Guest Post: From an Intensive-Course Participant from Vietnam

[This post is from Dr. Mai Anh Khoa, Vice Director of Research, Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam. With support from INASP, Khoa attended the 2015 Texas A&M Intensive Course in Research Writing, held June 22–July 10. He will now help embed AuthorAID instruction in Vietnam. Thank you, Khoa! —Barbara]

Communication in the scientific world requires skills in several areas, including writing papers publishable in English-language international journals. These skills do not come without training and practice.

A 3-week intensive course in research writing was designed for this purpose and held at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, USA. This year the course attracted international participants from Vietnam, Mexico, and Pakistan—countries where publishing in English-language international journals is still limited.

During the course, participants had training to improve their abilities in writing, presentation, and editing and reviewing others’ work. Participants’ assignments during the course received feedback from Dr. Barbara Gastel, Dr. Colin Young, and Texas A&M University graduate students.

I found this course very useful, and my abilities in scientific writing have improved. The 5 Ws and an H (who, what, where, when, why, and how) related to writing and other communication skills have been efficiently answered. Also, I had chances to talk with other participants about their work and mine, which helped me to enhance my knowledge and skills for my professional career.

I will share the knowledge and skills I gained with my colleagues in Vietnam. I hope that it will help my colleagues enhance their skills in writing and other aspects of research communication.