How to get published?

In the run up to Evidence Live 2016, The BMJ are running a series of blogs by the speakers at the conference discussing what they will be speaking about…

Trish Groves

David Moher

The highlight of last year’s excellent Evidence Live was, for me (Trish Groves), a short, private conversation. Two doctors from Pakistan (a husband and wife) sought me out to say they had taken part in my Evidence Live workshop two years earlier, on how to publish research. They went on to complete their research and, for the first time, to successfully publish two papers. “BMJ helped us broaden our vision, and changed our lives” they said.

Similar stories, and a growing realisation that we all need to tackle the huge challenge ofwaste in research, inspired BMJ to develop Research to Publication. This is a comprehensive eLearning programme for early career researchers.

Research to Publication is aimed at researchers and their institutions worldwide, with a special focus on building health research capabilities and supporting research integrity inlow and middle income countries. We have partnered in this with Professor Deborah Grady and colleagues at UCSF’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute.

The programme helps researchers and students to develop and polish their skills in clinical and public health research, and in reporting and publishing studies in a timely manner, transparently, and ethically. Research to Publication includes two free modules: one from BMJ on developing and publishing study protocols (particularly clinical trial protocols) and, from our partners UCSF, an introduction to clinical trials.

David Moher and I will be bringing all this together in a workshop at this year’s Evidence Live. I’ll be sharing insights from Research to Publication… and now over to David: I will be talking about the quality of published clinical research and how reporting guidelines can help prospective authors prepare their reports, helping to ensure they are complete, accurate, and transparent. Such reports will likely make peer review easier and might decrease the number of rounds of manuscript revisions. The EQUATOR Network keeps a comprehensive list of all reporting guidelines. I will also review the Network and the library of reporting guidelines. I will also briefly talk about a potpourri of other publication science topics, including systematic reviews and how to register them, an update on the REWARD alliance, and peer review.

And remember today (Friday 20th May) is International Clinical Trials day. Go hug a clinical trialist and any patient you know who’s participated in a clinical trial.

Trish Groves is Director of Academic Outreach and Advocacy at BMJ. Follow Trish on Twitter @trished.

David Moher is a senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and associate professor in the School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, where he holds a university research chair.

This blog was originally posted on BMJ Blogs: http://blogs.bmj.com/ce/2016/05/20/how-to-get-published/