Here is our training manual for our new Journalists to get up and running as contributors of Virtual Global Village.

RESEARCH

1. Pitch Submission

Step 1 submit a pitch to our editor in chief with the following information:-

Article topic
News Hook (How is this relevant and timely? Ex: A couple lines including a link to a study, reliable source news article, etc.)
Type of Journalism (Debate, Solutions-based or Biography. For more information click here.)
Potential Titles
Structure

2. Create Workspace

Once you have chosen your topic, you should duplicate our template folder to create a workspace for your work. You can use this workspace to organise your thoughts, store any articles for future reference (though I tend to use a favourites folder) and track your progress. It is also so that all of your work is in one place and can be referred back to as you progress through the production of your article.

3. Revise your Question

There will already be a draft question in place, though feel free to revise this question according to these criteria:

Is the question clear and concise?
Does the question fit with the type of article being written (eg. debate, solution-focused)?
Is a timeframe required?
Will this question lead to an innovative and balanced conclusion?

Your question can be refined as your research progresses, though it is a good idea to have a sound question in place from the start to guide the direction of your research. It is also important that your question requires an extensive answer. Your word count aim is ~2,000 words and your article should focus on evaluation (drawing conclusions from the available evidence) and critique (reviewing), so your question must allow for this. It is also important to note that, at this point, your question is purely a tool and doesn’t have to be your title at the end. Consider it to be a working title. Ideally, you will want your final title to be more specific and reflect the originality of your work.

4. Outline Vague Structure/Areas to Cover

Create a new document in your Google Drive folder for your research notes. Now that you have your question/working title, you can use this to identify the areas that you would like your article to explore. Remember, your article needs to bring something new to the table. By creating even a vague idea of the structure you would like to follow, you will ensure that your research has some level of organisation (making it easier to establish a flow to your write-up) and covers a variety of points. Again, this is a working structure which can be revised as you find new sources, but it will guide your search and ensure that you explore multiple avenues.

Here are some ideas of questions that you can ask yourself while creating sub-headings for your research:

What/whose perspectives do I need to consider?
What is known up to this point?
Do I need to compare to other countries/systems etc.?
Why is this topic important/timely?
What background information does my reader need?
What has been the general reception of my topic?
What do we need to know in the future? What action needs to be taken?
What relationships are at play? Any antagonisms to consider?
What systems are already in place to help/combat the issue?

5. Find Sources

The initial stage of searching for sources can feel the most haphazard, especially as you will be feeding back into previous stages from now on, making changes to your question/structure as you explore your topic more deeply. As long as you maintain a good level of organisation, though, this is manageable and you will be able to track your work. Everyone will complete this stage slightly differently according to the methods they find easiest to work with and their own personal habits, though I do recommend trying to incorporate this information fully into your methods so that you can reap all of the benefits.

Your preliminary reading should start at a more broad level so that you gain contextual information. It is important to understand where your article will stand within the current materials available and so that you can see your research with perspective, allowing you to evaluate information more effectively and give sound critique. The more you discover about your topic, the more you can then narrow down your search and delve deeper.

Use a selection of keywords, names and topics to search for sources - I like to start with a general search on google and https://scholar.google.com/. In order to find all relevant information, use synonyms and similar phrases then move onto using search strings. Search strings use keywords, truncation symbols and boolean operators to hone in on the specific information you’re looking for. The below details search strings using the example of finding population data of Great White Sharks in South Africa. Truncation/wild card symbols can vary with search engines; you can check the help tab of the search engine to double check.

You will accumulate a variety of sources to examine by using a wide range of variations on your searches. I like to do all of my searches in one go as it allows me to utilise my momentum. Ideally, you will focus on sources that were made within the last 2-5 years unless you are commenting on past information or if there are no other sources. If the latter is the case, consider commenting on this in your notes. Open titles that seem relevant. It is better to be expansive at this stage than dismissive.

Here are some ideas of where to look for sources past your initial search:

Journals and Reports

News and Press Releases

News https://news.google.com

Other Media - Books, Video, Blog, Podcast, Petitions, etc.

