The AuthorAID Project: Building Capacity in Communicating Research

AuthorAID (www.authoraid.info) is a project to help researchers in developing countries to write about and publish their work. Established in 2007, the project is based at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP). Major components include workshops, an online resource library, an e-mail discussion list, a blog, grants, and mentoring. Alone or with partner organizations, AuthorAID gives several research-communication workshops per year. They take place in developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The workshops are designed in part to train trainers, and attendees and local co-facilitators often go on to provide research-communication instruction of their own. An online course derived from the workshops is in the pilot phase. The AuthorAID Resource Library, a part of the AuthorAID website, includes presentations, articles, links to external resources, and other items providing guidance on communication of science. Among these materials are PowerPoint presentations from AuthorAID workshops. Presentations on the main topics appear not only in English but also, to date, in Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese. In addition, AuthorAID has an active e-mail discussion list and three blog posts per week (a general post, a tip of the week, and a post presenting a resource of the week). Recently AuthorAID has been offering grants, restricted to applicants from developing countries, to hold writing-skills workshops, present work at international conferences, and attend an intensive course in research writing. One distinctive aspect of AuthorAID is online mentoring to help researchers write and publish. Prospective mentors and mentees can identify each other through the AuthorAID website and work together through it. Most mentors are researchers experienced in publishing their work, and others are professional editors. AuthorAID is always seeking volunteers to be mentors. Since June 2011, AuthorAID has had, in addition to its website in English, a Spanish-language version of its website. Materials posted on the AuthorAID website are accessible without registration. However, registration at the AuthorAID website provides benefits such as ability to contact prospective mentors and mentees through the site. As of late 2011, more than 3600 individuals, from 151 countries, had registered to be part of the AuthorAID community. We believe that, through its range of activities, AuthorAID is helping to build global capacity in communicating research.