ECPR’s political science blog, The Loop, is three months old!

During its short life, The Loop has already published 57 articles on a huge range of political science sub-disciplines, by some 79 bloggers. 

Blogposts have originated from authors on five continents, and include contributions from as far afield as Bangladesh, Nigeria, New Zealand, Australia, and China.

It’s encouraging to see that 45% of The Loop's contributors thus far have been female – a statistic that compares favourably with typical gender split of contributors on ECPR's co-published academic journals in recent years. 

Capturing global trends 

The Loop has attracted submissions on a wide variety of topics that reflect current preoccupations in political science, and offer academic insight into newsworthy events around the world.

Unsurprisingly, the most written-about topic, with 16 category entries, has been the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, its effects on human beings and political systems, and the various government responses to tackling it.  

Felia Allum, for example, drew curious and interesting parallels between Covid-19 and Italian mafias. Faria Ahmed and Nurul Huda Sakib examined how a pre-existing humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh is being exacerbated by the pandemic. Marianne Riddervold and others considered how the coronacrisis is strengthening, rather than weakening, the European Union. And last month, Oscar Larsson speculated whether the Swedish government’s ‘soft’ approach to managing the pandemic will pay dividends in the long term.  

Other popular Loop topics have included European Union politics (including EU foreign policy and EU integration), Democracy, and Political Participation in all its forms, from the #EndSARS protests in Nigeria, to how suppressive workplace practices can deter people from political engagement. 

Swift and timely 

The Loop’s expert Editors pledge to respond to all pitches within 72 hours of receipt. And when they get submissions on acutely time-sensitive topics, they work fast! Recent blogposts speculating on the result of the US elections and on the outcome of eleventh-hour Brexit negotiations were edited and published in just a couple of days from submission.

So if you feel the urge to write a short piece on a pressing topic of the moment, The Loop is nimble enough to get your research processed and published in the quickest time – and read by the people who matter.  

Broad appeal: The Loop’s top five 

The most widely read posts during The Loop’s first three months reflect the diversity of interests across the political science field – and include two pieces dealing with the profession itself.

Top spot goes to Anna Guildea’s piece considering why there is no radical right-wing party in Ireland. In second place, Heidi Maurer and Silviu Piros share their sage advice for effective online teaching. In third, Katharine A. M. Wright and her co-authors look at the possibilities and missed opportunities of feminist foreign policy, while in fourth, Fernanda Barasuol describes the various means Brazilian premier Bolsonaro is using to crush that country’s ‘gender ideology’. Finally, in fifth place, Matthew Flinders considers the relevance, and the public responsibility of us as political scientists. 

Tempted? Get involved 

If you feel inspired to try your hand at blogging, first read and absorb The Loop's 20 golden rules for authors, then head to Write for The Loop for details of how to pitch your idea.

Explain to us – as compellingly as you can, in no more than 150 words – why your blog piece is interesting, important or relevant for The Loop's readership. An Editor will get back to you within three days.

If accepted for publication, your article will appear within a fortnight and, depending on the timeliness of its topic, quite possibly much sooner.  

To keep you up to date with all things Loop-related, The Loop has launched a dedicated Twitter account.

 If you’re a Twitter user, give it a follow. 

Hope to hear from you soon! 

Keywords: Social Media