Abstract
Background and purposeDissemination of research results is a key component of the research continuum and is commonly achieved through publication in peer-reviewed academic journals. However, issues of poor quality reporting in the research literature are well documented. A lack of formal training in journalology (i.e., publication science) may contribute to this problem. To help address this gap in training, the Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research (EQUATOR) Canada Publication School was developed and facilitated by internationally-renowned faculty to train researchers and clinicians in reporting and publication best practices. This article describes the structure of the inaugural course and provides an overview of attendee evaluations and perspectives.Key highlightsAttendees perceived the content of this two-day intensive course as highly informative. They noted that the course helped them learn skills that were relevant to academic publishing (e.g., using reporting guidelines in all phases of the research process; using scholarly metrics beyond the journal impact factor; open-access publication models; and engaging patients in the research process). The course provided an opportunity for researchers to share their challenges faced during the publication process and to learn skills for improving reproducibility, completeness, transparency, and dissemination of research results. There was some suggestion that this type of course should be offered and integrated into formal training and course curricula.ImplicationsIn light of the importance of academic publishing in the scientific process, there is a need to train and prepare researchers with skills in Journalology. The EQUATOR Canada Publication School provides an example of a successful program that addressed the needs of researchers across career trajectories and provided them with resources to be successful in the publication process. This approach can be used, modified, and/or adapted by curriculum developers interested in designing similar programs, and could be incorporated into academic and clinical research training programs.
Highlights
Background and purposeDissemination of research results is a key component of the research continuum and is commonly achieved through publication in peer-reviewed academic journals
One traditional and common method of disseminating research findings to the scientific community is through publications in peer-reviewed academic journals
Attendees were asked to list changes that they would make in their research practices as a result of participating in the course, and notably, the majority (19/28, 67.9%) self-identified the use reporting guidelines as an area of practice change. This is an important change for researchers to adopt, especially those beginning in their career, as reporting guidelines provide a standardized structure for the publication of research methods and results [12] that are increasingly being endorsed and required by academic journals during the manuscript submission and peer-review process in order to improve the quality of research reporting [12, 15]
Summary
Dissemination of study results is a key component of the research-to-practice continuum [1]. The Network includes centres in Australasia [16], Canada [17], France [18] and the United Kingdom [19] It hosts courses and workshops internationally to help researchers improve their research reporting and dissemination skills such as the five-day UK EQUATOR Center Publication School [20]. Dr Cobey complemented her ‘Tools for Transparency’ lecture by having attendees visit the Open Science Framework (OSF, [22]) and Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID, [23]) websites to familiarize attendees with these resources and to create user accounts (see Tables 2 and 3) These resources are essential tools that researchers can use to enhance the transparency of their research processes and to claim their unique author identity, respectively. A few examples include: “#EQPubSchool The Plenary on how to engage patients in the publishing process is coming up shortly. @EQUATORNetwork @dmoher @OSSUtweets”; “Spent the past two days attending #EQPubSchool in Toronto
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