Submission Guidelines

Submit Your Blog Post

The Genomics × AI blog uses a light, non-gate keeping peer-review, Git-native workflow. There are two ways to submit a post — both go through the same editorial review and produce the same final published post. Pick whichever fits how you like to work:

  • Option 1 — Open a pull request. Fastest path if you’re already comfortable with Git and Markdown: write your post locally, push a branch, open a PR.
  • Option 2 — Use the online submission form. No local Git required. Sign in with GitHub and either upload a template index.md or write the post from scratch in the form’s text fields. The form forks the repo, commits your files, and opens the PR for you.

You’ll need a GitHub account for either path.


Option 1 — Open a pull request (for Git / Markdown users)

If you already work in Git, this is the quickest route:

  • Fork the repository.
  • Copy the blog post template and fill in the YAML frontmatter.
  • Add your post to content/blogs/YYYY-NNN/index.md; place images in the same folder (e.g. content/blogs/YYYY-NNN/figure1.png).
  • Your PR must contain only files inside content/blogs/YYYY-NNN/ — no changes to static/, config.toml, .github/, etc. If the preview bot posts “Preview Deployment Skipped”, the comment lists the offending files.
  • Open a pull request against main.

To revise an already-published post, just open a new PR with your changes — editors will treat it as a revision and update revision / revision_history on merge.


Option 2 — Use the online submission form (no Git required)

If you’d rather not work in Git locally, the form below does the Git work for you. Sign in with GitHub and you can either:

  • Upload a template index.md (plus any images) — the form parses your frontmatter and you can edit any field before submitting, or
  • Write the post from scratch in the form’s text windows — fill in title, authors, tags, scope, audience, summary, and body in dedicated fields, with drag-and-drop image uploads and a caption per image.

When you submit, the form validates the frontmatter, forks the repo, creates a branch, commits your files, and opens the PR on your behalf.

Prepare your post

Two ways to start. Either way, you'll review frontmatter, edit your post text, and add images in the form below before submitting.

Download blog post template

Downloading the template lets you draft offline and pre-fill the fields by uploading index.md below. Filling in the form manually opens the same fields blank so you can write directly here.

Sign in with your GitHub account to submit a post.

To revise an already-published post via the form, sign in and choose Update one of my previous posts, then pick the post from the dropdown (only posts you originally submitted appear) and add a one-line revision note. You can either pre-fill the form from the published version and edit, or start blank for a full rewrite. Submitting opens a PR that bumps revision, appends to revision_history, and re-enters editorial review.

On first use, the form asks you to authorize the Genomics × AI Submission OAuth app. It requests the public_repo scope — enough to fork, branch, commit, and PR on your behalf. It can’t read private repositories or change your account settings. Revoke any time from your Authorized OAuth Apps.


What happens after you submit

Both options lead to the same review pipeline:

  1. Preview — Within a few minutes a bot posts a comment on your PR with a live preview URL. It updates on each new commit. The preview may 404 for 1–2 minutes while GitHub Pages propagates.
  2. Editor review — Editors run a lightweight Minimal Viable Review (MVR) for clarity, correctness, and fit. They may request changes via PR comments.
  3. Going live — Once approved, editors merge the PR and GitHub Actions deploys the post.

Writing notes

  • There are no strict stylistic requirements, but posts should be clear, accessible, and engaging for a broad scientific audience.
  • Use headings, figures, and examples where helpful.
  • Cite prior work via hyperlinks or formal inline citations; a references section at the end is encouraged.
  • Ensure claims are supported by appropriate sources.

What editors look for

Editors aim to confirm, in a lightweight pass, that your post:

  • Belongs here — genomics × AI remit; scope, tags, and audience match the content
  • Holds up technically — no obvious factual errors; claims match the evidence you provide
  • Works for readers — logical flow (motivation → content → takeaway), appropriate level for the audience
  • Is complete in the basics — opening summary via the summary shortcode, reasonable attribution, working links, clean formatting

For the full framework, see Editorial Review (MVR).

Example of a strong post

Style and length can vary, but a good reference is Adapting AlphaGenome to MPRA data: it states the problem clearly, walks through methods and results in order, includes a reader-facing Summary, figures, code-oriented guidance, references, and honest limitations. Use it as inspiration, not a rigid template.

Getting notified of comments and likes

Comments and likes use GitHub Discussions. To get notified:

  1. Watch the repository — On the repo page, click WatchCustom → enable Discussions.
  2. Subscribe to your post’s discussion — Once your post has at least one comment or reaction, a discussion appears under Post Discussions. Open your discussion and click Subscribe for that thread only.

Editors and maintainers can use the same options to follow all post activity.

Last updated on Thursday, May 28, 2026