Blogging using WordPress

What is Blogging?

A blog, as you are probably already aware is a website or page that is typically updated fairly regularly via posts. These posts are time-stamped and are usually written in an informal/conversational format. Writing posts for a blog is referred to as ‘blogging’. Blogs can be managed by one person or a collection of people. This can make them great tools to either share your individual research or to collaboratively communicate the work of a broader team or project.

Blogging provides a fantastic place for you to display knowledge about a particular subject area or research project. Blogging can be a great opportunity for you to establish yourself as an expert on your subject as well as display passion and personality. As blogs are not peer-reviewed, they provide an excellent space to share your broader commentary, reflection and thoughts. This is not to replace peer-review publication, but can provide an outlet for things that didn’t work or are worth sharing.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is a free and open-source content management system and blogging tool. You can install it on your own server space to run a blog, or you can get free or paid hosting via websites like WordPress.com.

Key stats

According to WordPress, as of 2021, 41% of websites are built on WordPress.

How can it be used for scholarly communication?

As suggested above, blogging is an excellent place to provide updates on your research or a research project. They generally feature very well on internet searches and so provide a findable space for your project outcomes. If you are aiming to build your online identity, blogs can serve as a centre point from which you link to other social media too. This is particularly useful if you want to write longer pieces than other networks (i.e. Facebook or Twitter) allow.

How can it be used for research?

May research projects choose WordPress as the platform that hosts their only presence. This can be a great way to keep research outputs in one place. As WordPress is an external tool, it makes it perfect for collaborative projects between different institutions or universities.

Blogs are also useful for humanising the research process. You can share some of the journey as well as your thoughts and feelings. They can be particularly helpful for doctoral students or early-career researchers to build their identity. Blogs are a fantastic place to develop your academic voice.

Getting started

You can create a WordPress.com account for free and then take a look at What is academic blogging and how can you use it to build your professional profile.

If you have your own hosting, you can download the WordPress source code or see if your hosting provider supports automated WordPress install.

There are a number of related links beneath this article under the see also heading.