An Institutional Postdoctoral Research Training Program: Increasing Productivity of Postdoctoral Trainees

Abstract

Objective

Postdoctoral training is a critical stage of career development, and there has been a national effort to increase the consistency and quality of postdoctoral experiences. However, much of the effort has gone towards improving the process of training with less effort focusing on the content of what should be achieved during postdoctoral training, primarily because of a lack of empirical evidence in this area. One possible predictor of later scientific productivity is the number of peer-reviewed papers published during postdoctoral training. This manuscript reports on efforts to increase postdoctoral productivity.

Method

A single institution made postdoctoral training program changes designed to increase postdoctoral publication productivity. Postdoctoral publication productivity was compared between 114 trainees who matriculated prior to the changes and 20 trainees who matriculated after the changes.

Results

Postdoctoral trainees who matriculated after program changes had higher publication rates than postdoctoral trainees who matriculated prior to program changes [χ ²(df = 15) = 31.4, p = .002]. Four or more postdoctoral publications are associated with the greatest likelihood of sustained posttraining publications; postdocs matriculating after the program changes were more than twice as likely to have four or more publications (55 vs 26 %).

Conclusions

Postdoctoral program changes designed to increase postdoctoral publication rates can be successful. Defining, for each postdoc, a minimal postdoctoral publication rate may be an appropriate component of individualized development plans.