Hack ClubWrite a technical paper about something you built. We provide structure, peer review, and a path to publish.
Hi! I'm Mat, an indie maker who's into security, embedded systems, and UX.
Lately I've been learning how technical papers and engineering reports actually get written with help from a real researcher. The process is way more interesting than I expected, from coming up with an idea, testing it, writing clearly, and getting drafts picked apart in review.
I figured this would be more fun with other builders, so this program is basically an open invite to come document and publish what you've been building (and get rewarded while you're at it!).
You don't need to be doing academic research. If you're building something interesting and can measure or analyze it, you can probably turn it into a technical paper.
Pick a format, write something, and make it better with feedback.
Explain one technical thing clearly: a system, a decision, or a weird bug you managed to solve.
Write the honest version: what you tried, what broke, what you changed, and what actually worked.
Go deep on one idea with data, comparisons, and enough detail that another hacker can challenge your conclusions.
Start in any track. It's probably best to begin with a blog or postmortem, then expand into a whitepaper.
None of the tracks are a formal course. Instead, it's a mini tutorial with a hands-on drafting & collaboration platform which mirrors the real paper-writing process:
Start with a project or technical concept you want to document.
Submit a short abstract. We match you with peers on related topics.
Get free stickers for an abstract submission!
Run experiments, collect data, and write your paper.
Other participants review your work and leave comments.
Respond to feedback and improve your paper.
Approved papers are published and shared.
Your draft might be completely different after review. Abstract will support you throughout the process with:
Drafting, references, feedback threads, and revision tracking in one workflow.
Review other papers, ask better questions, and improve each round.
Help with citations, evidence, charts, and clear technical claims.
You write a paper about something you built. We provide structure, peer review, and honest feedback.
What you put in: writing time, iteration, and useful feedback for other people.
Write clearly about something you built or understand well:
Run tests, collect data, and revise as you learn.
(Most Important)
Read other drafts carefully, leave real comments, and learn how to respond when people challenge your claims.
Hack Club will help support your work reaching as many eyes as possible (and optional grants if you'd prefer to do that yourself!)
Participants can publish in journal.hackclub.com, an upcoming open-access journal forstudent research including:
Some stronger papers may get help preparing submissions to established research journals like:
or crowd-sourced news sites like:
Mentors can help with formatting, reviewer expectations, and picking the right venue.
Highly polished writeups may be nominated to the Hacker News second-chance pool.
Well-written articles can reach a broader developer audience and spark technical discussion.
Participants who finish can receive a LinkedIn-ready certificate for technical writing and peer review.
This certification can be added directly to LinkedIn profiles, resumes, and portfolios.
Real papers by Hack Clubbers. If your paper is anything like these, you should keep reading!
Aiden Bai
Aiden built Million.js, a compiler-optimized virtual DOM library for React. The project was later published in an ACM conference.
Published at ACMPublish a technical writeup about something you built. Get it added here!
Your Turn
The most polished project + paper combinations may receive an exclusive opportunity to present your publication in person at:
Think MIT Hacks, PennApps, a Hack Club flagship hackathon, or similar events.
An academic science conference in a discipline relevant to your research.
Examples: DEF CON, React Conf, FOSDEM, etc.
*The exact opportunities depend on paper quality, timing, partnerships, and available grants.
If you build something genuinely interesting and well written, we want to help you show it to the world.
Quick answers about how Abstract works.