By Sonita Ngunyi Nwohtazie & Boris Esono Nwenfor
Some 70 young researchers have been schooled on the basic tennent of scientific and manuscript writing, following a 2-day course organized by the Health Policy and Research Division of the Nkafu Policy Institute, a think tank of the Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation.
The two-day course that ran from November 2-3 in Yaounde, was aimed at training young African scientists on the power and process of scientific writing and to create a network for mentoring in scientific paper writing – to compile a comprehensive directory of journals and publishers of scientific content.
"This is the second edition (the first edition was organized in April 2023) and we are looking at having another next year because we have understood that people want to know more about scientific writing and we are trying to build their capacity," Dr Bruna, senior researcher in Global Health and Public Health, Nkafu Policy Institute said, while adding that the participants were trained on scientific writing, the steps and how to produce a manuscript.
“We also taught them how to submit their abstract to conferences to make sure that their abstract stands out from the others. We believe we gave the participants the necessary tools to better their scientific writing and publishing.”
Dr Bruna added: “We are hoping that they will be able to publish articles next year because the training is not for them to come and waste their money. We are hopeful that with the quality of training we have given them, they will be able to publish papers by next year."
Scientific communication is a vital process in the chain of actions required to translate research findings into actionable real-life policies. The art of scientific communication therefore stands out as a must for those interested in bridging the gap between the laboratory bench and the public space and brings utmost relevance to the scientific research process.
It contributes to maintaining high standards in research through peer review, good practices and publication ethics. Excellence in scientific writing has raised many individuals and organizations to prominence and remains a major tool for career development in the scientific community.
"The training was important as it enabled me to learn tools to have great articles. The training will help me produce good quality articles that will be shared with other researchers," Dr Njapndounke Bilkissou, a participant, Researcher and lecturer at the University of Yaounde said.
Wunde Ubraine, a participant and 7th year medical student said: "I applied because I saw the very topical content. I have been able to have a better mastery of putting your abstract together, and how to write a paper all together from scratch. This training will help me in my career as a future doctor and improve the quality of research coming out from the African continent."
The volume of scientific publications correlates with the volume and quality of the studies being carried out. The African continent, host to about 12% of the global population, produces less than 1% of all academic publications, placing him at a huge disadvantage as far as scientific progress is concerned.
The most common types of scientific writing are research articles, review articles and theses. Together, these are sometimes referred to as the "scientific literature." Scientific writing is important because it is the primary channel for communicating scientific knowledge. Scientists run experiments and take sophisticated measurements, but the results of that work must be documented, validated, and shared for it to be valuable to others. Scientific writing captures that research in a usable format.
The Nkafu Policy Institute has put in place strategize to make sure that they follow up with the participants. Dr Bruna said: "We have organized all the participants in a WhatsApp group where we share with them the contents of the training, all the presentations and more documents that can help them strengthen their skills. We at the Foundation will also assist them with the face challenges in their writing process."
African scientists thus need to pick up skills to produce internationally competitive scientific articles, so that the continent can join the table for progress in science. Writing effective scientific papers requires practical guidance, commitment and resolve to deliver the content of acceptable quality and overcome the known challenges.