BLACKSBURG, VA / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2024 / The Virginia Tech Office of Postdoctoral Affairs within the Office of Research and Innovation has piloted a unique hybrid training program with Publication Academy, an evidence-based online professional development suite aiming to break down barriers to success and accelerate the impact of students, faculty, and administrators at Institutions of Higher Education.
The service offers a wide selection of hundreds of high-definition On Demand courses that demystify the complex academic landscape, equipping professionals with the critical skills needed to fund, publish, and disseminate best-in-class research. Each program is designed to meet best practices in eLearning, resulting in curricula which past research has found increases scholarly productivity across disciplines and cultural backgrounds.
The Writing and Publishing High Impact Journal Articles Training Program piloted at Virginia Tech featured 11 modules focused on the full lifecycle of the journal article writing and publishing process.
The program was carried out with the grant support from the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), the nonprofit operations arm of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority (VIPA), under its Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF) program.
Through online, On Demand content on Canvas and weekly Zoom discussions on the topics, a group of over 175 graduate students, postdoctoral associates, and other researchers were able to collectively learn more about navigating the peer-reviewed journal article process. Participants included individuals from the social sciences, life sciences, STEM fields, and humanities. Participants who completed the program and engaged in at least 90% of the weekly discussion sessions received a digital badge.
According to CEO, Dr. Jay P. Singh: "Publication Academy is thrilled to have had the opportunity to serve Virginia Tech's outstanding graduate, postdoctoral, and faculty communities. Based on the exceptional findings of this pilot, we look forward to continuing working closely with the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and Office of Research and Innovation to explore ways to roll out new programs to further support VT's long track record of research excellence."
PROGRAM OUTCOMES
All individuals registered for the Canvas course were sent a post-program assessment survey, with respondents being 43% PhD students, 34% postdoctoral associates, 8% Master's students, and the remainder being researchers and faculty in various roles at Virginia Tech.
Nearly 90% of graduate students indicated they would recommend future graduate students have access to the program, and over 87% indicated they would like other members of their research team to have access to the program.
Self-assessed confidence in publishing peer-reviewed journal articles increased by over 300% after the program compared to before. Even among those participants who completed less than half of the program, there was still a reported 69% increase in publishing confidence.
According to Dr. Jess Strickler, a Postdoctoral Associate in Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics who participated: "Publication Academy course helps you understand not only how to put an effective journal article together but also how to navigate the systems in place for identifying a potential journal to submit to, submitting your article, and even ways to get your publications seen. Online course instructor Dr. Jay Singh does a great job of explaining the process in a way that someone from any discipline can easily follow and benefit from his extensive experience. If you have ever struggled with any aspect of the publication process, I highly recommend this program."
IMPACT ON NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS
70% of participants indicated that English was not their native language, indicating that the course content was of great interest to this group who may lack confidence in writing scientific/scholarly articles in English.
Indeed, surveys revealed that participants whose native language was not English were over 20% less confident in publishing peer-reviewed journal articles before the program began. Hence, in anticipation of serving this group, an optional Publication Academy module, "Mastering Academic Writing for Non-Native English Speakers", was added to the Canvas course.
By the end of the program, confidence in writing in English for academic purposes impressively doubled among non-native English speakers. In addition, overall increases in confidence in publishing peer-reviewed journal articles were higher in the non-Native English speakers than in Native English speakers.
NEXT STEPS
Over 80% of participants self-reported interest in further Publication Academy programming in grant seeking, grant writing, and grant management in the future. Hence, the Office of Research and Innovation at Virginia Tech plans to expand Publication Academy offerings by launching a Grant Seeking, Writing, and Management Training Program in 2024.
According to Dr. Chris Smith, the Postdoctoral Affairs Program Administrator who facilitated the weekly online discussion groups for participants as a supplement to the On Demand content stated: "We often assume that graduate students and postdoctoral associates learn how to write and publish peer-reviewed articles organically from working in a research group or from their faculty supervisors/advisors. Having asynchronous, online content and synchronous discussions to delve into the journal writing process from start to finish provides a space for early-career researchers to gain important information and knowledge without feeling judged. Sometimes they may not want to ask what they perceive as "silly" questions to the faculty they work with. So the peer community this program provides allows for learning to occur in a safe space. Furthermore, participants were very active in sharing resources, tools, and advice via online discussions on Canvas which I think added value to their experience - they learned from one another. In summary, this program provides critical information and tools to assist graduate students, postdocs, and other early career researchers in navigating the peer-review journal process (from writing to submission to responding to peer review) in a supportive learning environment."
About Publication Academy
Publication Academy Inc. is the premiere online professional development platform aiming to break down barriers to success and accelerate the impact of students, faculty, and administrators at Institutions of Higher Education, as well as grantees, fellows, and staff at mission-focused nonprofit organizations. The platform offers an end-to-end streaming service that demystifies the complex academic landscape, equipping members with the critical skills needed to fund, publish, and disseminate best-in-class research as well as prepare successful graduate school and faculty job applications, all while prioritizing their mental health. Members have unlimited access to an extensive training library that integrates seamlessly with their institution's existing LMS and features hundreds of hours of high-definition video courses taught by rigorously vetted experts from prominent institutions, including Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, UPenn, NASA, the Smithsonian, PBS, and Discovery Channel. Each premium course is designed to meet evidence-based best practices in eLearning, resulting in curricula proven to increase scholarly productivity and positive career outcomes across disciplines and cultural backgrounds. For more information, visit www.publicationacademy.com
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SOURCE: Rezon8 Capital & Advisory Group, LLC