Books https://www.amazon.co.uk/books-used-books-textbooks/b?ie=UTF8&node=266239
Medium https://medium.com/
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/
Crowdcast https://www.crowdcast.io/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/
Vimeo https://vimeo.com/
App Store https://www.apple.com/ios/app-store/
Google Apps https://gsuite.google.com/
Change.org https://www.change.org/
Petitions https://petition.parliament.uk/

Data

6. Select Useful Information & Critically Evaluating Sources (In Progress)

As you complete your research, many of the resources you find will not be applicable to your work. Therefore, you also need to be able to assess the usefulness and credibility of a source relatively quickly so that your research process is time-efficient. Here are some points to consider when you find a source:

Skim read the abstract to decide if it’s worth reading more.
Use Ctrl-F to search your keywords in the document.
Skim read the introduction and discussion/conclusion as these tend to be the most useful parts.
Is there adequate documentation/referencing?
Is the work from the geographical location that you are interested in?

Learning to read critically is a valuable skill as it helps you to avoid accepting flawed or biased arguments. The checklist below (can also be found at the end of the Research Checklist document) should help you to thoroughly evaluate sources.

SCIENTIFIC PAPERS & SIMILAR

Who are the authors? Are they likely to be biased in any way? Do they acknowledge their biases?
Who funded the research? Is this a likely source of bias?
When was the paper written? Have there been any developments since?
What question/topics are being addressed?
Have the authors adequately explained why the question is important? Do you understand their aims and objectives?
Have the authors provided enough background information?
Have they explained their methodology well? Could someone repeat the study using only the information given?
Are there any flaws in the methodology? Sample size? Sound analysis?
Are any figures used clear and appropriate?
What conclusions are made? Are these conclusions logical?
Have any of the results been missed/ignored in the discussion/conclusion?
Are there any alternative explanations for the findings that haven’t been discussed?
Has the paper made any claims that haven’t been backed up adequately?
Are there any points that are speculative?
Are there any other aspects of the paper that you find problematic?
Have you been biased in your response to the paper?

MEDIA

Where was the article published? When?
Who is the target audience?
What is the main argument of the article?
What points have been supported by evidence? Is this evidence anecdotal or from scientific research? Is the evidence referenced? Is the evidence recent?
Does the writer present their opinion as fact?
Does the writer use valid arguments/reasoning?
Have any assumptions been made by the writer? If so, have these been made clear to the reader?
Does the writer oversimplify complex ideas?
Has the writer made sweeping, unsupported generalisations?
Has the writer presented ideas made by others in a misrepresented manner or taken them out of context?
Has the writer used persuasive language? Does it appeal to prejudice or fear?
Has the writer shown any biases? Do these biases impact their credibility?
Have you been biased in your response to the article?

7. Add Sources to Zotero

We are moving towards referencing in all of our articles to improve our credibility, with an aim of 10+ references per article. There are many reasons to reference, including allowing our readers to identify the sources we have used, showing the supporting evidence for your work and clearly showing which ideas are someone else’s (avoiding plagiarism). It also shows the depth of your research and subsequent understanding of the topic.

To help make the referencing process as pain-free as possible, I recommend a tool called Zotero. Zotero is free, easy-to-use, and manages your references far better than any other referencing tool I’ve tried. For your article, you will be adding links throughout, then providing a reference list in the Harvard style at the end of your article. You can use Method 1 to make a quick reference list now or once you’ve written your article, or you can begin using Method 2 at this point if you want to keep track of where your references are going while writing and moving references around. Whichever approach suits you best, or the latter as an academic exercise!

Method 1

https://zbib.org/

The above link will take you to a quick referencing tool. You can edit and remove references easily, so you can use it at the end of your research or at the end of your whiteboard. Then you can copy the reference list to your clipboard or save by other means to transfer over.

As with all referencing tools, remember to check over the reference list to ensure that everything is formatted appropriately. For example, if something comes up as a pdf link, see if you can retrieve the metadata (see Method 2) or manually input.

Method 2

Setting up Zotero

Download link - https://www.zotero.org/

Download both ‘Zotero for Windows’ and ‘Zotero Connector.

When you’re working on your referencing, you need to have the Zotero application open.

I recommend adding Zotero to your pinned extensions for ease of access.

Before you begin adding your references, make a new folder for your research. This keeps your projects separate, neat and easily accessible.

If you have provided links with your notes as suggested, you can simply open these up then save the reference to Zotero by clicking the Zotero add-on. Zotero will automatically retrieve data. If it doesn’t, try right-clicking on the source in the Zotero wizard and selecting ‘retrieve metadata’. If this doesn’t work, you can try googling a solution or manually entering the information.

To be able to reference in a Google Doc, you will need to click on the ‘Z’ icon and then give permissions for Zotero.

