Writing and scientific publication skills of university teachers: A survey study

Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn) Vol. 17, No. 4, November 2023, pp. 613~622 ISSN: 2089-9823 DOI: 10.11591/edulearn.v17i4.20945  613 Writing and scientific publication skills of university teachers: A survey study Mendoza Velazco Derling José1, Elizeth Mayrene Flores Hinostroza2, Josselyn Leonela Muñoz Briones1, María Leonila García Cedeño1 1 Department of Social and Humanistic Sciences, Faculty of Social and Humanistic Sciences, Universidad Técnica de Manabi, Portoviejo, Ecuador 2 Department of Experimental Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Educación, Azogues, Ecuador Article Info ABSTRACT Article history: In the academic world, the skills of scientific writing and publishing allow for the sharing and dissemination of academic research. The research analysed the scientific publications of university teachers from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Technical University of Manabí (FCHS-UTM), Ecuador, in order to determine their skills and preferences in terms of scientific journals, writing language, type of publication, indexing, and editorial quality. A descriptive quantitative approach study was applied. A survey study was carried out. The sample selection was non-probabilistic and participatory. The sample consisted of 55 teachers from the faculty. A 25-item questionnaire was developed for data collection. The results were analysed using descriptive statistics. Among the results the faculty has a preference for national or local scientific journals. The language most used in studies is Spanish. University researchers are more professional in their use of American Psychological Association (APA) norms. The study presented implications such as the promotion of scientific publication and professional development, preservation of language and culture, professionalism in citation standards, promotion of collaboration, improvement of editorial quality and training strategies. Received May 13, 2023 Revised Sep 29, 2023 Accepted Oct 17, 2023 Keywords: Journals Research Scientific publication University Writing skills This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license. Corresponding Author: Mendoza Velazco Derling José Department of Social and Humanistic Sciences, Faculty of Social and Humanistic Sciences Universidad Técnica de Manabi City Portoviejo, Province of Manabi, Avenida Jose Maria Urbina, Ecuador Email: 1. INTRODUCTION In the academic world, scientific writing, and publishing skills are fundamental for the professional development of university teachers, enabling university teachers to share and disseminate their research, thus contributing to the advancement of knowledge in their respective areas [1]. The importance of the present research lies in the need to evaluate and understand the preferences of the teaching staff regarding the writing and publication of their scientific work. This allows us to identify strengths and areas for improvement in terms of their writing skills, as well as their preferences in terms of scientific journals, language of writing, type of publication, indexing, and editorial quality [2]. The current academic environment demands a quality scientific production that meets the standards and requirements established by scientific journals and indexing systems [3]. In this sense, it is necessary for university teachers to be up-to-date and able to adapt to changes in the processes of evaluation and selection Journal homepage: http://edulearn.intelektual.org 614  ISSN: 2089-9823 of scientific journals. There must also be a mastery of the rules for writing and presenting studies, including the rules for citing bibliographic references. In addition, the availability of time to devote to research and the ability to adapt to changes in the academic environment are important determinants of teachers’ scientific productivity [4]. It is necessary to assess how much time teachers devote to research outside their regular working hours or classes, as well as to understand how their workload and academic responsibilities affect their availability to devote time to research. In terms of preferences, it is relevant to know whether university teachers choose to publish in national or international scientific journals, open or restricted access, and how they value the immediate availability of their articles to the research community and the general public. In addition, it is necessary to assess their level of academic training and their familiarity with the editorial quality criteria of scientific journals relevant to their field of research [5]. The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Technical University of Manabí (FCHSUTM), Ecuador does not have a baseline study that determines the level of publication preference or competences of the teaching staff. However, it is important to recognise that there are significant differences in the competences and preferences of university teachers in relation to these processes. At FCHS-UTM, an in-depth understanding of the scientific writing and publishing skills of its teaching staff is required to identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement. In this context, the need arises to carry out a research study to systematically analyse the writing and scientific publication capacity of the faculty’s teaching staff during the period 2023. The importance of the study lies in promoting academic excellence and quality scientific production among university teachers at FCHS-UTM. If a study on writing and publishing skills at FCHS-UTM is not implemented, major problems may arise, such as: i) Erroneous submission of studies to journals; ii) High levels of rejection, disappointment, or frustration on the part of the faculty; iii) Lack of publications; iv) Lack of dissemination of important studies or research to the global educational community. The results of this research provide valuable data to design training and support strategies that foster the development of writing and scientific publication skills, as well as the orientation, selection of journals and improvement of editorial quality in the faculty. Through this analysis, we seek to provide relevant information to strengthen scientific production and promote academic excellence in the faculty. Based on the above introductory problem, the following questions emerge: i) What is the preference of the teaching staff in relation to scientific journals? and ii) What is the writing language, type of publication, indexing, and editorial quality most used by the teaching staff of the FCHS-UTM? While in order to answer the questions posed, the following objectives are proposed: i) To analyse the scientific publications of the university teaching staff of the FCHS-UTM and ii) To determine the competences and preferences in terms of scientific journals, writing language, type of publication, indexations, and editorial quality. 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1. Scientific writing Scientific writing is (...truncated)