I had the same problem, with interns in medicine, and tried the same strategies without succes. But in the last term we were together analyzing and discussing the papers and until we finished one we did the same with the next until all the papers were finished. Once a paper was finished it was sent to a journal. All the students (5) finished their papers. Two have been already accepted , two in review and one is directed to another journal. I will keep on the same in the next terms.

I have a particular personal strategy that, while it doesn't always work, seems to stand more chance of success. I always advise my students to write two versions of each thesis chapter; one the full chapter for examination submission, the other a summary version for potential publication. i find that if you suggest to students 'publish when you finish your thesis' they are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data, words etc and find it hard to see it as a publication of 5,000 words or less. Depending on the quality of the research, I also tend to suggest several publications i.e. a conceptual publication based on the literature review and discussion chapters, a methodological paper based on the design and findings - and, if possible, target a national and international journal.

The other key is persistence. Rarely does a student publish through 'self-motivation'. It usually takes a number of 'prompts' from me to get students to put 'pen-to-paper' to publish outside their thesis submission. Without that 'pressure' (encouragement and support), students are unlikely to submit. It's part of the 'unethical' situation whereby, without active encouragement, so much post-graduate research becomes consigned to the 'university library alone' - and the public etc doesn't benefit.

Great suggestions - indeed, research deans can do whatever - however, it is the student who needs to write - and if they are only coming to obtain their PhD at the expense of their government or corporation - they will be keen to leave as soon as they finish... and will not be in a position to write or submit - no matter how many times the supervisor will try.

On the other hand, there will be those who are keen to start up their academic life and will be commencing to go to conferences, and publishing journal articles throughout their preparation of the thesis.

As a Research Dean - you can provide internal grants providing them with funds to have a research assistant for a period of time who will be able to assist in literature review or analysis of data - provided a paper is sent to a high ranking journal... or if these students go to a conference and that paper was awarded 'best paper award' which can be easily accepted as a paper in a journal - a small grant will make wonders and have this paper converted to a journal article in no time with the help of a research assistant.

Regards

Yes Agnella - there are many both discipline-specific and generic texts written on the subject - as well as general online resources. They are often detailing similar advice for writers - but some are better than others. If anything, students wanting this type of advice may be overwhelmed with the amount of advice that there is. I tend to recommend a small handful of resources (including university-based support systems) - and let the student decide from there. I also have developed a Moodle Stream site for post-grad students which details how to write - both for their thesis and for publication or other dissemination i.e. conferences.

Are you aware of the review by McGrail (2006) about promoting publication rates for academic staff? Several interventions like support groups, mentoring and courses are included. I, personally, have an interest in structured writing retreats (see Murray and Cunningham, 2011 for description of content, process and qualitative research).

Mentoring and buddying can be very powerful methods to increase motivation and output.

I think part of the problem is that students don't realise that there are things worthy of publication along the way, as they are focused on the end goal of producing their thesis. Having a mentor, who is separate from the PhD supervisor, generates an opportunity to have less formal conversations around possibilities.

I have always insisted my post graduates , who do a 3 year course in Internal Medicine , that they should do a research work & present a paper in National or International conference by the second year . This motivates them , as they would get the abstract published in the journal & they gain the experience of presentation of their paper to experts in their field . After the conference , I suggest that they should write a detailed article to a journal for publication . This has definitely motivated some of my students to take up research work as a career , as it is mandatory for promotions in the teaching profession . The mentor has a definite role in guiding & motivating them , throughout the student period .

Coming at this from the other end of the spectrum (PhD student):  take a genuine interest in them and their work. If work or efforts are seen to be appreciated, then it is a basic social trait to repeat or increase the behaviours or actions which are associated with them.  

Also, give them reason to trust you:  where trust exists, students (& colleagues) will be much more willing to float ideas, ask for help, or offer collaboration.  The focus of many of these threads is the individual student, yet (IMO), universities are still 'communities of scholars'. Innovation (& production) stem from ideas, so it is important to create a receptive environment where they can be expressed and explored.

Writing and publishing are all well and good,  but the student has to have both inspiration and motivation to do so, beyond just fulfilling their degree requirements. These are elements of supervision and professional practice that can be overlooked. A student not only learns from what they are taught, but also by the example they are set.

I find co-authoring very effective. It is very mobilising when you have to produce certain part of the work and some other persons are expecting it at a certain time. Also many ideas are created when analysing what others already have written. After having written a few with others I find it harder to work alone.

However the original question being about evidence-based methods I do not know any actual research on this, might be worth looking for it. I hope we'll see some here. 

Engagement in the lab, in the classroom, in the weekly discussion group and in the "journal club" are all important. Encourage them to read and assess papers written by the "senior" graduate students or the recent PhD recipients. Challenge them to engage with others. Our group of faculty once put names of famous living scientists in a box and had students draw them out and then engage with them personally for our weekly discussion group. Students engaged with Noble Laureates, National Academy members and the "Who's Who" within our discipline. Most surprising was how these famous scientists re-engaged with our students over time. Begin by writing papers for technical conferences or seminars where proceedings will be published or distributed. Co-authorship can be very encouraging for global-level conference proceedings.  Finally, we required ALL of our students, regardless of source of support, to teach in our laboratory sections of our courses. This may have been the best training they received and it certainly gave them experience in understanding and explaining how things work in biology. If you can make undergraduates understand, you have mastered the principles and clear communication.