A call to action to reform academic global health partnerships

Binagwaho, Agnès; Allotey, Pascale; Sangano, Eugene; Ekström, Anna Mia; Martin, Keith

doi:10.1136/bmj.n2658

Cited by 26 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Additionally, it would be helpful to understand whether training local senior researchers to lead, facilitate and otherwise participate in author trainings additionally supports their own professional productivity and advancement and local capacity. 50 Finally, every intervention has a budget and reporting the cost of training a group of researchers can be helpful to others planning similar activities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strengthening research capacity: a systematic review of manuscript writing and publishing interventions for researchers in low-income and middle-income countries

et al. 2022

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IntroductionHealth researchers from low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) are under-represented in the academic literature. Scientific writing and publishing interventions may help researchers publish their findings; however, we lack evidence about the prevalence and effectiveness of such interventions. This review describes interventions for researchers in LMICs aimed at strengthening capacity for writing and publishing academic journal articles.MethodsWe followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines to report literature searches in PubMed, Embase, Global Health, Scopus and ERIC. Our keywords included LMICs, low-income and middle-income countries, health research and writing/publication support interventions, with no restrictions on publication date. Our screening process consisted of title screening, abstract review and full-text review. We collected information about the content, implementation and evaluation of each intervention, if included.ResultsWe identified 20 interventions designed to strengthen capacity for scientific writing and publishing. We summarised information from the 14 interventions that reported submitted or published papers as outcomes separately, reasoning that because they provide quantifiable metrics of success, they may offer particular insights into intervention components leading to publication. The writing and publishing components in this ‘Publications Reported’ group were an average length of 5.4 days compared with 2.5 days in the other group we refer to as ‘Other Interventions.’ Whereas all 14 Publications Reported interventions incorporated mentors, only two of five in the Other Interventions group incorporated mentors. Across interventions, leaders expressed the importance of a high ratio of mentors to participants, the need to accommodate time demands of busy researchers, and the necessity of a budget for open access fees and high-quality internet connectivity.ConclusionWriting and publishing interventions in LMICs are an underutilised opportunity for capacity strengthening. To facilitate the implementation of high-quality interventions, future writing and publishing interventions should share their experiences by publishing detailed information about the approach and effectiveness of the interventions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strengthening research capacity: a systematic review of manuscript writing and publishing interventions for researchers in low-income and middle-income countries

et al. 2022

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“…1 Current narratives on equitable partnerships mostly include academics and practitioners based in HICs who have focused on assuming responsibility for mentoring their LMIC partners. 2 We believe this approach has several challenges including lack of incentivisation for the HIC collaborator, due to the time and resources spent mentoring their own students and staff. 3 Additionally, mentorship outcomes aligned with their institutional and national priorities might not align with those in LMICs.…”

Section: A New Path To Mentorship For Emerging Global Health Leaders ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A new path to mentorship for emerging global health leaders in low-income and middle-income countries

Hamid

Rasheed²

2022

The Lancet Global Health

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“…Going forward, we need to agree on the reasons why and for whom we are decolonizing global health and build consensus [ 25 ]. What is on the table is as important as who is around the table [ 26 ]. While there is no ‘right’ way to achieve this objective, the following suggestions could help guide reform.…”

Section: How To Move Forward?mentioning

confidence: 99%

What Do Global Health Practitioners Think about Decolonizing Global Health?

Finkel

Temmerman

Suleman

et al. 2022

Annals of Global Health

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The growing awareness of colonialism's role in global health partnerships between HICs and LMICs and the associated calls for decolonization in global health has led to discussion for a paradigm shift that would lead to new ways of engagement and partnerships, as well as an acknowledgement that colonialism, racism, sexism, and capitalism contribute to inequity. While there is general agreement among those involved in global health partnerships that the current system needs to be made more equitable, suggestions for how to address the issue of decolonization vary greatly, and moving from rhetoric to reform is complicated. Based on a comprehensive (but not exhaustive) review of the literature, there are several recurring themes that should be addressed in order for the inequities in the current system to be changed. The degree to which decolonization of global health will be successful depends on how the global health community in both the HICs and LMICs move forward to discuss these issues. Specifically, as part of a paradigm shift, attention needs to be paid to creating a more equal and equitable representation of researchers in LMICs in decision-making, leadership roles, authorship, and funding allocations. There needs to be agreement in defining basic principles of best practices for global partnership, including a universal definition of 'decolonization of global health'; the extent to which current policies allow the perpetuation of power imbalance between HICs and LMICs; a set of principles, best practices, and models for equitable sharing of funds and institutional costs among partners; a mechanism to monitor progress prospectively the equitable sharing of credits (e.g., leadership, authorship), including a set of principles, best practices, and models; and, a mechanism to monitor progress prospectively the extent to which decolonialization will contribute to strengthening institutional capacity in the LMIC institutions.

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A call to action to reform academic global health partnerships

Cited by 26 publications

References 8 publications

Strengthening research capacity: a systematic review of manuscript writing and publishing interventions for researchers in low-income and middle-income countries

Strengthening research capacity: a systematic review of manuscript writing and publishing interventions for researchers in low-income and middle-income countries

A new path to mentorship for emerging global health leaders in low-income and middle-income countries

What Do Global Health Practitioners Think about Decolonizing Global Health?

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