The Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research and Innovation, Professor Nokuthula Kunene, welcomed the attendees to the sensational event. The workshop was facilitated by Doctor M Jonathan, from Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico.

This workshop was aimed to further improve the required skills for scientific writing for young academic researchers, as well as students. The workshop also provided an opportunity for networking, which is another important aspect required when enhancing research skills and productivity.

The first day of the workshop focused on scientific data set that can be written in a manner which will be accepted at international level. This program covered aspects in basic principles to follow in writing a scientific article/report (habits for scientific writing, important concepts in science, advantages of publishing quality work and points to get ready before writing a scientific article. The course simplified review of new article writing that are published in the journal, such as the importance of article title, keywords, and importance of abstract writing. Dr Jonathan went on to further explain the importance of structuring scientific articles, where he gave some additional tools which help in interpreting the scientific data, importance of materials and methodology, how to structure a literature review and the importance of it.

Day two focused more on the importance of structuring scientific article. Dr Jonathan gave tips on interpreting scientific data set such as hints to frame their results, frame discussion, how to observe and identify what should be presented and interpreted, using different software and other mode of calculations. The discussion concluded by, identifying the importance of journals and how to read and correct scientific article. He trained on how to fill up gaps in an article, the dos and don’ts during their writing and finally, what should be done after submission.

A master’s student from the Department of Chemistry at UNIZULU, Malusi Zungu who was one of the attendees. His topic is “Synthesis of ZnS and NiS nanoparticles using metal-pyrazolyl thiocarbamates as precursors”. The postgraduate stated that the workshop was beneficial to him as he got to understand the different aspects of writing and publishing a paper, not only in local journals but also in high impact journals. He further said that he came out well equipped and motivated to try and apply what he was taught in the workshop when he writes a paper for his research.

The scholar concluded by, recommending the workshop to other postgraduates. “I recommend this workshop to every postgraduate student who’s looking to write and publish their research because it has helped me in my topic to understand what is expected from me as a researcher,” he said.

  • Sinenhlanhla Ngcongo