PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Clara E Busse AU - Elizabeth W Anderson AU - Tamrat Endale AU - Yolanda Regina Smith AU - Marie Kaniecki AU - Carol Shannon AU - Ella T August TI - Strengthening research capacity: a systematic review of manuscript writing and publishing interventions for researchers in low-income and middle-income countries AID - 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-008059 DP - 2022 Feb 01 TA - BMJ Global Health PG - e008059 VI - 7 IP - 2 4099 - http://gh.bmj.com/content/7/2/e008059.short 4100 - http://gh.bmj.com/content/7/2/e008059.full SO - BMJ Global Health2022 Feb 01; 7 AB - Introduction Health 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.Methods We 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.Results We 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.Conclusion Writing 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.Data sharing not applicable as no datasets generated and/or analysed for this study.