Up To it! Home > White paper: Teaching and learning publishing skills > Challenges
This white paper was written for educators and organizers of continuing professional
development activities for biomedical and clinical researchers.
This document aims to promote informed decisions about
acquiring or developing training programs in written scientific communication for non-native
English speaking students and researchers.
Valerie Matarese, Ph.D., UpTo infotechnologies, Vidor (TV), Italy
Read the earlier parts of this white paper:
- Introduction
- Requirements for publishing in selective journals
- Challenges for Italian authors
- Teaching scientific writing to NNES authors
The diverse publishing skills needed to achieve excellence in research reporting are taught and reinforced at different stages of a researcher's development, through courses, workshops, seminars, journal clubs and consultancy with scientific writing professionals.
Formal coursework is appropriate for graduate students, who will be able to directly test their new knowledge of scientific writing when reporting their own data in posters, research papers and doctoral theses. One course designed specifically for graduate students is Effective (Bio)-Medical Reading and Writing, a 45-hour program in which participants are guided through each step of writing a research paper using their own experimental data. During the course, participants also learn a fast reading method (browsing), begin to develop critical appraisal skills, and experiment with peer review — all skills necessary for a successful research career. Each edition of the course is tailored to the specific research interests of the participants.
Established researchers with limited time for a complete course may prefer to attend one of the half-day workshops derived from Effective (Bio)-Medical Reading & Writing. Currently available workshops are: (i) IMRAD as a Guide for Reading and Writing, (ii) Citation and Paraphrasing, to Avoid Microplagiarism, (iv) Writing the Results, and (v) Writing the Introduction.
Finally, busy clinicians and researchers who desire personalized publishing assistance can consider a one-on-one consultancy with a writing coach, such as the Team Research Writer. This service facilitates the production of one or more research papers while simultaneously teaching writing strategies, with the aim that the researchers become independent authors at the end of the consultancy. These goals are achieved with a mix of personal visits to the laboratory or clinic (to discuss the research and outline the paper) and distance work (to edit and help write the texts in production).
For more information on the course Effective (Bio)-Medical Reading & Writing, its derivative workshops and the personalized Team Researcher Writer consultancy service, please visit www.uptoit.org or contact Valerie Matarese, Ph.D. (+39-0423-985191 or info@uptoit.org).
MET (2008) How to choose an English editor, translator or similar service provider. Mediterranean Editors and Translators, Barcelona.
Matarese V (2008) Relationship between quality and editorial leadership of biomedical research journals: a comparative study of Italian and UK journals. PLoS ONE 3(7):e2512
Matarese V (2006) An introductory course on getting to know journals and on "browsing" a research paper: first steps to proficiency in scientific communication. Croat Med J 47:7657-775
Valerie Matarese, Ph.D. © 2010. You may copy, distribute and display this document and derivative works based upon it provided that credit is attributed to "Valerie Matarese, Ph.D. — Up To infotechnologies, Vidor (TV), Italy".
Document created 22 March 2010.
Download the full document of this white paper in PDF format: Teaching and learning publishing skills.
For further information, please contact Dr. Valerie Matarese at +39 - 0423 - 985191 or info @ uptoit.org