The Scholarship Circle: an introduction to writing for publication for nursing faculty
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Date
2020-01
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Publisher
Medical Library Association
Abstract
Background: This case report describes a collaborative effort between a health sciences librarian and an
instructional designer to create and implement a writing professional development experience called the
Scholarship Circle. It was aimed at increasing scholarly productivity by junior and nontenure-track faculty in a
college of nursing.
Case Presentation: The Scholarship Circle activities were carried out in a synchronous and an asynchronous
online environment over ten weeks and included weekly lectures from nurse-scholars, discussions and peer
reviews, and writing support from the librarian. The Scholarship Circle designers surveyed participants before
and after the course to explore faculty perceptions and conducted a bibliographic analysis to gauge
increases in scholarly productivity.
Conclusions: While both tenure-track and nontenure-track faculty perceived lack of time as a significant
barrier to publication, only nontenure-track faculty perceived lack of writing experience and getting started as
significant obstacles. In the two years following the Scholarship Circle, faculty with doctor of philosophy and
doctor of education degrees produced the greatest number of scholarly publications, whereas faculty with
other degrees demonstrated a modest increase in scholarship. Online writing support programs have the
potential to positively impact scholarly productivity for junior and nontenure-track faculty, especially if they
emphasize time management for writing, confidence-building strategies, and a flexible format that allows
peer review and collaboration as well as participation by seasoned scholars and remote participants.
Partnership between health sciences librarians and instructional designers is key to the successful design
and implementation of writing support programs.
Description
Keywords
scholarly communication, online education, writing for publication, nursing
Citation
Dhakal, K., & Tornwall, J. (2020). The Scholarship Circle: an introduction to writing for publication for nursing faculty. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 108(1), 98-105. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2020.685.