teams, and other Springer Nature staff. Content may include calls for papers for Collections, journal cover displays, announcements from Editors, interviews with authors, and roundups of the latest research in our journals.
Life in Research
This Channel encourages contributors from around the world to share their stories and lived experiences, both in a laboratory and out in the field. The format of posts herein may be slightly more conversational, and content may involve updates from scientific conferences, field work, and other snapshots from your life as a researcher or academic – with all its ups and downs!
Empower your Research
Empower your Research is a place for you to discover opportunities, resources, and tailored support to help enhance your career. This Channel may include blogs from the Research Integrity series, or other practical guidance on undertaking, writing, and publishing research.
Events
In this Channel, you are welcome to highlight an upcoming event of interest and relevance to the research community. The Communities seek to highlight events that are available and accessible to all Communities members. If an event is not free, we ask that you include details of discounts, bursaries or other initiatives that support making it accessible to a wider audience.
Please note that promotional and marketing materials do not adhere to the Communities’ Guidelines and posts of an overly promotional nature will be removed. To publish a post in this Channel, please ensure that it follows the template outlined here.
Opportunities
The Opportunities Channel, as the name suggests, is a space for discovering and sharing research-related opportunities that can help advance your career, broaden your academic network, and allow you to get more involved in your community. For more information about this Channel, take a look at this short guide in the Help and Support Channel.
Navigating Channels on the Communities
If you are accessing a Channel from the Communities’ homepage, you will see blog posts from all 42 Research Communities. If you’d like to explore Behind the Paper blog posts in a specific research area, you can do so by navigating to the Community of your interest in the left-hand side navigation menu, and exploring the Channel there, which will have a topic-filtered view of the Channel (e.g. Behind the Paper Channel in the Chemistry Community).
We look forward to seeing your content on the Communities! For more information, have a look at this quick guide to navigating the Communities.
If you have any questions about writing a blog post for any Channel, please don’t hesitate to contact the team.