Navigating the course of scholarly productivity: the protégé's role in mentoring

The importance of mentoring for professional success, including mentoring in writing, has become increasingly emphasized in academic nursing during the past decade. Although much has been published on how to write for publication, as well as the roles of mentors themselves, surprisingly little has been written about how protégés (those who are the recipients of mentoring) can take an active role in assisting themselves to obtain mentorship. How newer faculty can obtain adequate mentoring is often less straightforward.

The main goal of this article is to describe some ideas about how faculty can actively help themselves to obtain adequate mentoring, with a particular focus on mentoring in writing. METHOD/DISCUSSION: Five principles are illustrated as follows, with case examples of hypothetical new faculty members: know yourself, develop realistic expectations, reach out and get to know others, negotiate for what is needed, and learn from every experience.

We hope that this discussion will foster further exchange among mentors, protégés, and administrators about approaches to seeking mentoring and high-level success in writing for publication along career journeys.