An Examination of Instructional Intervention on Doctoral Student Perceptions of Scholarly Communication

Doctoral students need a solid understanding of the scholarly communication process in order to publish their research. Despite this need, many universities lack a formal means of instructing their graduate students on these topics, opting instead for informal discussions between students and faculty. This pilot study describes one academic library’s attempt to understand doctoral student perceptions of scholarly communication topics by way of collaboration, both within and outside the library. A one-time instructional intervention was conducted with a selected group of doctoral students within a College of Education program. Students were assessed pre- and post-instruction to ascertain any change in student knowledge and perceptions as a result of the instruction. Results indicate that the instructional intervention produced positive gains in student knowledge as well as solidified student understanding of the imperative need to publish prior to graduation. Results also demonstrated the need to educate faculty on these topics as students indicated a strong preference for their professor’s guidance on selecting a journal for publication. These findings highlight the need for greater levels of instruction on scholarly communication topics, as well as the need for channels of instruction