Journal of Research in Nursing
Journal of Research in Nursing publishes research on nursing topics and themes. Original research is published with the aim of encouraging evidence-based practice and improving the quality of patient care.
It publishes quality research papers on healthcare issues that inform nurses and other healthcare professionals globally. Through linking policy, research and development initiatives to clinical and academic excellence Journal of Research in Nursing aims to support nursing and healthcare professionals in their development, for the overall benefit of quality healthcare services.
"I have used Journal of Research in Nursing extensively in the course of a recent research project and think that it provides an invaluable reference point for nurse researchers particularly for up-to-date policy related information" Professor Donna Fitzmasons, Ulster University and Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, UK
"Journal of Research in Nursing is an important journal in UK Nursing and has made a significant contribution to the transfer of knowledge with direct relevance to the whole of the nursing community. Researchers have no hesitation in contributing papers to the journal highlighting the respect Journal of Research in Nursing has as a vehicle for the dissemination of research findings. The partnership with SAGE Publications will enable this success to be taken to the world stage. I wish the journal, its editor and editorial team every success in its 're-birth' and ongoing development" Professor Brendan McCormack, Head of Division of Nursing, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK
"A rip-roaring, highly policy and practice relevant research read" Dr Ann-Marie Rafferty, King's College London, UK
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
The Journal of Research in Nursing is a leading peer reviewed journal that blends good research with contemporary debates about policy and practice. The Journal of Research in Nursing contributes knowledge to nursing practice, research and local, national and international health and social care policy. Each issue contains a variety of papers and review commentaries within a specific theme. The editors are advised and supported by a board of key academics, practitioners and policy makers of international standing.
The Journal of Research in Nursing will:
• Ensure an evidence base to your practice and policy development
• Inform your research work at an advanced level
• Challenge you to critically reflect on the interface between practice, policy and research
| Professor Andree Le May | Emeritus Professor of Nursing, University of Southampton, UK |
| Dr Ann McMahon | Honorary Senior Teaching Fellow, University of Glasgow and Honorary Professor, Plymouth University |
| Dr. Veronica Bishop | Visiting Professor of Nursing, City University, UK |
| Louise Bramley | Clinical Lead Research and Innovation, Institute of Nursing and Midwifery Care Excellence at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, UK |
| Lorraine Culley | Emeritus Professor of Social Science and Health, De Montfort University, UK |
| Gordon Hill | Senior Lecturer, International, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK |
| Joyce Kenkre | Emerita Professor of Primary Care, University of South Wales, UK |
| Juliet MacArthur | Chief Nurse Research and Development, NHS Lothian, UK |
| Mubarak Patel | Research Associate, University of Warwick, UK |
| Sam Porter | Professor of Nursing Sociology, Head of Department of Social Sciences and Social Work, Bournemouth University, UK |
| Annie Topping | Professor of Nursing, University of Birmingham/United Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, UK |
| Mark White | Vice President of Research, Innovation and Graduate Studies, Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland |
| Eloise Carr | Professor of Nursing and Associate Dean, University of Calgary, Canada |
| Sek Ying Chair | Professor of Nursing, Director and Head of Graduate Division, Nethersole School of Nursing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China |
| Sean Clarke | Professor and Executive Vice Dean, Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University, USA |
| Dame Jessica Corner | Executive Chair for Research at UKRI, UK |
| Dawn Freshwater | Vice-Chancellor, University of Auckland, New Zealand |
| Gillian Harvey | Matthew Flinders Fellow and Professor of Health Services and Implementation Research in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Australia |
| Jennifer Jackson | Assistant Professor of Nursing, University of Calgary, Canada |
| Janna Lesser | Professor of Nursing, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, USA |
| Hugh McKenna CBE | Professor of Nursing, Ulster University, Northern Ireland, UK |
| Teresa Moreno-Casbas | Head of the Research Unit in Health Care, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain |
| Gwen Sherwood | Professor Emerita, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA |
| Leonie Walker | Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Health Sciences, Massey University, New Zealand |
| Kenneth Walsh | Adjunct Professor of Nursing, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Australia |
Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Journal of Research in Nursing
This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics
This Journal recommends that authors follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).
Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jrn to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.
Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Journal of Research in Nursing will be reviewed.
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.
As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.