Remember that the document has to be a Google Doc to be able to use Zotero integration here. You can use Zotero in Word using another integration, but it’s not needed here.

If you click on the ‘Z’ icon again, you will be asked for your document preferences (check for new windows to have opened). Select ‘Harvard’. Using Harvard allows you to keep track of your authors, but if you find this distracting you can select ‘Vancouver’ and use Zotero to change the referencing style later.

The below link provides information on how to reference in Google Docs using Zotero.

https://www.zotero.org/support/google_docs

8. Use the ‘Stances Table’ to Identify Main Ideas

Once you have completed the majority of your research and have had a chance to feedback this new information into your question and general structure, you can then use the Stances Table to further organise your thoughts and prepare for your first draft. A copy of the Stances Table is in the Research Checklist. Use the table in conjunction with the structure you gave your notes to begin fleshing out your points. This is particularly beneficial for articles that focus on pros and cons as you will be able to insert each argument into the table and create a more engaging structure. For ideas of how to produce a balanced assessment, see https://www.quora.com/ and https://www.parlia.com/.

Ensure that you have enough information to create your own original take on the material, and use this opportunity to identify areas where you need supplementary information, statistics, etc. Also consider writing a brief synopsis of your first impressions and possible conclusions.

9. Evaluate the Strength of your Arguments

There are multiple types of arguments that you should be aware of, especially when evaluating news outlets, debates, etc. Remember, an argument is made up of premises and a conclusion, and a good argument has true premises and is valid (more details on the critical thinking training slides and presentation video). Here are a selection of argument types that are quite common:

10. Statistics & Data

After organising your thoughts with the ‘Stances Table’, you will be able to identify what additional information (usually statistics) is required to strengthen your points. At this point, it is also useful to go through the list of different types of sources and decide which useful source types you are lacking, then explore these. The research process is not linear, so feel free to repeatedly go back for additional research and feed this into the ‘Stances Table’. On the other hand, it is important to know when to stop, as your article does not have to be all-encompassing. Again, you are looking to achieve a clear narrative using current and representative information.

11. Evaluate your Breadth vs. Depth

It is important to consider how much breadth and depth to go into with each individual article and the benefits of both. Articles with a lot of breadth will cover a large amount of area which is good for overviews, but readers won’t find out much more than the basics. A broad article will spend more time describing and explaining the issue. On the other hand, articles with more depth won’t cover a wide area but will have more detailed analysis and evaluation of a subject. Readers should learn something new or think about the topic in a different way as the ideas presented haven’t been explored very much elsewhere. You will need to strike a balance between these depending on the aims and purpose of the article. Generally, though, it is best to prioritise depth.

Having some level of breadth is necessary to provide context; anyone should be able to read your article and understand what it is about and why the subject matters. Think of the breadth needed in an article as being like an hourglass. Going into a topic, you need more breadth to address why the topic is interesting, important and timely along with some background information. Then the article’s breadth narrows as you think about the topic in more detail before you add more to consider the wider implications of what you discussed. Concise writing is really important as you want to maximise your available word count for the interesting aspects of your research.

Feel free to add breadth if it adds innovation. Linking events and making critical comparisons can be powerful. If you want to take this approach, you need to make sure that the link is highly relevant, valuable and does not confuse the reader. Remember, you can always write another article about a similar idea. You want to do each article justice.

No matter the aims or purpose of your article, cross-referencing and comparison will form a good portion of the depth you go into. If you find an important statistic, verify it using multiple sources. Have different parties reported different values/stances? Why? One option is to look at how different groups have interpreted the same information and what viewpoints can be found. A lot of interesting information can be found this way and can guide further research. While tabloids aren’t the most credible sources, it can be interesting to see how they present information given the audience they reach. For example, you may find a valuable government report then review the responses from news outlets, NGOs and other organisations.

You do not need to have all of the answers, but exploring breadth and depth appropriately will help you to give your article an individual take beyond compiling a few concepts or ideas together and facilitate bringing your own flair and voice to your article.

EDITORIAL

1. Outline, Outline, Outline

Your research should give you a clear outline of what to write. Your goal should be to communicate what you have learned in a clear, nuanced, and engaging manner.

