A study of the scholarly activities of allied health faculty in southern academic health science centers.

A study of the scholarly activities of 942 allied health faculty members in southern academic health centers was conducted through a mailed survey. The analysis of the responses from respondents (N = 780; 82.8%) found that (1) the scholarly activities of the respondents were primarily refereed journal articles through which they reported research findings; to a much lesser extent, the respondents authored books, chapters in books, monographs, and other publications; (2) less than a majority (46%) of the respondents presented a paper at a professional meeting over the past three years; (3) only a small percentage of respondents (29%) had directed extramurally funded projects; (4) the majority of the respondents (56%) indicated that their own academic preparation was the primary factor that encouraged their scholarly pursuits, and heavy teaching responsibility was the primary discouraging factor (62%); and (5) the respondents believed that faculty scholarly activities are, and will continue to be, important considerations in academic promotion decisions.