Programme Manager, Health Systems Global, Canadian Association for Global Health, 75 Albert Street, Suite 1003, Ottawa, ON K1P 5E7, Canada.
Technical Officer, Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, Geneva 27 1211, Switzerland.
Health Policy Plan. 2023 Nov 16;38(Supplement_2):ii72-ii76. doi: 10.1093/heapol/czad047.
Mentorship is vital for early-career researchers, especially women from low- and middle-income countries seeking to publish their work. This paper explores the evolution of the Women's Publication Mentorship Programme, a collaborative initiative pioneered by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, further strengthened through the partnership of Health Systems Global, and Health Policy and Planning. Over a span of five years and encompassing three cohorts, the program supported 45 early-career researchers from 24 countries, resulting in insightful papers on equity-oriented health system topics. Beyond the direct outcomes of strengthening the writing skills of first-time women authors and facilitating paper publications, the Programme has also influenced Health System Global's strategic approach and conceptual framework for systemic capacity strengthening in health policy and systems research. It has also played a pivotal role in addressing the longstanding gender imbalance in global health authorship. Amid these achievements, our program consistently evolved, drawing from lessons of the past cohort. Challenges, such as the need for extended paper development timelines, addressing language barriers, and strengthening methodological rigor in initial manuscripts, were met with solutions. Insights and experiences from previous participants translated into tangible results, notably elevating the quality of journal supplement publications. This commentary explores key lessons from the second cohort's journey and its evolving nature. It also highlights persistent challenges and provides practical recommendations for organizations to enhance their mentorship programs, ultimately fostering the career growth of early-career researchers in health policy and systems research.
指导对于初出茅庐的研究人员至关重要，尤其是那些来自中低收入国家、希望发表研究成果的女性。本文探讨了妇女出版指导计划的演变，该计划是由卫生系统全球联盟发起的一项合作倡议，通过健康政策与规划伙伴关系进一步得到加强。该计划在五年内分三个批次支持了来自 24 个国家的 45 名初出茅庐的研究人员，他们撰写了有关注重公平的卫生系统主题的有见地的论文。除了提高初次撰写论文的女性作者的写作技巧和促进论文发表等直接成果外，该计划还影响了卫生系统全球联盟在卫生政策和系统研究方面的系统性能力建设的战略方法和概念框架。它还在解决全球卫生领域作者性别长期失衡的问题上发挥了关键作用。在取得这些成就的同时，我们的项目不断发展，借鉴了过去批次的经验教训。面临的挑战，如需要延长论文开发时间、解决语言障碍以及在初始手稿中加强方法学严谨性，都得到了解决。来自以往参与者的见解和经验转化为切实的成果，特别是提高了期刊增刊出版物的质量。本评论探讨了第二批次的经验教训及其演变性质。它还强调了持续存在的挑战，并为组织提供了实用建议，以增强他们的指导计划，最终促进卫生政策和系统研究领域初出茅庐的研究人员的职业发展。
