Everyone is welcome to contribute to ELT Reaearch Bites.This means you could see a favorite article, recent publication, or important and practical research reach a wider audience by summarizing it yourself and having us publish it! Below are the guidelines for contributing to ELT Research Bites.

General

  • ELT Research Bites aims to provide useful and succinct summaries of peer-reviewed research that can have some practical bearing on classroom teaching.
  • We aim to provide more information than an abstract, including more relevant details, analysis, discussion, and takeaways.
  • There is no set length, but remember that one of the purposes of ELT Research Bites is to be brief but thorough.

Post Format

  1. Short paragraph introduction to topic and research paper, following a format similar to JSTOR Daily articles.
    • The paragraph should be written in a more informal way, introducing the topic by telling a personal story, discussing a recent trend in the media, talking about a real-world classroom issue, etc.
    • The introduction should include a sentence or two at the end that explains the major conclusions or takeaways from the article.
    • Reference the article and author as you would in a research paper.
  2. Main content summary focusing on important details and biggest takeaways.
    • Use bullet-points at your discretion, but they are encouraged for things like research design, analysis, data, etc.
    • Use bold emphasis for important ideas or keywords at your discretion.
    • Pay attention to quotes – make sure to use page numbers, if applicable.
    • When in doubt about the content, email the author for clarification and include their comments in the blog! (tag the post with “Author’s Comments”).
  3. Your comments on the article, which can include limitations, application, further reading, etc. should go at the end in a discussion section.
  4. References in APA, MLA, or any format you are comfortable with.

Excerpts

  1. Excerpts are used on the main page of the blog.
  2. They should be one or two sentences.
  3. Please write a short excerpt in the “Excerpt” box below the main post box.
    excerpt

Proofreading

Consider using the proofreading tool before publishing:

Tags

  • All posts will be categorized by tags, e.g. EAP, Listening, Note-taking, etc.
    • Only use tags you think others would use to organize their posts.
      • Tags are the basic way readers can navigate our site
      • If we add too many niche tags, readers may be overwhelmed by topics in the sidebar
    • Multiple tags can be used, but try not to overuse them or make them too specific.
    • Please capitalize the first letter of all tags.

Images

  • Each post should have a featured image. Large image sizes are best (over 1000×300). They will be automatically cropped.
  • If you can, please include image attribution at the bottom of your post.
  • You may upload and select featured images in the “Featured Image” box on the right side of the screenfeatured
  • If you scroll down to the bottom of the New Post page, you will find “ImageInject,” which will help you find and add copyright-free images. This will also automatically add attribution to the main post and excerpt box. Please remove the attribution from the excerpt box.
    imageinject

Comments

  • You are responsible for moderating and replying to your own comments. You do not have the ability to moderate comments on others’ posts.

Author Bio

  • Be sure to complete your profile!

Topics

  • You are free to choose any topic that suits your interest, so long as it has practical value. If you need ideas, consider finding research to answer these questions from Questions from the Language Classroom: Research Perspectives by Teresa Pica (TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Spring, 1994), pp. 49-79)

Promote Research Bites

Going to a conference? Want to promote Research Bites? You can download some flyers below:

  • Full page A4
  • Half page (2 flyers per sheet)