Using a Writing Group to Promote Faculty Scholarship

Abstract

Writing productivity is an essential component of scholarship. Barriers to writing include intrapersonal characteristics, faculty role complexity, and time constraints. Writing groups can increase faculty members' writing, contributing to dissemination of nursing knowledge and advancement of professional nursing. The authors discuss the structure and processes of a writing group that can be adapted by faculty interested in using comentoring to increase their scholarship.

The Writing Series Project: A Model for Supporting Social Work Clinicians in Health Settings to Disseminate Practice Knowledge

“…Social workers were strongly encouraged to attend the launch of the Writing Series Project introductory workshop, which was held as a district-wide continuing education activity attended by 45 social workers. However, group attendance was voluntary, as writing groups should comprise of voluntary participants (Ferguson, 2009) who provide mutual mentorship and reciprocity (Fouché & Lunt, 2009;Houfek et al, 2010;Lee & Boud, 2003). In line with Hislop, Murray, and Newton (2008), we provided a space for practitioners to develop writing support networks and overcome barriers to writing.…”

“…This is important because small group size is useful in developing rapport and trust (Ferguson, 2009). Further, writing groups should provide members with opportunities to interact with their peers and problem-solve writing challenges together (Ferguson, 2009;Houfek et al, 2010). Discussion of, and agreement on, group structure, process, and methods, and group process guidelines is useful (Houfek et al, 2010) and our practitioners were encouraged to set optimistic and realistic goals (McCleary, 2008).…”

“…Further, writing groups should provide members with opportunities to interact with their peers and problem-solve writing challenges together (Ferguson, 2009;Houfek et al, 2010). Discussion of, and agreement on, group structure, process, and methods, and group process guidelines is useful (Houfek et al, 2010) and our practitioners were encouraged to set optimistic and realistic goals (McCleary, 2008). Successful writing groups are reliant on commitment from group facilitators and a workplace culture which views writing and researching as "normal business" (Lee & Boud, 2003).…”

“…This can take the form of a writing group. Writing groups increase participants' enthusiasm and motivation for scholarly endeavors (Ferguson, 2009;Houfek et al, 2010;Parker, 2009), improve writing skills, and enhance confidence (Cuthbert & Spark, 2008;Parker, 2009;Rickard et al, 2009). Such groups motivate members as they become accountable to the group.…”

Getting Published in an Academic-Community Hospital: The Success of Writing Groups

“…A literature review was performed by looking at structure, process, and outcomes for writing groups. Unlike other writing groups described in the literature [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] in which the group members provided peer support for fellow authors working on individual papers, the groups described here work collaboratively on jointly authored manuscripts. This group approach is beneficial to nonacademic practitioners who have limited time and publication experience.…”