Resources dedicated to Nurse Authors
NursingWriting
A blog site supported by the Center for Nursing Scholarship at the University of Connecticut, NursingWriting provides editors with a clearinghouse where they can announce calls for submissions for regular and special issues. Updated weekly, NursingWriting also features news about journal publishing, grants, conferences, and issues of interest to nurse authors, as well as writing and publishing tips for nurse writers.
AJN series “Writing for Publication: Step by Step,”
These four articles pack in a tremendous amount of information about the entire process of writing and publishing. The series takes nurses step by step through the publication process, highlighting what gets published and why, how to submit articles and work with editors, and common pitfalls to avoid.
“Writing for Professional Journals” (12 module course)
This course is open to the public and is licensed under Creative Commons. Patricia Gonce Morton, PhD, RN, FAAN, University of Utah College of Nursing Dean, authored the content as part of a grant provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) while participating in the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellow program. The “Writing for Professional Journals” course can be used by an individual learner or can be adapted in any way for a course in a college’s program of study. The course also may be helpful to practicing nurses in a professional development program. The course content includes twelve modules. Each module has accompanying video instruction, PowerPoint slides, reflection assignments, activity log workbook assignments, and suggested reading lists
Books on Writing by Nursing Editors
Nicoll, Leslie (2012). Manuscript Success. Portland, ME: Bristlecone Pine Press
Nicoll, Leslie & Chinn Peggy L (2015). Writing in the Digital Age: Savvy Publishing for Healthcare Professionals Philadelphia, Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
Oermann, M.H., & Hays, J. (2019). Writing for publication in nursing (4th ed.). New York: Springer Publishing.
Saver, Cynthia. (2021). Anatomy of Writing for Publication for Nurses, 4th Edition. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau.
Common Style Resources
Each journal specifies its preferred style and format, but many nursing journals follow these two style guides. Each of these also provide extensive guidelines for general writing conventions, including punctuation, spelling, grammatical conventions, gender-neutral language and writing conventions to overcome social and political “isms.”
AMA
Excellent resource from University of Washington describing the AMA style as well as providing examples. Access to the complete AMA style manual online is available with a subscription. Also, the AMA Style Insider, the official blog of the AMA Manual of Style, is an excellent resource for not only AMA style issues, but general writing issues as well.
APA
Learning APA Style. This page from the American Psychological Association has links to tutorials for the APA 6th edition including samples.
General Information about the Publishing Process
73 Things Publishers Do (2013 Edition) – an overview and explanation of the role of publishers. (Blog post on the Scholarly Kitchen, October 22, 2013)
Writing and Publishing Tips
Baggs, J. G. (2003). A new editor’s first editorial (editorial).Research in Nursing & Health, 26, 261-262.
Baggs, J. G., & Schmitt, M. H. (2003). Editors and conflict of interest (editorial). Research in Nursing & Health, 26, 87-89.
Baggs, J. G. (2006). Open access. (editorial). Research in Nursing & Health, 29, 1-2.
Baggs, J. G. (2008). Issues and rules for authors concerning authorship versus acknowledgments, dual publication, self plagiarism, and salami publishing (editorial). Research in Nursing & Health, 31(4), 295-297.
Baggs, J. G, & Froman, R. D. (2009). It’s ba-a-a-a-a-a-a-ck again, or how to live with the new APA Manual: Reprise for Edition 6.Research in Nursing & Health, 32, 477-479.
Baggs, J. G. (2010). Through the looking glass: Publishing in a journal in another language or another country. Research in Nursing & Health, 33 , 85-86.
Baggs, J. G. (2011). The dissertation manuscript option, Internet posting, and publication. Research in Nursing & Health, 34, 89-90.
Bearinger, L. H., Taliaferro, L., & Given, B. (2010). When R & R is not rest & recovers but revise & resubmit. Research in Nursing & Health, 33, 381-385.
Becker, P. T. (2008). Publishing pilot intervention studies. Research in Nursing & Health, 31, 1-3.
Becker, P. T. (2010). Thoughts on the end of the article: The implications for nursing practice. Research in Nursing & Health, 33, 241-242.
Bradley-Springer L. (2008) Why Don’t You Write? Jour Assoc Nurses in Aids Care JANAC 19(5):331-4.
Chinn, P. L. (1999). From the editor: Scholarship: the Paradoxes of the 14 C’s. Advances in Nursing Science, 22(2), v – vi.
Chinn, P. L. (2003). Feminist Approaches. In J. Clare & H. Hamilton (Eds.), Writing Research: Transforming Data into Written Forms(pp. 61-84): Elsevier Science Limited.
Conn, V., Cooper, P., Ruppar, T., & Russell, C. (2008). Searching for the intervention in intervention research reports. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 40, 52-59.
Froman, R. D. (2008). Polishing your shot at the bull’s eye: The “please do” list. Research in Nursing & Health, 31, 541-542.
Froman, R. C. (2008). Hitting the bull’s eye rather than shooting yourself between the eyes. Research in Nursing & Health, 31, 399-401
Froman, R. D. (2011). Format, style, and precision. Research in Nursing & Health, 34, 1-3.
Jennings, B. M. (2011). Writing: There’s no “app” for that.Research in Nursing & Health, 34, 267-269
Oermann, M.H. (2009). SQUIRE guidelines for reporting improvement studies in healthcare: Implications for nursing publications. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 24, 91-95
Pierson, C (2016). The four R’s of revising and resubmitting a manuscript. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. 28, 408-409.
Sandelowski, M. J. (2011). Getting it right. Research in Nursing & Health, 33, 1-3
Saver, C. (Ed.) (2011). Anatomy of writing for publication for nurses. Indianapolis: Sigma Theta Tau International.
Smith SP. (2010). The manager as published author: tips on writing for publication. In Harris MD, The Handbook of Home Health Administration. 5th ed. Sudbury MA: Jones & Bartlett: 819-834.
Smith SP, Mateo MA.(2009). Communicating Research through Oral Presentations. In Mateo MA, Kirchhoff K, eds. Conducting and Using Nursing Research in the Clinical Setting, 3rd Ed. Baltimore: Springer; 427-440.
Smith SP, Mateo MA. (2009) Reporting Results Through Publication. In Mateo MA, Kirchhoff K, eds. Conducting and Using Nursing Research in the Clinical Setting, 3rd Ed. Baltimore: Springer; 441-455.
