2018 NISS Writing Workshop for Junior Researchers (at JSM)

Course Objective

The goal of the workshop is to provide instruction for writing journal articles and grant proposals. Participants will be required to provide a recent sample of their writing, which will be reviewed by a senior mentor. The sample could be a current draft of an article to be submitted for publication or an early version of a grant proposal. Senior mentors will be former journal editors and program officers, who will critique the submitted material and provide individual feedback. Participants will be expected to initiate a revision in response with additional feedback from their mentors. Deadline for the Writing Workshop application submission is June 1, with notification of acceptances on a rolling basis no later than June 20.

Course Content

The workshop consists of two sessions plus a final meeting with the mentor. The Sunday tutorial is an all-day session that covers scientific writing, as well as how to organize a paper. It also discusses ethical issues, writing grant proposals and issues of journal choice and understanding and responding to reviewers’ comments. At the end of this session, each participant meets with the mentor who analyzed a paper the participant submitted prior to JSM. The Tuesday session focuses on the specific issues for participants whose native language is not English, covering writing process and details of grammar, sentence structure and word choice. A panel of senior researchers whose native language is not English will discuss their experiences with technical writing in English.

Target Audience 

The workshop is designed for researchers with a Ph.D. awarded or anticipated during 2012-2018 in statistics, biostatistics or related field. Attendance at the Writing Workshop will be limited and applicants within 0-3 years’ post-PhD and members of the participating societies will receive preference.  

Course Schedule

Course Fees

Workshop applicants are asked to register online, submit their writing sample, and if your submission is accepted, to confirm your interest in participation by paying the $100 registration fee (AAF reimbursable are registration fee and one hotel night only).  Depending on the availability of funds, travel and housing costs will be partially reimbursed to those accepted. We strongly encourage workshop participants to also seek additional funding on their own.

How to Register

If interested, please fill out a copy of the Pre-Registration Information Webform.  This includes a copy of your writing sample.  All submitted material will be handled confidentially!