A structured approach to effective mentoring of women health researchers in Africa

Objectives: To formatively evaluate the HIGHER Women consortium's Mentor Protégée Program (MPP) and derive lessons for successful African women scientist mentorship. Design: Desk review of program documents and cross-sectional surveys of mentors and protégées. Setting: All 10 regions of Cameroon Participants: Women working in health research participating in the MPP. Interventions: Building health research skills and providing support for women to cope within the African psychosocial environment using a holistic approach. Main outcome measures: Formed mentor-protégés duos applying the MPP with measurable accomplishments. Results: The consortium counted 121 members with 103 protégées and 18 mentors. Of 103 protégées, 35 responded to the 2018 survey, while 77 responded to the 2022 survey. Mentioned benefits of the program included an increase in scientific peer-reviewed journal publications and presentations at national and international conferences. In the 2022 survey, a Pearson correlation showed an r of 0.41, which, although not statistically significant (p = .592), suggests a positive correlation between the increased number of peer-reviewed articles and increased number of years as HIGHER Women protégées. Conclusions: Mentorship programs can help over time to bridge the gender gaps within Africa as well as the gaps between African-led research and the rest of the world while making a meaningful contribution to enhancing the quality, diversity, and productivity of researchers. A mentoring program such as the HIGHER Women MPP can be improved by leveraging local and international partners to foster the mentoring program's sustainability, scalability, and expanded reach.

A preprogram appraisal of factors influencing research productivity among faculty at college of medicine, University of Lagos

A defining feature of any university is its dedication to scholarly activities, leading to the generation of knowledge and ideas Research productivity is a measure of achievement of a scholar. The number of research publications in peer-reviewed journals is an important criterion for assessing productivity and prestige in the academia. Aims and Objectives: This cross-sectional descriptive study assessed the level of research productivity (RP) among junior faculty at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, and investigated factors affecting their research output prior to the implementation of a 5-year training grant funded by the National Institutes of Health. Methods: Seventy junior faculty members attended a pre-program training, and the self-reported number of peer-reviewed publications (PRPs) was used as an indicator. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing RP among the attendees were assessed and ranked. Results: The majority (42/70, 60%) of the respondents had <10 PRPs. The median (interquartile range) number of PRPs was 7 (3­18). A desire for the development of their personal skills, contribution to society, and personal research interests topped the list of intrinsic factors influencing RP. Work flexibility, research autonomy, and scholarly pursuits were the bottom three. A desire for promotion, respect from peers, and increased social standing were the top three extrinsic factors, while monetary incentives, employment opportunities, and the need to attend conferences were the lowest three. The top barriers to RP were lack of resources and lack of mentoring. Perceived older age, lack of time, and motivation were the lowest three barriers. Older age and professional cadre were associated with increased RP (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Among the participants, research output appears to be motivated primarily by a desire for personal development,promotion, and respect from peers. Lack of access to resources was the main barrier to increased RP. These factors may need to be considered when developing programs designed to promote RP

Demystifying writing papers for biomedical journals

This paper attempts to demystify the publication process in biomedical journals by offering simple step by step recipes on how to write and get published. The author relies on a narrative review and personal experience as a fellow student of publishing to achieve objective. Five stages in the publication process were identified: Planning, Writing, Submission, Managing editorial decisions and Post-acceptance. Planning is probably the most neglected yet the most important stage. The author begins by making sure that all necessary resources are in place, develops careful outline, decides on authorship and selects potential journal for publication. The paper will typically have three sections. The title which contains title of the paper and the list of authors and also key words is the first section. The abstract and the body of the paper are also the second and third sections. The title and abstract are critical and are usually revised many more times than the other parts of the paper. Choosing key words carefully increases the chance of the paper being read and cited. The body of the paper follows what is called the Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion structure. Submission begins by writing a cover letter that makes the case for the article. Following all the key steps of the submission process avoids early rejection. Respond speedily and graciously and in sufficient detail to reviewers' and editors' comments. Following publication,the author should ensure that the published knowledge is disseminated widely. Overall, writing for biomedical journals is not too mysterious. However, there is no short cut: learning to write successfully takes time and practice

Improving research and scientific publications in Africa: analysis of a centennial issue of The FASEB Journal towards effective mentoring

In Nigeria, the flourishing of universities and turn-out of graduates do not adequately reflect in national development. The aim of this study was to determine some factors that can guarantee career success in the field of biomedical science in Nigeria. The objectives were to examine thirty three articles of a centennial issue (April 2012) of the FASEB Journal for: a) Number of printed pages of the journal, b) Number of major studies described in the article, c) Number of figures and presentation of data within the figures, d) Number of days the journal took to review the article before acceptance for publication, e) Number of scientific references listed at the end of the article. The data showed that articles took up 10.5±1.5 printed pages, reported 8.03±0.36 major studies, utilized 49.76±7.4 references, and took 87.76± 8.4 days to be accepted. Data were presented as tables in 16/33 articles; diagrams in 18/33 articles; graphs in 21/33 articles; histograms (and other charts) in 31/33 articles; photos/pictures in 24/33 articles, blots (mainly western) in 20/33 articles; machine print-outs in 10/33 articles; and sequences, arrays, or mappings in 7/33 articles. The author concludes that young biomedical scientists need to be directed to take care of the following factors along their research career: a) quantity of work, b) quality of work, c) richness of evidence, d) planning and pacing of work, e) relationship of work with universal knowledge and development

