Few scientists set out to be writers. Nonetheless, in a profession that lives by the mantra "publish  or perish," tremendous credibility lies in the  ability to write well. Young scientists quickly learn that disseminating results to the larger  scientific community via professional journals is  a critical aspect of the scientific process, but they often are uncertain of how to best produce clear  and well-presented writing themselves.  To help those just beginning to develop the abilities required  to publish and flourish, the ASM Committee  on Graduate and Postdoctoral Education  (CGPE) is introducing a pilot program in 2010,  the ASM Scientific Writing and Publishing Institute.  This latest of several institutes offered by  the Committee is targeted to senior-level graduate  students and early-career postdoctoral scientists  and will be held at ASM headquarters in Washington, D.C., on 18-21 March 2010.    

Supporting the new Institute as its cochairs  are CGPE member Steven Blanke of the Department  of Microbiology and Institute for Genomic  Biology at the University of Illinois, Urbana, and  ASM President Roberto Kolter of the Department  of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics  at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass. As  active researchers and editors of the ASM publications  Infection and Immunity and the Journal  of Bacteriology, respectively, they and other  ASM Journals editors and reviewers are perfectly  poised to demystify the writing process  and teach the fundamentals of effective scientific  writing to Institute participants.    

Intense mentoring is key to the program. In  groups of four to six, Institute attendees will  receive individual critiques and resources from  one of the expert mentors. Because of the  hands-on attention provided, the Institute is limited  to 24 participants. The most competitive  applicants are able to demonstrate (i) need of  this introductory training, (ii) academic preparation  showing they are prepared to benefit from  the training, and (iii) research that is in a phase  conducive to writing a manuscript for submission  to peer-reviewed journals.    

Upon acceptance to the Institute, participants  will complete several pre-Institute readings and  assignments and prepare and submit to Institute  mentors a draft manuscript on which they are  the first author. This preparatory work provides  a valuable foundation for the enhanced training  and benefits provided by the Institute. Participants  should expect to receive training focused  on the following key areas: planning, writing,  and submitting manuscripts; composing abstracts  and titles that will appeal to the broadest  possible readership; selecting journals for submission  and strategically suggesting the best editors  and reviewers; responding to reviewer  comments and learning to be a highly valued  reviewer; and addressing ethical issues related to  scientific research and publishing.    

Institute participants will leave with a detailed  plan for improving their draft manuscripts and  abstracts, a network of peers and mentors to  share critiques and advice, and tools and resources  for developing more manuscripts and  abstracts in the future.   

Interested senior-level graduate students and  early-career postdoctoral scientists should apply by Sunday, 15 November 2009. For more information,  see the Publishing Institute link at http://www.asmgap.org/page03a.shtml.