How to Choose a Paper to Translate
Last updated
August 25, 2021
We publish many different types of content, but all members start with the basics: translating a paper in their field (it even could be your own paper) into an accessible, entertaining story for the general public.
If you don’t already have a piece of published research that you want to translate in mind, there are a number of ways to begin. We recommend thinking about the following categories of peer-reviewed publications when choosing your first paper to translate:
Game-changing papers in your field
Think about some classic papers that altered experimental methodologies or shifted theoretical paradigms in your field. They don’t have to be contemporary to be relevant; they can be historical. That said, we'd like you to focus on contextualizing contemporary directions of research.
Controversial papers
Papers that have encouraged healthy debate around methods, statistical analysis and replicability are great for analysis because there are many opportunities to learn and teach. Many people don’t know how to distinguish a good paper from a bad paper, or what to think when certain results are omitted. Now is your chance to explain!
Seemingly simple papers that reveal interesting narratives about how science is done
Many people don’t know how complicated the practical aspects of research can be. Perhaps there are 5 collaborators from around the world who needed to communicate for many years, a project where field samples were collected in novel ways, or research where new statistical methods were tried and led to failure or null results. Lessons about science are fun to uncover in these kinds of papers and narrativize for the public.
Preprints?
You're welcome to pitch a story based on a preprint, just be upfront in your pitch so that we know it isn't peer reviewed yet.