Teaching nursing and midwifery academics and research students to write for publication through a series of semi-structured writing retreats

Introduction
Writing for publication can be intimidating and frustrating, especially for nurses and midwives transitioning to academia from clinical practice. The elements for successful research environments have been previously identified as investment in researcher socialisation and development (Ajjawi et al., 2018). This research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a series of semi-structured writing retreats on researcher development and outputs, specifically: 1) What was the experience of nursing and midwifery academics and research students attending the writing retreats, 2) What impact did a series of retreats have on research outputs, and 3) How did semi-structured writing retreats enable and develop academics and research students writing for publication?
Methods
Utilising a mixed-methods exploratory sequential design: Phase one – A qualitative survey collected participant experiences which informed phase two, where quantitative data were collected on the number and quality of research outputs. Qualitative themes were derived from content analysis, and descriptive statistics were undertaken for the quantitative data.
Results
Phase one: A total of 103 staff and students attended six writing retreats over four years. Findings demonstrate that semi-structured writing retreats provide a ‘sacred’ space for a shared writing experience where immediate expert peer review, opt-in tailored research training and mentored writing enable and develop academic and research students writing for publication. Phase two: Eighty-three publications were planned. Of these, 50 have been published, 11 have been submitted, 14 are in draft and eight were abandoned.
Discussion
Drawing on concepts of communities of practice, and enculturating the elements needed for successful research environments, our semi-structured writing retreats enabled and developed nursing and midwifery academics and research students writing for publication. Semi-structured writing retreats are a valuable research investment that enables preparation of high-quality research outputs by offering protected time to write, peer and expert review and opportunities for collaboration between participants.