Publishing Your Work, Conference and Poster Presentations

John Fowler and Colin Rees

How to Write Your Nursing Dissertation, First Edition. Alan Glasper and Colin Rees.© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Dissertation Done – What Now?

• Nursing knowledge needs new ideas and the consolidation of existing ones. Once your dissertation is complete, you can make your contribution to nursing knowledge and share all that hard work with others.

• The aim of this presentation is to encourage you to publish your work and produce conference and poster presentations at local and national conferences and events.

Don’t stop now• There can be a feeling that now your

dissertation is over you can reclaim your life and leave the dissertation behind.

• From an academic and professional viewpoint, however, you need to consider the scope for sharing your work, so that others may benefit and take it further.

• There are three options: a publication in a nursing journal, a conference or poster presentation

Publications

• There are a number of general and specialist nursing journals that would really like to publish your work, providing you do a little bit of work on it to get it up to a publishing format. This often takes the form of simplifying, rather than making it more complex. Chapter 21 gives the details; here we focus on the key points.

Key message• As you worked through your dissertation you

should have come to realise the key message of your dissertation – the one you wanted your reader to go away remembering, e.g. the benefits of the advanced practitioner in your clinical specialty, or the importance of early assessment for alcohol abuse using a certain assessment tool. This will be at the heart of your publication. Write it down to keep your focus.

Key audience

• Now think who you want to read your message and consider the journal they are likely to read. Select your target journal and look at copies for ‘instructions for authors’. Look at past copies for the length and style of articles. Note the format they take, referencing system, and key elements such as box showing ‘implications for practice’ or ‘what this paper adds’. Write your article to include these elements.

Key differences

• An article is not a mini version of the dissertation. It is a different package built around your key message. There are fewer details and themes, and it is not as ‘dense’ with references -although support for the main argument and points is still essential. However, what got you academic ‘points’, may not be what will keep a reader interested. The scope should be more focused and the style more immediate, easy to read and relevant to practice.

Follow a Plan

• Make a plan for a beginning/middle/end• Think of subheadings and main points. The

end will contain your message.• Use your dissertation as a guide, but avoid ‘cut

and pasting’ instead, summarise or paraphrase the essence of the main themes, or the one on which you want to focus

• Try and work directly onto the computer to save time

Build Up a First Draft

• Your beginning should give the ‘what/why/how’ of the problem or topic quickly and simply, it should also mention solutions or the argument of the article. Include a clear aim of the article.

• The middle will be main themes with evidence. Keep to simple points and make the majority of supporting references as recent as possible

• The end should answer the aim and have clear recommendations for who should do what now.

Work the Draft into a Submission• Ask someone who has published to look at it,

or people you trust to give an honest view who have the skills to help you improve it

• Check it against articles in the target journal for length, format and language/style

• Submit to only one journal and wait for feedback. They may ask for changes you need to make. If they do not want it, then try another journal, but note any advice and comments.

Write as a Reader

• Make sure you write the kind of article that you would want to read. Keep sentence length short, and simple language. Define, and illustrate any technical or specialist terms. Remember, you know your topic really well, but the reader probably does not.

• Take pleasure in sharing your work and ideas with others. Your dissertation ideas and conclusions needs to be read by others – write that article!

Conference Presentations

• There are two other options to take your work further; conference presentations and poster presentations

• Conference presentations, like journal articles, can be general or specialist depending on your dissertation topic and the audience to whom you want to speak. Unlike journal articles, you can use the same paper at a number of different conferences

Choosing the right conference• Local conferences are appropriate where your

employer may have sponsored or supported you academically. It is also an opportunity to influence local change or tell people about new ideas and developments

• National conferences can be general or specialist. Having attended one in the past will be a big help in knowing the format and type of audience it attracts

• International conferences frequently welcome new ideas and initiatives and should also be considered

Call for Papers• Conferences usually start looking for

presentations well in advance through a ‘call for papers’ so look out early and respond quickly

• They will invite submission of an ‘abstract’, which will be carefully examined. At this point you do not need to have written the full paper

• Writing abstracts is an art. Choose a title that is accurate but grabs the attention

• The abstract should be the trailer for a good movie based on your work. Check other abstracts for guidance

Writing the Paper• Whereas articles are written to be read – papers

are written to be heard, often with PowerPoint support

• There should be a clear argument running through it but the narrative ‘thread’ is important, as listeners can get lost if it jumps around – they can’t go back and check earlier detail as in an article

• The PowerPoint can include key points and words. Don’t use is as your word for word script

On the Day

• Make sure you have rehearsed it out loud, and know how long it will take (it always takes longer on the day), and know where there are any tricky sections

• Make sure you are fresh on the day, know where you are presenting. Be early and follow any instructions for the format of the presentation

• Relax and enjoy it!

Producing Your Poster• Finally, posters are an additional way of using

your dissertation to inform others. Here, the emphasis is on the visuals. It should have visual impact as well as a key message supported by minimum but clear and convincing detail

• Look on-line for examples of posters. There are a number of set ‘shapes’ they follow

• Establish the size required and the format (portrait or landscape)

Posters

• Follow instructions carefully. Look for details of how they will be fixed on boards/walls. Are they supplying the method of hanging or are you?

• The beginning /middle/end structure for content still works here too, but the number of words is very short. Concentrate on the key messages. If you are present at the poster have business cards and perhaps a key summary of the paper for follow-up

Posters

On the day, take the opportunity to tell people about your work. Look at the other posters to learn how yours compares for future posters.Posters are about colour shape, and the message. They can take less time than other methods but need just as much thought to be successful. Poster presentations are a great way to meet other people with similar interests so do not forget your business cards and ask people for theirs.

Finally

• This presentation should have motivated you to make the most use out of your dissertation. You can cover all these three aspects with your dissertation. Choose carefully, make sure you follow all the guidelines, but be bold and take the opportunity to maximise the work you put into your dissertation.

Good luck!