Many clinicians identify problems in care but lack the time, training, or confidence to turn those insights into publishable research. BMJ Research to Publication helps doctors and healthcare researchers strengthen study design, reporting, and publication skills so that frontline evidence can reach wider clinical and policy audiences.
Across key international regions including the Middle East, South Asia, and South America, clinicians and researchers are using BMJ Research to Publication to strengthen research skills, improve publication quality, and support healthcare improvement.
Strengthening global research capability to improve healthcare
The study, published in BMJ Open Quality, tested structured patient education delivered by prehospital clinicians at the point of care. Grounded in Deming’s theory of profound knowledge, operationalised through the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles and monitored using Shewhart statistical process control charts. Dr Farhat focused on structured patient education delivered by prehospital clinicians at the point of care. The interventions encouraged clinicians to spend additional time explaining symptom recognition, self-management, and when to seek further care, using simplified and culturally relevant communication tools.
At Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar, Dr Hassan Farhat, operations manager for quality, patient safety, and risk management in the ambulance service, used the programme alongside a quality improvement study on repeat emergency calls among patients with diabetes who declined transport after emergency treatment.
Over 2.5 years, repeat emergency calls among participating patients fell from 13% to 6%. The findings informed updates to ambulance service procedures and guidance on patient education and communication.
Following completion of the Research to Publication, Dr Farhat has gone on to publish more than 46 additional papers and now leads quality, patient safety, and risk management and disaster medicine within the ambulance service at Hamad Medical Corporation.
Research to Publication improved my methodological approach and how I present it. Understanding the expectations of peer review helped me design studies more rigorously and report findings more clearly.”
Hassan Farhat, operations manager for quality, patient safety and risk management
Ambulance service, Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar
Supporting research development alongside clinical work
At SDM College of Medical Science and Hospital in India, associate professor of paediatrics Ashwini Sankannava faces the common challenge for clinicians of balancing research alongside patient care and teaching.
To help strengthen research capability within the department, Sankannava completed BMJ Research to Publication and has subsequently utilised learnings from the programme’s structured courses on methodology, reporting, and publication strategy to support research development alongside clinical work.
“Before completing BMJ Research to Publication, I had many doubts about how to design and write my research, but the programme made the process clear and systematic.”
Knowledge gained through the programme contributed to Sankannava’s first BMJ publication in BMJ Case Reports, describing the development of Kawasaki disease following adenovirus infection. The publication subsequently led to wider academic engagement, including collaboration discussions with infectious disease researchers and invitations to review manuscripts.
The programme also supported broader research activity within the department, including multicentre studies, mentoring of postgraduate and undergraduate students, and submission of further research articles to international journals.
Sankannava reports that the training contributes to more structured approaches to research and quality improvement within the department, including increased use of standardised reporting and protocol-driven methods in both clinical and academic work.
I had one or two international publications before joining the Research to Publication programme. However, after completing the course, I was able to achieve my first publication with BMJ Group, which was a very important milestone for me professionally and academically.”
Ashwini Sankannava, associate professor (paediatrics)
SDM College of Medical Science and Hospital: Hubli-Dharwad, Karnataka, India
Fostering clearer, faster, and more effective research publication
At Fundación Valle del Lili, one of Colombia’s leading hospitals, chief research and innovation officer Dr Sergio Prada, oversees a research operation producing more than 300 scientific papers each year. Working within a middle-income healthcare system with limited research funding, his challenge is not generating clinical evidence, but ensuring busy clinician-researchers can communicate their findings clearly, publish efficiently, and disseminate research internationally despite financial and structural barriers.
In 2023, Dr Prada and 14 clinician-researchers completed Research to Publication, using the programme to strengthen scientific writing, improve journal selection, and support more effective dissemination of research.
For Dr Prada, one of the programme’s most valuable contributions was improving clarity and concision in research writing for teams working primarily in Spanish-speaking contexts.
“In our culture, we tend to give a lot of context, but in English you go straight to the point. Research to Publication programme taught us that methods and discussion sections need to be very clear and concise.” Sergio I Prada, chief research and innovation officer, Fundación Valle del Lili in Cali, Colombia
The programme also helps researchers identify appropriate journals earlier in the submission process, reducing delays caused by unsuitable submissions and improving publication efficiency across multiple specialties, including respiratory medicine and healthcare innovation.
Prada says published research helps strengthen the credibility of hospital programmes and supports conversations with donors and healthcare partners. As one of Colombia’s leading hospitals, Fundación Valle del Lili also plays an important role in sharing clinical evidence from a middle income healthcare system with national and international audiences. Since completion of the Research to Publication programme, Dr Prada has published in multiple BMJ journals, including BMJ Global Health, BMJ Innovations, BMJ Open, BMJ Open Respiratory Research, and BMJ Paediatrics Open.
In our culture, we tend to give a lot of context, but in English you go straight to the point. Research to Publication programme taught us that methods and discussion sections need to be very clear and concise.”
Sergio Prada, chief research and innovation officer
Fundación Valle del Lili in Cali, Colombia
What is BMJ Research to Publication?
Research to Publication is a research methodology and publishing programme specifically designed for doctors and healthcare researchers, brought to you by BMJ Group in collaboration with University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
Eight multimedia collections are focused entirely on healthcare research. BMJ Group’s research editors and UCSF’s academics guide learners through the entire process, from designing a study to seeing it published in an international journal.
Interactive self study courses give learners the skills necessary to conduct investigations and overcome the challenges associated with getting published in international journals.
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