Ternyata runs a five day course in scientific writing for junior researchers and more senior colleagues who lack experience in publishing in peer reviewed journals. A version tailored to the needs of PhD students is also available. The course, which has been provided to researchers sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health, the Wellcome Trust and Oxford University, has been given in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The course aims to help each researcher develop a draft paper that may be submitted to an international journal. It covers all the basics of scientific writing, including guidelines and requirements for reporting different types of trials and studies. At the request of students, we’ve added a session on literature searching and referencing. The core of the course is, however, a system of mentoring in which each student is paired with a senior researcher in their field to work for two days on actually developing a draft paper. Mentors act as peer reviewers not just for their own mentees but for other course members. This gives participants experience in responding to disparate comments, in defending their science and in making appropriate adjustments.
The course is highly interactive, aiming to provide as much space as possible for critical thinking and debate. Participants work on individual and group exercises as well as their own draft papers.
The agenda for a recent version of the course can be downloaded here (.doc 40kb)
Should you wish to see more of the course materials, please e-mail us info@ternyata.org