Article Process
BACKGROUND
We occasionally hire freelancers to help write our scientific articles. However, due to the complexity of the topics, we found that oftentimes the writer completely missed the mark. This resulted in an increase in the number of editing and review cycles and frustrated researchers since more effort was required from them to make sure their work was accurately captured.
APPROACH
After much trial and error, it dawned on us that we needed to bridge the writers and scientists. The writers we hire are mostly trained journalists who are used to interviewing and writing what they’ve heard. Scientists are typically strong at explaining the complexity of their work to make it understandable for someone who is not in their field. We were able to reduce the level of effort needed by instilling a new process. First, we made sure the science results met our criteria. Then, we formulated a science article guideline for the writer to follow and built a form to give the writer before they start. Finally, we document the article lifecycle so that everyone has an understanding of the full process.
RESULTS
Science Article CHECKLIST
The ALCF communications team has monthly meetings with ALCF’s Science Leads to review science projects that have recently computed impressive results. We determine which project results meet the right criteria for us to write an article by going through the checklist.
story GUIDELINES
The ALCF communications team produced a set of story guidelines to give the writer so that they follow our formula when structuring the stories. Our scientific articles often cover esoteric methods that are difficult to understand or follow.. Most of our readers are other computational and computer scientists, and this story structure easily digest the content.
STORY FORM
The story form is just one more step to ensure the writer has received written instructions on how to proceed with the interview and story direction. The communications team fills this out for the freelance writer.
From Ideation to final product
The act of identifying an article to finally getting it published was a black box for everyone. Typically, a person only holds one of the puzzle pieces, so it was hard for anyone to understand the whole process. The problem was a small-scale version of the Beer Game used to explain supply chains to MBA students.