JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The protocol in this manuscript was designed to help graduate students publish, which was the direct result from a challenge from our Provost in 2013. It has developed over the last six years and been in practice for the last five years. The current version of the protocol has remained static for the last two years – only small changes have been made to the process.

Objective:

The objective of this protocol is to enable students to learn a valuable skill of conducting a systematic review and write it in a way that it can be published. It was designed to fit into the schedule of a traditional semester, but I have also used it in compressed semesters as well.

Methods:

An image map was created in HTML 5.0 and imported into a learning management system to augment traditional instruction by providing references to published articles, examples, and previously recorded instructional videos. Students use the image map outside the classroom after traditional instruction. The image map helps students create manuscripts that follow instruction provided by established practice, are reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses (PRISMA), and whose authorship follows guidelines by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Results:

Since its inception, this protocol has helped 74 students publish 28 systematic reviews in nine journals around the world. Some manuscripts take years to go through multiple review processes, sometimes at multiple journals submitted in sequence. Two other professors in the School of Health Administration have used this protocol in their classes.

Conclusions:

The image map can be imported into any learning management system and be used to augment instruction in any health-realated program. The links to documents currently point to our university library for copyright reasons, but the articles are listed separately in the body of this manuscript.