Facilitating writing for publication

Abstract

In order to develop physiotherapy practice and interventions, it is essential that both service development and research be brought into the public domain. Writing for publication requires a high level of writing skills, and clinicians facing competing demands for their time need strategies for productive writing. These skills and strategies are not always developed in undergraduate or postgraduate courses. This study assessed a writing for publication course for allied health professionals. It explored the writing skills and strategies that participants developed during the course. It also assessed whether these skills and strategies were sustained in clinical workplaces after the course. Clinical professionals, including physiotherapists, who had attended the 6-month course were identified. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 of the 14 participants (four males, 10 females), including six physiotherapists. The results show that course participants reported a range of benefits, which included improved skills and increased confidence. They also increased their published output. However, participants also identified the need for ongoing support. This paper identifies the main issues in establishing writing for publication as part of the allied health professional role

A systematic review highlights a knowledge gap regarding the effectiveness of health-related training programs in journalology

“…The importance of this finding is that it more reliably establishes the lack of an evidence base for effective training methods to ensure the scientific quality of research output. For example, previous research on authors of scientific manuscripts suggests that despite promotion and tenure being closely linked to their research and publication portfolio, most of them have no formal training in writing for publication and that they developed their skills mainly through a process of trial and error [37]. Similarly, most clinicians also receive little [38] to no [37] formal training in writing for publication.…”

“…For example, previous research on authors of scientific manuscripts suggests that despite promotion and tenure being closely linked to their research and publication portfolio, most of them have no formal training in writing for publication and that they developed their skills mainly through a process of trial and error [37]. Similarly, most clinicians also receive little [38] to no [37] formal training in writing for publication. Additionally, most incidences of misconduct [39e42] have been found to stem from negligence, poorly performed science, investigator bias, or lack of knowledge, rather than acts of fraud [43], suggesting a need for better training.…”

A Writer Development Group for Master’s Students: Procedures and Benefits

“…groups where the members are concentrating on producing academic writing, have been found successful for both professionals (Lee and Boud 2003, Morss and Murray 2001, Murray and MacKay 1998, Murray and Newton 2008and Washburn 2008), and at the PhD level (Aitchison 2003, Aitchison and Lee 2006, Chihota 2008and Grant 2006. If such groups have had such success for other academic writers, it stands to reason that they may benefit lessexperienced master's level writers as well.…”

Peer-Review Publication Patterns: A Comparison of International Radiography Journals

“…The reasons for the increase in the number of publishing authors remain unclear, but various initiatives have been identified as influencing participation, such as full-time or parttime faculty appointment [15,16], academic progression [14], and involvement in writing groups [17,18]. There does, however, appear to be a persistent problem with maintaining practitioner engagement in research and scholarship, with over three-quarters of authors contributing only a single article to any of the four journals over the eight-year period.…”