Continuous quality improvement and the process of writing for academic publication.

OBJECTIVE: To improve their academic publication productivity by understanding the process of writing and setting long-run productivity goals. METHODS: We used the thinking and methods of continuous quality improvement and a national survey of associate professors of Family Medicine about their level of productivity at the time of their promotion to Associate Professor. RESULTS: Barriers to writing vary. The process from idea to publication takes well over a year on average. The average number of publications associated with successful promotion in Family Medicine ranges from 10 to 14 with substantial variation. CONCLUSION: Knowing the time until the promotion decision, the expected level of productivity, the death rates of started papers, and the duration of time between start to publication allows one to develop a long-range plan for publication productivity.