Ready to Write for Publication? AJN’s Manuscript Wish List

The American Journal of Nursing (AJN) is currently seeking article submissions in a number of topic areas and of various types. Please read this short post for more information, and pass the link along to anyone you know who might have a particular area of expertise or interest to write about.

AJN publishes original research, quality improvement (QI), and review articles as CE and feature articles. We also publish shorter, focused columns. 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, and nursing implications. Feature articles are usually 5,000 to 8,000 words.

We currently seek articles on these clinical topics:

  • Diabetes management
  • Orthopedic topics—joint replacement, spinal injuries
  • Most pediatric topics—but especially pain, scoliosis, adolescent mental health
  • Best practice in anticoagulant therapy
  • Acute/critical care updates (new guidelines, research)
  • Autoimmune disorders (such as lupus)
  • Infectious disease and public health
  • Polycystic ovary syndrome, gynecologic cancers
  • Managing/troubleshooting skin rashes
  • Parenteral and enteral feeding update

[…]

2022-01-26T10:11:38-05:00January 26th, 2022|career, Nursing, nursing career, writing|0 Comments
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What Would It Have Helped to Know as a New Nurse?

An incomplete record of starting out as a nurse. 

When I think back on my first year as a nurse, I always say two things to myself: “I wish I had written more,” and “I wish someone had given me a more realistic how-to manual.” I try to remember patients from back then. What would I have shared, had I written about each one?

I was never not writing about something (sometimes what I wrote was published on this blog), but over time, as I moved away from bedside care and into administration, I wrote differently: policies and program plans, research protocols and systematic reviews. Although I rarely worked directly with patients anymore, their positive outcomes continued to motivate my every word.

I like to think my writing has grown with me. I’ve learned the power of the active voice; the structure required for the APA Writing Manual. 7th edition; and the deepening of understanding that comes from reading and reflection. But I will always wish for more writing—of any kind—from that first year. Even a scribble to jog my memory. This nursing birth of mine, like any birth, began my nursing life in a very specific way. I was challenged and tested, understood and got lost, and, […]

2023-01-30T10:34:04-05:00October 22nd, 2020|new nurses, Nursing, nursing career|0 Comments
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Editing a Journal: Not Bedside Nursing, But Still an Urgency to Get Things Right

By Maureen Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, AJN editor-in-chief

‘Nurses practice based on what’s in the literature; we need editors who will draw lines and stand firm against publishing biased and inaccurate papers.’

Niklas Bildhauer/ Wikimedia Commons Niklas Bildhauer/ Wikimedia Commons

I recently returned from a meeting in Las Vegas, the land of lights and bells and six-story marquees—and heat (it hit 109 when I was there, but “a dry heat”). The long flight home gave me time to reflect on the meeting I’d attended (of editors of nursing journals) and on what I do.

When I began my nursing career, I always thought I would stay in the acute care setting. I found the fast pace of the ER challenging and never boring. When I moved into a clinical specialist position and then an administrative one, I could still get involved in challenging situations, from dealing with problems that occurred on clinical units or with staff to navigating the politics of hospital committees and community liaisons.

But time passes and paths twist and turn, and here I am the editor of AJN—and it’s the most challenging and professionally fulfilling job I’ve had.

The International Academy of Nursing Editors (INANE for short) meets annually. It’s a loose networking group, mainly held together through a Web site, blog, and listserv. […]

2016-11-21T13:02:09-05:00August 14th, 2015|Nursing, nursing perspective, nursing research|3 Comments
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Counting Your Blessings

By Maureen Shawn Kennedy, AJN editor-in-chief

A perhaps idealized past: 'Home for Thanksgiving,' Currier and Ives lithograph/Wikimedia Commons A perhaps idealized past: ‘Home for Thanksgiving,’ Currier and Ives lithograph/Wikimedia Commons

At the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., it’s customary to take some time to reflect on our good fortune—to give thanks for what we have. For many of us, it means being thankful for family and good health. But what about all the other people who may make a difference in how we live our lives, who make the world in which we live better or in some indirect way have had an impact on what we do, how we do it, how we feel about life or our work?

Here are some folks I’d like to thank:

2016-11-21T13:03:29-05:00November 26th, 2014|career, infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective|0 Comments
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Article Types, Topics of Interest, and Other Considerations for Prospective AJN Authors

iPad app exhibit AORNBy 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, […]

2016-11-21T13:08:08-05:00March 14th, 2013|nursing research|0 Comments
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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