Doing research and publishing academic works on international scientific journals are considered as an important responsibility of lecturers and researchers in Thai Nguyen University of Sciences (TNUS). However, English writing skills, as well as how to submit the works to the target journals are challenging for researchers, especially young lecturers.

The training course in Research Writing for Natural Science Researchers was organized with aims to support young researchers in Thai Nguyen University (TNU) and others in the northern mountainous region in Vietnam. This was one phase in the cooperation project between International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publication (INASP) and TNU. This project has been developed and implemented since 2015 by Learning Resource Center – Thai Nguyen University (LRC). There were 3 sessions in the course: An opening ceremony to introduce the course; A six-week online-course; and A closing workshop. The course was held at TNU from September 8th to November 4th, 2017.

The facilitators of the course were Dr. Mai Anh Khoa and 3 doctors from TNUS, they were Dr. Vuong Truong Xuan, Dr. Van Huu Tap and Dr. Nguyen Thi Phuong Mai who earned their degrees in Europe. The four facilitators also have rich experience in research writing and publishing. Especially, they had completed the “training of trainers” course to lecture all courses in the project.

The opening ceremony was held at TNUS on September 8th, 2017. The course drew the participation of 30 lecturers from TNU and others universities in the northern region of Vietnam such as Hung Vuong University and Tan Trao University, including nine from TNUS. At the meeting, there were  the presence of Prof. Dr. Nguyen Duy Hoan – director of LRC, Dr. Mai Anh Khoa – Deputy Head of Department of Science – Technology and Environment, TNU and Dr. Hoang Lam – Head of Office of Science – Technology & International Cooperation, TNUS.

 Participants at the Opening ceremony at TNUS

During the 6-week online course, participants learned about literature review, research ethics, writing a research paper in English, and publishing a research paper in a peer-reviewed journals. These topics were spread over 5 sections in the course. Each section contains two or three lessons along with multiple-choice quizzes. The quizzes were used to help trainees check their understanding of the concepts covered in the lessons. To complete the course, they must score at least 80% in each of the 5 quizzes in the course. Unlimited attempts were allowed on each quiz.

The closing workshop was held on the 4th and the 5th of November, 2017. The participants had chances to discuss and share the issues concerning to writing and submitting academic papers. In the workshop, participants also received sharing of problems in publishing on international scientific journals; how to find literature documents; common mistakes in academic English writing; the use of reference softwares such as Endnote, Mendeley. The participants also played a role of reviewer of manuscripts that were prepared  by others after the online course.

Participants at the closing workshop

Lecturers from TNUS and other participants had actively engaged in the course. They attended and successfully completed all the sessions of the course. Through the discussion forum in the course, participants joined and shared their questions, ideas and experiences with their colleagues and the TNU-Author AID facilitators.

During 2 months, all participants had shown their efforts in completing the course. They also revealed the expectation in publishing their academic works on international journals and proved their capability in scientific research individually and institutionally.

At the end of the course, the participants expressed their contentment and thanks to the organizers. The course supplemented them with more knowledge and confidence to submit their research articles to the international journals.

Some photos of the course:

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Duy Hoan, Director of LRC, at the opening ceremony

Dr. Hoang Lam, TNUS representative, at the opening ceremony

Dr. Mai Anh Khoa moderating a discussion

Participants sharing their ideas in the course

Dr. Van Huu Tap sharing his knowledge in writing and publishing on international journals

Dr. Vuong Truong Xuan showing how to search and download references

Dr. Nguyen Thi Phuong Mai talking about the common mistakes and styles in academic English writing

Participants discussing and reviewing the manuscripts

Practicing with the reference management software

Phương Mai

Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Email: maintp@tnus.edu.vn

Photos by LRC