Some Materials on Mentoring

Greetings again. I hope you’ve had a good week.

As you may know: If you’re seeking a mentor to guide you in writing and publishing research, you may be able to find one through AuthorAID. (See the “Search” section on the AuthorAID homepage.) Special thanks to the researchers and editors who have volunteered to be mentors.

Sometimes members of the AuthorAID community ask, "What's a mentor?" One good definition I found is “a wise and trusted counselor or teacher”. Another is “an experienced person who helps someone who has less experience, especially in their job”.

I found these definitions by searching OneLook (www.onelook.com). By typing a word into OneLook, one can obtain definitions of a word from various dictionaries.

As you might have seen, the AuthorAID Resource Library now includes “Quick Guidelines for Mentors”. It also includes a Learning Agreement that mentors and mentees can complete.

Longer, more general resources on being a mentor include

• the US National Academies book Advisor, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: On Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering
• the article “Nature’s Guide for Mentors”

Sources of advice on receiving mentorship include the article “Top 10 Tips to Maximize Your Mentoring” (from Science Careers). The tips in this article can help people benefit from having mentors.

These 3 resources can be read online for free.

Also, this Wednesday, Science Careers will have a free “webinar” titled “Mentoring Early-Career Scientists”. If participating would be feasible, perhaps register for this webinar.

Wishing you a good week— Barbara