Literature review and academic writing for PhD students in medicine and health sciences

The course aims to introduce PhD students to practical transferable skills required to be stay up-to-date and communicate research in a clear and effective manner through academic writing. Covered elements will among others involve: *Comprehensive overview of relevant research through systematic literature searching *Efficient use of reference libraries and correct in-text citation in manuscripts *Adopting good citation practice *Communicate research clearly and effectively through academic writing. The participants will practice the skills through different obligatory assignments – among others, a literature review (minimum 1500 words total) within the subject topic of their PhD project.

On completion of the course, participants should be able to: *Develop and employ systematic search strategies in an efficient manner in relevant databases *Document the literature search *Adopt effective techniques to keep up to date with development within the field *Develop and curate reference libraries in EndNote *Use EndNote to perform in-text citations and generate bibliographies according to journal descriptions *Adopt practical measures to ensure good citation practice. *Improve the quality of research manuscripts by adopting practical principles for effective clear and effective academic writing.

The course consists of a four day long on-campus session, and a subsequent period for individual work (five weeks). During the on-campus session, the teaching will be arranged as lectures, activities in small groups and pairs, individual writing time, and one-to-one feedback from the instructor. After the on-campus session, the participants will and deliver a thematic literature search, that must be approved within two weeks after the on-campus session. The approved literature search will further form the basis of a self-chosen curriculum (minimum 200 pages in total) that will form part of a literature review within the subject of the candidates own PhD project (minimally 1500 words). Following a round of anonymous peer-to-peer review from fellow-students, focusing on the practical skills taught in the course, a final draft of the literature review must be submitted for approval (exam), within five weeks after the on-campus session. The course will be cancelled if the total number of participants is below five. The teaching will be conducted in English