Building the capacity of young professionals in family planning to publish: insights from the ICFP2022 WHO Scientific Writing, Mentoring and Coaching course

Abstract

We describe the development, delivery, and evaluation of a program to support junior professionals to publish their work in a scientific journal. Study design Conference delegates with an accepted abstract at the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP), self-identifying as junior professionals and from a low- or middle-income country (LMIC) or working predominantly in LMIC settings, were eligible for the program. The program involved: (i) Four face-to-face workshops at ICFP from the 14th to 17th of November 2022; (ii) mentoring meetings at ICFP; (iii) a six-month post-conference online coaching program; and (iv) post-conference learning webinars from December 2022 to May 2023. We used online surveys to assess the participants' reactions, learning, and behavior changes to the workshops and the online coaching program. We present participants' self-reported progress towards achieving a scientific publication. Results Sixty-seven participants from 29 countries participated in the workshops, and 40 attended the post-conference program. Workshops were rated positively, though the in-conference mentoring program faced challenges, including low attendance. The post-conference program was highly rated, with most participants engaging well with coaching and the webinars. At the end of the six-month program, 31 (46%) participants reported some progress in manuscript writing, with five completed manuscripts submitted. Conclusions Scientific writing is a complex skill, and whilst our program had several positive elements, our participants faced many challenges completing their manuscripts within six months. The post-conference coaching and webinar program was rated highly, emphasizing the need for ongoing support. Future programs should address this and other difficulties we highlight