CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS
Regional training Workshop on Writing skills for scientific papers and peer reviewed journals
Lilongwe, Malawi , 20-24 October 2007

Training and Research Support Centre (TARSC) and The Regional Network on Equity in Health in east and southern Africa (EQUINET) locally hosted by REACH Trust (Malawi)

Call Closes On 3 September, 2007!

The EQUINET Secretariat at Training and Research Support Centre with local hosts, REACH Trust (Malawi), invite personnel working on health equity in east and southern Africa to apply for participation for a capacity building workshop on “Writing scientific papers and peer reviewed journals” to be held in Lilongwe, Malawi from 20-24 October 2007.

This workshop is designed to support capabilities for effective dissemination of research on health equity, especially from EQUINET activities, through scientific journals and publications. The objectives of the workshop are:
To build skills for writing in scientific papers and peer reviewed journals; To understand the peer review process works and facilitate peer review and feedback on a set of equity-focused papers among a group of east and southern African researchers and practitioners; To introduce tools and approaches to improving writing skills for scientific papers and meeting reports.

Preference will be given to applicants working on EQUINET research programmes, but the workshop will also include people working on equity-focused themes in east and southern Africa. For further information on areas of EQUINET work and the equity focused themes please see www.equinetafrica.org Preference will be given to applicants who have writing work in progress (e.g. those who have completed research, have prepared a draft paper or are ready to do so, or have a paper that has been drafted for publication). Participants to the workshop will be expected to participate in the pre workshop process to qualify for sponsorship for the workshop.
This will include:
· Initial application as indicated above, by 3 September 2007. Participants will be informed on the outcome of their applications by September 7 2007.
· Submission of a draft paper for a scientific journal of no more than 5 000 words, dealing with equity, health and Africa, that is work in progress, by September 17 2007. (Those who are unable to submit a draft paper that they are working on by this date will not be included in the workshop).
· Papers will be peer reviewed and for returned to authors by September 26 and candidates will be expected to prepare a further draft, taking account of the reviewers' comments, and bring this for discussion and further development within the Workshop.
· It will be preferable if participants can bring to the workshop a laptop plus the references they are drawing on most heavily in writing their paper.

The workshop will aim to leave authors with advice and comments on how to complete their papers and will agree a timetable for final submission. The workshop will be run by Rebecca Pointer, publications officer for EQUINET, assisted by EQUINET senior scientific and publications resource personnel. There are limited places in the workshop. We invite interested individuals to submit an application to participate and to provide the full information shown below. EQUINET will sponsor a limited number of accepted delegates for airfare or local costs or both based on need.

Delegates who can provide part sponsorship only are asked preferably to meet their air travel costs.

Information requested from applications:

Interested applicants should submit;
· A 1-2 page 'expression of interest' that outlines their institution, their position and their research or training work that they and their institution are reporting on in the scientific paper and any links if relevant to EQUINET
· A personal CV including publications produced, including those in peer reviewed journals
· A 500 word abstract or maximum 5000 word draft of the paper they propose to work on in the workshop
· Clear information on whether they are able to meet all costs, or need EQUINET sponsorship for airfare ONLY, local costs ONLY, or ALL costs.

Applicants should submit this information by 3 September 2007 to the EQUINET secretariat [email][email protected] and copy it to [email][email protected] with WRITERS WORKSHOP in the subject line of the email. Accepted delegates will be notified by 7 September 2007 on the outcome of their submission, including sponsorship.