Let your research guide your outline. A standard outline for a debate article might look like this:

Introduction: What does the reader need to know in order to appreciate the argument or situation described? Bear in mind that your audience is both international (though primary UK-based) and likely less educated on the topic than you. Give clear context. Explain what the stakes are.
Point 1: What is one way to address this problem?
1. Pros. What are the strengths of solving the problem this way?
2. Cons. What weaknesses or blind spots does this solution have?
Point 2: What is an alternative solution?
1. Pros. What are the strengths of solving the problem this way?
2. Cons. What weaknesses or blind spots does this problem have?
Conclusion: Offer an overarching perspective; urge the audience towards both reflection and action.

As you can see, this outline is fairly simple. Use it to plan where (and how) to use certain sources. Modify the outline to fit the needs of your argument. Some items might be incredibly complex and require more time to break down; others might have a simple premise, but multiple solutions.

Remember that your outline is a guide only; as you write, you may discover that the structure needs to be adjusted. Be flexible and creative.

2. Writing the Article

General Principles

A standard Virtual Global Village article:

is approximately 2,200 words
is explicitly divided into sections, with headings and subheadings
explores topics with knowledge and nuance

Our writer’s manual outlines several good editorial principles. Be sure to read it and use it as a reference! Here are a few other writing tips that can help make your article shine:

Vary the length of your sentences. A mix of long and short sentences will bring life to your article and help keep the reader from ‘skimming’.
Avoid passive voice. Writing in passive voice usually increases a sentence’s length and reduces its clarity. While some passive voice is impossible to avoid, eliminate it where possible.
Think of ways to break up the text. Headings and subheadings are a great way to do this. So are bullet points, numbered lists, data tables, and varying the lengths of your paragraphs.

3. Using Data in Your Article

When making a reference in your article, hyperlink the source. At the end of your article, place the sources in alphabetical order, following the Harvard reference style.

If you have data that would be best laid out in a table or similar graphic, or you like the data table that another study has used, place the table or data in your article, then message the Editor in Chief. She will coordinate with the design team to modify it according to VGV standards, and it will be placed in your article.

4. Keep it all together

Please keep your outline and article within the folder that Editor in Chief shared with you after your topic was approved. That ensures that articles don’t get replicated and that everyone can access it as needed.

5. Revisions

Self-Revision

Once you’ve finished your first draft, review it yourself. Grammarly is a fantastic resource for revision and writing. You can also change the font style/colour, read the article out loud, or have an AI read it for you to catch any inconsistencies or strange phrases.

SEO

1. Title and Subheadings

Capitalise certain words in the title and subheadings please.
- Capitalise the:
  - First word
  - Last word
  - Adjectives (tiny, large, etc.)
  - Adverbs (quietly, smoothly, etc.)
  - Nouns (tablet, kitchen, book)
  - Pronouns (they, she, he)
  - Subordinating conjunctions (when fewer than 5 letters)
  - Verbs (write, type, create)

Lowercase:
- Articles (a, an, the)
- Coordinating Conjunctions (and, but, for)
- Short (fewer than 4 letters)
- Prepositions (at, by, to, etc.)

For more information, go to this link.

2. Write a Summary

Please write a summary of your article at the end, where applicable. It can be a paragraph or bullet points of the important information!

3. Choose Images for Your Article

Use royalty-free images from:

Pixabay or Unsplash.
Choose size of image: On Pixabay, aim for between 250KB and 650KB. On Unsplash, choose Medium
Use images that are relevant to your article.

A rough guide is to use an image every 200 words.
This can vary based on topic, so please use your judgment.
Copy URL of the image.

Please copy the URL from the address bar of the image that you downloaded, as seen below:
Insert image to Google Doc

Click on the inserted image & right click on the image.
Click ‘link’, paste in URL and click ‘Apply’ to add the source

4. Write 2 Separate Social Media Blurbs

These blurbs will be used when the Social Media team shares your article.

One blurb for Twitter should be a max of 280 characters.
The second blurb for other Social Media Platforms should be a max of 500 characters.
Both blurbs should:
- Entice the reader to click to read your article.
- Should hint at what the reader shall learn, discover or uncover in your article.
- Be written in an active voice, please see Writer’s Manual.
- Be specific and relevant to your article.
- Be placed at the end of your article, please, in the Google Doc.

Editing & Proofreading

Send you article to the Editor in Chief, ensuring that your google doc has editing permissions.
The Editor in Chief will share the articles with the Proofreaders.
Once you have accepted the proofreaders amends the article will be ready to publish

Publishing & Promoting

The articles are published by the social media team on the website and all social media; as well as being included in the weekly newsletter.

The Complete Guide to running a Media Outlet?