Overview

Need to transform your ideas into a publishable manuscript? Finding it difficult to write alone?

 

Before the new academic year gets underway, spend just four lunch meetings with your colleagues to write the core sections of your manuscript. Commit to attending four 75-minute working lunches to work on your draft.

 

Optional service requests are available for one-on-one consultations on general English writing or basic science-specific writing styles.

 

Dates and Location (Late Summer and Early Fall)

Boston Health Sciences Campus, location TBD
  • Session I: Friday, July 6, 12:00–1:15PM
  • Session II: Friday, July 13, 12:00–1:15PM
  • Session III: Monday, September 17, 11:30AM-12:45PM*
  • Session IV: Monday, September 24, 11:30AM-12:45PM*

*September dates are subject to change.

Registration and Requirements

Twelve seats are available, and priority is given to faculty members who commit to attending and submitting their manuscript drafts prior to all four sessions. You do not have to have study results, findings, abstract, or references ready to get the essential work done, but it would be beneficial for you to have some elements of a work in progress such as the introduction, methods, or results section of a paper.

 

 

First assignment due by Monday, July 2, 2018.
  • Reading
    • Welch HG (1999) Preparing manuscripts for submission to medical journals: the paper trail. Eff Clin Pract 2:131–137
  • Submit the first draft in Microsoft Word to Sarah Jette. Minimum requirements:
    • One or two paragraphs for Introduction
    • Two to four paragraphs for Methods
    • Three to five tables or figures or data graphs that illustrate your data, even if you don’t have findings to date
  • Subsequent drafts and peer review are due two business days prior to each session.

 

Details

Tufts CTSI is excited to recruit up to 12 motivated biomedical and clinical faculty members to join an inaugural workshop series designed to get you started on efficient manuscript writing. Don’t miss this chance to get face time with Robert J. Goldberg, PhD and his advice on the elements of successful manuscripts such as navigating major journals, dealing with sample sizes, scientific writing style, and approaches to sentence composition.

 

The program is focused solely on hands-on writing exercises and peer review with expert coaching. The participants will incorporate class feedback and submit a new draft each session with a goal of polishing each section of their scientific manuscript in the IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) format.

 

By the end of the series, you may have outlined subheadings of the Methods, Results (if applicable), and Discussion sections, and begun identifying the strengths and limitations of your study.

Workshop Faculty

  • Main instructor: Robert J. Goldberg, PhD, Professor, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences
  • Guest instructor: Nicholas Moustakas, MA, Research Development Specialist, Tufts CTSI

Learning Objectives

By the end of this workshop series, you will be able to:
  • Discuss the core components of a successful scientific manuscript
  • Identify strategies and next steps for completing a full manuscript for peer review submission
  • Anticipate reviewers concerns in discussing and presenting your research in writing and how to best respond to those concerns

Expectation for Homework and Your Commitment

Registration is first come, first served, and priority is given to members of Tufts CTSI partner institutions. Once the course is full, additional registrants will be put on a waitlist and invited to the next opportunity. We will confirm your enrollment as soon we finalize the registration list.

 

Class attendance is critical to this peer review-based format. If your participation in these workshops needs to be approved by your supervisor or a person responsible for your time release, you may optionally provide the contact information when you register for the workshop program. You will be expected to provide thoughtful reviews of teammate drafts and actively engage in classroom discussion. We ask participants to come open-minded and show positive responses to constructive feedback.