Online Doctoral Student Research and Writing Self-Efficacy in a Publishing Internship

Abstract

The present project purposed to develop a publishing internship program and evaluate its effect on doctoral student participants. A key assumption was that direct experience with the publishing process as a doctoral student would help build some of the necessary skills and self-efficacy to be successful as authors/scholars in the future. Because there has not been previous research in this area, the present study addresses this gap. Two different assessments, a writing knowledge and self-efficacy inventory and a research self-efficacy inventory, were used in a pre–posttest design to evaluate the impact of participation in the 6-month internship program on 22 online doctoral students. A texting app was used to build a community of practice to provide social support. Writing self-efficacy and research self-efficacy improved significantly over the 6-month internship. Students judged the internship favorably and found the texting group to offer social support and information. Programs such as the current journal internship may offer the opportunity for students to gain valuable professional experience and learn the logistics of journal publishing, thus potentially allowing for better dissemination of doctoral research. This article contributes a mechanism for increasing students’ understanding of the publication process, as well as improving research and writing self-efficacy. Future research may wish to explore the impact of technology and texting groups on student research self-efficacy and feelings of social support.