Avoiding Plagiarism in Academic Writing: a Guide on What to Cite and How

This article defends the conventional view that plagiarism in academic writing is a form of publication misconduct. I emphasize that what constitutes plagiarism is presenting the intellectual product of another as if it is one's own. Common knowledge does not need to be cited; but verbatim text; data; results; distinctive arguments; organizational structures and ideas; do. What academic authors would like to have protected are their distinctive or novel contributions to their fields of knowledge; whatever form those take. Those who Plagiarize act unethically because they seek to obtain credit that is not due to them and they deny credit to those to whom it is due. Self-plagiarism is another form of academic misconduct that entails seeking to obtain credit for the same work more than once. As with plagiarism; it is seen as dishonest and fraudulent. Avoiding accusations of plagiarism can be easily achieved by following a few simple conventions of referencing and punctuation; and academic authors are advised to protect their own reputations by following these conventions

An Integrative Review of South African Cancer Nursing Research Published from 2002-2012

Background: This integrative review aimed to quantify the publication output of South African cancer nursing research conducted between 2002 and 2012 and to identify key trends relevant to cancer nurse researchers. Objectives: To describe the publication output of cancer nursing research in terms of the journals of publication; authors; focus; participants and methods used; to explore whether the published work was funded and to assess the quality of the studies published. Methods: An integrative review was conducted using the key words South Africa in combination with cancer nursing and oncology nursing to search the databases Pubmed; PsycINFO; CINAHL; Sabinet; Web of Science; Medline and OvidSP. A data extraction sheet was developed to document the required information from each paper and all publications were reviewed independently by the authors. Results: A total of 181 publications for potential inclusion were identified and 26 papers were included in this review. Cervical cancer; specifically the prevention of this disease; was the most popular diagnostic focus and theme of investigation. Most of the studies were descriptive and none of the studies met the criteria of the highest quality. Conclusion: Nursing added to the body of knowledge regarding the primary and secondary prevention of cancer. There is a need for work on both men and women diagnosed withthe most common cancers; as well as the family and care giver. There is also a need for multidisciplinary work using complex interventions focusing on symptom management to improve patient outcomes

Documentation on Medicinal Plants Sold in Markets in Publications; Nigeria

Purpose: To document the medicinal values; local names; method of preparation; dosage forms and parts of common medicinal plants sold in some markets in Abeokuta; Nigeria. Methods: Ethnobotanical data were collected by oral interview and with the aid of a structured questionnaire administered to men; women and young girls. The data from respondents from the five local markets surveyed were documented. Results: The results show that a total of 60 medicinal plant species are commonly used by the people of Abeokuta in their traditional health care system. Most of the plant materials were in dried form and sold singly or in combination with other plants and are used in the treatment of various ailments such as malaria; hypertension; typhoid; jaundice; hyperthermia; skin irritations; dysentery; anaemia; gonorrhea; cough; measles and fibroid. A majority of the plants were trees. The respondents were women (64.3); young girls (28.5) and men (7.14). Conclusion: The findings support the need to encourage domestication and cultivation of medicinal plants as well as put in place conservation measures to ensure sustainable source of medicinal plants

Paediatric surgical research and publications in a developing country setting

Background: Research and publications are important in advancing quality of care as well as improving knowledge. Paediatric surgical research and publications in sub Saharan Africa have not been given much focused attention. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of published work in paediatric surgery from a major paediatric surgical centre in Nigeria from 1969 - 2005. All published work were reviewed for nature of research; organ/system and disease condition studied; nature of publication; volume of publication in relation to staffing as well as journal of publication. Results: During the period there were 153 publications consisting of 86 (56.2) original researches (77 of which were of retrospective study designs and 9 prospective); 56 (36.6) case reports; 8 (5.2) letters and 4 (2.6) review articles. None of the studies and publications was funded. More publications were made when the department of surgery was better staffed. Congenital anomalies (57; 37.3) and surgical infections (28; 18.3) were more frequently studied and in 82 (53.4) publications the gastrointestinal tract was the focus. Most publications were in general medical journals (58; 37.9) and general paediatric journals (54; 35.3) but publications in paediatric surgical journals has continued to increase over the years and reached 25.9by 2005. Some of the difficulties and challenges faced included lack of funding; poor staffing and inadequate facilities for laboratory research. Conclusion: Paediatric surgical research and publication in Nigeria is increasing but faces important limitations. Advocacy efforts are needed to improve funding. Networking as well as collaboration is necessary to improve the quality and spectrum of research

Research Publications are Important Performance Indicators of University Medical Education in African Countries

Research publications constitute sensitive indicators of output performance in university education. The patterns of publications in the East African Medical Journal shows that between 1962-1970 Uganda was the leading contributor due; primarily; to the research activities of Makerere Medical School. Thereafter the events in Uganda brought about a sharp drop in research output from that country. The establishment of the Nairobi Medical School in 1967 resulted in Kenya becoming the leading contributor to the journal followed by Nigeria which took the position that had previously been occupied by Uganda. The East African Medical Journal is the main clinical publication in East Africa. It has grown to become an international monthly publication; during the past seventy-five years; serving primarily the medical scientists working in the region. This paper aims at showing that university medical schools are important in increasing the output of health research; using the patterns of publications in the East African Medical Journal for the 32-year period between 1960 and 1991 as an example