Youth STEM Matters Reveals New Science Communication Article Styles
We’re pleased to share that at Youth STEM Matters - our youth-led scientific journal and flagship project - young people can now submit articles in a wider range of styles, giving them a better and more accessible platform to share their research, ideas and innovations with the world!
Young people can now submit Science Communication articles in a total of 6 styles, with Features, Case Studies, Experience articles and Perspectives joining our existing News and Interview categories.
“Our new categories will help authors to tell their stories the way they want to tell them.”
The change was driven by some really valuable feedback shared by our authors and volunteers - they felt that our previous blog and magazine categories didn’t give enough scope for exploring how STEM can be used to tackle the big challenges in our world. With that in mind, these new categories will give our authors much more flexibility in how they communicate their ideas, and ensure that our team can work with each author to make their article the best it can be.
Head of Science Communication Meg Ardis has led the process to select, define and refine the new categories. On why the change was an important one to make, Meg said:
“We’ve designed our new article categories with three people in mind - the reader, the author, and the editor! They’re more specific, more fine-tuned, and more useful. They’ll help our readers know what to expect, help our authors to plan and write, and help our editors to give even better feedback tailored to the article. They also reflect our personality more as a journal!”
Features will allow young people to take a deep dive into an issue, taking a balanced and well evidenced approach towards putting the spotlight on the challenges and potential solutions. Meanwhile, the Case Study style will allow our authors to highlight people, events or organisations tackling local and global issues through STEM through examining their impact, including both successes and failures.
Across the 6 categories of Science Communication articles - which sit alongside our Original Research and Review Article formats - there’s now much more scope for our authors to make their article their own. Meg continued:
“Writing gets much easier when you have a clear purpose in mind, and can visualise your end product. Our new categories encourage authors to think about the story they want to tell, and to tell it in the most impactful format. They’ll also help to put each article in front of its ideal audience, by helping readers to browse the categories - and articles - they’re most interested in.”
Perspective articles are an especially important new addition to our article categories, given that young people are too often excluded from decision making structures and don’t always have access to other platforms. They offer young people a chance to have their say on a wide range of local and global issues
It’s not just global challenges that young people can write about - our Experience articles allow young people to offer reflections on personal experiences they’ve had, such as participating in a STEM competition, being the first in their family to choose to study STEM, or an event they’ve attended. Crucially, these articles also offer advice to other young people who may be interest in pursuing these opportunities.
Our Interview and News style categories are here to stay too, allowing young people to learn from others (both young & young-at-heart!) who are making a difference through STEM, and to keep informed on recent events and breakthroughs.
On the impact these new article categories will make, Meg concluded:
“Our new categories will help authors to tell their stories the way they want to tell them. Many topics, problems, and questions in STEM could be tackled from a multitude of angles - by refining our categories, we’re providing the framework to help authors hone in on just one angle, and to make their article really unique to them. Ultimately, readers will also benefit from the more specific, in-depth and unique articles that get published!”
Submissions for Science Communication articles are now open, so pick your style and submit today to share your ideas with the world through Youth STEM Matters!
