Course Description

This course provides a practical and academically grounded introduction to writing and publishing Brief Reports. It is designed for beginners and early-career learners who want to understand how to prepare a short, focused, and publishable academic paper that presents a clear problem, links the problem to global and regional literature, offers a reasoned discussion, and ends with practical recommendations and a conclusion.

The course also introduces the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) to support topic development, prompt writing, literature organization, drafting, and editing. AI is used as a support tool rather than a replacement for academic judgment, critical thinking, or proper citation.

What Learners Will Gain

1. Understand the purpose and academic value of Brief Reports.
2. Differentiate a Brief Report from a Short Report, Short Communication, or full research article.
3. Identify suitable topics and problems for a Brief Report.
4. Use AI tools responsibly to generate ideas, refine topics, and support writing.
5. Organize a Brief Report in a clear and journal-ready structure.
6. Write professional sections using simple, precise, and academic language.
7. Use Mendeley to manage references and insert citations correctly.
8. Select suitable journals and interpret author guidelines.
9. Prepare a manuscript for submission and respond to reviewer comments.
10. Develop confidence in academic writing and publication.

Target Learners

• Undergraduate and postgraduate students
• Early-career researchers and lecturers
• Health professionals and public health practitioners
• Researchers working with small or preliminary datasets
• NGO and institutional research staff
• Any beginner interested in academic writing and publication

Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of research methodology
• Basic academic writing skills
• Basic understanding of scientific articles and referencing
• No advanced publication experience is required

Practical Activities

1. Identifying a publishable problem for a Brief Report.
2. Generating and refining a topic with AI support.
3. Preparing a concise manuscript outline.
4. Using AI to support drafting while maintaining academic integrity.
5. Installing and using Mendeley Reference Manager.
6. Connecting Mendeley with Microsoft Word and a web browser.
7. Writing the title, abstract, introduction, discussion, recommendations, and conclusion.
8. Inserting citations and managing references correctly.
9. Selecting a suitable journal and preparing submission files.
10. Submitting the manuscript to the chosen journal.
11. Responding to reviewer comments and revising the manuscript.

Course Duration

4–5 weeks, delivered through short lessons, guided exercises, and practical writing tasks.