A question came up on the INANE Email list about the number of nursing journals there are in current publication. We actually have information on this in the INANE database of journals.
Marilyn Oermann and colleagues did a study on predatory journals, and identified 140 predatory journals in nursing; of those 103 had at least one article published.
In the Directory of Nursing Journals, there are currently 251 journals listed. These have been vetted for inclusion so I would characterize these as quality nursing publications. In the database that we maintain for the directory, there are 307 journals included. The reasons that 56 journals are not listed in the directory include;
- Invite sent to apply for review, but no answer so far (n = 19)
- Negative review (not listed) (n = 4)
- Not appropriate for the directory (n = 19) <– this category includes publications such as newsletters, also journals not published in English
- Delisted (used to be in the directory, but not anymore, the most common reason is that the journal has ceased publication) (n = 13)
- Journal has been reviewed, waiting on more info from the editor (n = 1)
Oermann, M. H., Conklin, J. L., Nicoll, L. H., Chinn, P. L., Ashton, K. S., Edie, A. H., … Budinger, S. C. (2016). Study of Predatory Open Access Nursing Journals. Journal of Nursing Scholarship: An Official Publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing / Sigma Theta Tau, 48(6), 624–632. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.
Oermann, M. H., Nicoll, L. H., Chinn, P. L., Ashton, K. S., Conklin, J. L., Edie, A. H., … Williams, B. L. (2018). Quality of articles published in predatory nursing journals. Nursing Outlook, 66(1), 4–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
When we began the INANE Outreach Initiative last fall, one of our tasks was to broadly review all nursing publications and also review the listings in the Directory. The Directory committee then undertook a major overhaul of the directory, including creating a database for the journals and following up with editors/publishers about the listings (and revising most of them). Thus these are probably the most accurate numbers on journal publications in nursing. Let me know if you have questions or need more info.
Leslie