Why write for publication and preparation needed for beginning

The purpose of this Institute is to help public health practitioners at the state and local-levels turn their work into manuscripts for publication. The course will cover the following sections: why write for publication; what an editor looks for; how to write each section of a manuscript; and tips for submitting to journals. There will be two main presenters: one presenter is the editor-in-chief at the Maternal and Child Health Journal (MCHJ) while the other presenter has served on the AJPH and MCHJ editorial boards, and has edited special issues of Pediatrics and the MCHJ. Both presenters have published at least 100 articles. They will be assisted by a number of other experienced authors or editors who will work with the class on partially-completed manuscripts that they will be asked to bring to class. Further details on this method of instruction are presented below. This course is proposed because a common complaint has been that there is a dearth of manuscripts from state and local-level health departments on their work. Publishing in peer-reviewed journals is one method for communicating the results of health department programs to a wider audience. The course will be a mixture of presentations and hands-on work with each course member. Participants will be strongly encouraged to come to the training with an abstract, manuscript outline, data analysis results, or a draft of an article that they would like to see turned into a manuscript. We will begin with a short presentation on why write for publication, then cover what an editor looks for. We will go over each section of a scientific paper in detail, and then there will be time set aside for the class to work on the section just discussed. During those time periods, each student will receive individual guidance from the trainers as well as prominent authors or editors. We will close with a presentation on tips for how to submit to a journal. At the end of the workshop, all participants who come to the workshop at different stages of the manuscript development process will leave with a significantly improved manuscript.