SCRIPting a Path to Scholarship: How Student Journals Reduce Barriers to Publication

Early initiation of research activities among medical students is associated with later academic success and improved scientific productivity; however, barriers to publication in mainstream journals may deter students from disseminating their scholarly work. We sought to determine the impact of <i>Scholarly Research in Progress</i> (<i>SCRIP</i>), a student journal, on students' level of experience, knowledge, or practice related to writing and publication, writing apprehension, and scholarly productivity. Students from Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine were surveyed via Qualtrics to assess their experience and motivation to publish, determine publication rates, and better understand barriers to publishing practices. Data was reported using means and standard deviations for ranked questions. One hundred sixteen participants responded, and 77 completed surveys were included in the analysis. Participants who had previously published in <i>SCRIP</i> indicated they were more confident in writing manuscripts (<i>p</i> = 0.003), submitting articles (<i>p</i> = 0.002), navigating the publication process (<i>p</i> = 0.008), and navigating the peer-review process (<i>p</i> = 0.033) compared to those who had not previously published in <i>SCRIP.</i> <i>SCRIP</i>-published participants were also more likely to place a high value on publishing research in their careers (<i>p</i> = 0.028). There was no significant difference in the average number of total PubMed-indexed publications between <i>SCRIP</i>-published participants and non-<i>SCRIP</i>-published participants (<i>p</i> = 0.779). Overall, <i>SCRIP</i> positively impacted students' attitude towards future publication and was associated with improved writing confidence. Reviewer feedback was well-received by students and helped to improve their research to a publishable level while supporting development of their scientific writing skills and confidence.