By Maureen Shawn Kennedy, AJN editor-in-chief
I recently wrote a post that attempted to give readers a clearer sense of what we are looking for in article submissions and what we are not looking for: “My Professor Said to Submit My Paper (We Hope They Also Told You This).”
This post will just provide a quick overview of the types of articles we publish, as well as a plug for why it’s good to be published in AJN.
In terms of impact factor, AJN ranks 29/95 among ranked nursing journals, with an impact factor of 1.119. (Nursing journals with higher impact factors tend to be specialty research journals, whereas AJN publishes a broad range of content in addition to research, and for a variety of audiences.) Through our robust print, digital, iPad, institutional, and social media channels, AJN reaches more nurses than any other nursing journal.
We publish original research, quality improvement (QI), and review articles as primary feature articles and as CE articles. We also publish shorter, focused columns. All submissions must be evidence based and are peer-reviewed.
Clinical features should cover epidemiology, pathology, current research/“what’s new” in knowledge and/or treatment, nursing implications. There is no specific limit for word count, though feature articles are usually in the range of 6,000 to 10,000 words. (We have done two-part and three-part series for larger papers.) For examples of feature articles, see any of the CE articles on our Web site, www.ajnonline.com.
Some specific clinical topics we are currently seeking articles about:
Sedating patients with dementia; pleural effusions; pneumonia; treatment options for chronic pain (or articles on other aspects of pain management); rheumatoid arthritis; most pediatric topics; hypertensive emergencies; strokes, seizures (and other neuro topics); approaches to managing prostate and ovarian cancer; adverse effects from therapies; updates on managing arrhythmias, rosacea, scoliosis and other orthopedic topics, progressive mobility
Columns are shorter, focused papers of 2,000–3,000 words. AJN columns (some monthly, some more intermittent) include:
Emerging Infections, Disaster Care, Emergency, Environments and Health, Correspondence from Abroad (international topics), In Our Community, Policy and Politics, Wound Care, iNurse, Diabetes Under Control, Professional Development, plus occasional columns that take an in-depth look at new research or treatment topics or provide drug updates for specific conditions.
Cultivating Quality is the section for QI reports (authors should follow the SQUIRE guidelines as detailed in the author guidelines).
And in several shorter columns, we publish opinion pieces (Viewpoint), narratives/personal essays (Reflections), and poetry and art (Art of Nursing).
We encourage all prospective authors to review AJN articles at www.ajnonline.com prior to submitting.
For author guidelines and submission information (do please read these, noting word limits and other important details; some specific columns have their own guidelines): www.editorialmanager.com/ajn.
Queries can be sent to alison.bulman@wolterskluwer.com. Note that all queries should include the article idea, including its focus; an abstract and outline; length of paper and target date for submission; background of all authors and their qualifications to write on the subject; the topic’s relevance to nursing today. Queries about completed papers should also give these same details about the paper. Please do not submit a paper as a query.
Comments are moderated before approval, but always welcome.