- What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Article types
1.3 Writing your paper - Editorial policies
2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Funding
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
2.6 Research ethics and patient consent
2.8 Data - Publishing policies
3.1 Publication ethics
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving - Preparing your manuscript
4.1 Formatting
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
4.3 Supplementary material
4.4 Reference style
4.5 English language editing services - Submitting your manuscript
5.1 ORCID
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
5.3 Permissions - On acceptance and publication
6.1 Sage Production
6.2 Online First publication
6.3 Access to your published article
6.4 Promoting your article - Further information
Before submitting your manuscript to Journal of Research in Nursing, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.
The Journal of Research in Nursing welcomes research papers and reviews on nursing, whether clinical, research, education or management topics. The contribution of the paper to, or implications for, both nursing practice and health and social care policy must be made explicit. Papers are normally restricted to a maximum of 5,000 words, excluding all elements (title page, abstract, notes, references, tables, biographical statement, etc.).
The Journal considers the following kinds of article for publication:
1.2.1 Research papers should be presented under the following section headings:
Title Page File
JRN operates double anonymize peer review which means that all author information should be contained within a title page file (not shown to reviewers) and an author anonymised manuscript file. The title page file should include:
- Manuscript Title
- Running head (a short title)
- This is required for each author: author name followed by job title and affiliation - first name in full, followed by family name, job title, department, institution and country. - <b>no other information</b> (no roles, academic credentials, positions of authority or emails).
- Correspondence information should be listed after the affiliations list in full. Write the name of one author for correspondence, their full postal address including postcode and country, tel and fax with international dialling codes, and email.
- Declaration of interest section must appear here in the title page file to preserve anonymity.
- All declarations of interest and funding must be outlined under the subheading “Declaration of interest” If authors have no declarations of interest to report, this must be explicitly stated. The suggested, but not mandatory, wording in such an instance is: The authors report no declarations of interest.
- Ethical Permissions. Please include a statement regarding ethical permissions (or the reason why these were not needed).
- Trial registration information (for interventions and observational studies) - must include the date the trial was registered in a public database, the trial start date, the registration number and the URL of the trial record.
- Author biographies. Please include a 30-word biography for each author.
Main document file (the anonymized manuscript).
Your manuscript should not contain identifying information (note, self-citation is permitted). Please include the following elements:
Abstract - Please provide a structured abstract of no more than 200 words. The structured abstract should include the sub-headings of Background, Aims, Methods, Results and Conclusions. Within the conclusions section please clearly state the paper’s contribution to nursing.
Keywords - six MeSH compliant keywords.
Introduction - this should set the scene, including the policy context, for the research study and state the research question/ hypothesis. This should be followed by a literature review, which should quote key articles directly relevant to the study
Methodology - this should be sufficiently detailed for subsequent researchers to follow; it should reiterate the aims and hypotheses of the study and why the methodology was chosen. Copies of research tools, such as questionnaires, should be included with the manuscript
Results - full results should be submitted, including relevant tables, figures and diagrams and details of statistical analysis
Discussion - this should be as full as possible and attempt to explain the results achieved and their significance to both nursing practice and health and social care policy. Limitations to the study should be highlighted in this section
Conclusion - this section should draw together the findings of the study, how they relate to the original aims and make recommendations as to how the work can be carried forward. The paper’s contribution to nursing must be clearly stated.
Key points - a list of four or five key points drawing out the main findings and their implications for nursing practice, health and social care policy and future research.
References - JRN follows Harvard (author, date) style referencing. References should be complete - even when citing your own previous work. Authors should write objectively and not attach ownership to their sources, so anonymizing references is not required. View the Sage Harvard guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.
Please do not include unpublished data or ‘in press’ sources since we are unable to verify the appropriateness of these.
Tables - as tabulated text/ data (if any)
Figure captions - listed after the tables (if any). Figures must be supplied as separate image format files.
Statistical analysis should meet the minimum standards of reporting statistics in clinical research (see SAMPL http://www.equator-network.org/2013/02/11/sampl-guidelines-for-statistical-reporting/ ). You may also find the editorial by Amrhein V, Greenland S, McShane B. Retire statistical significance. Nature 2019; 567: 305-7 useful.
Figures - For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines
Supporting documents
Interventions must be accompanied by a completed CONSORT and TiDier flowchart and checklist.
Observations must be accompanied by a completed STROBE checklist.
The contribution of the paper to, or implications for, nursing practice and health and social care policy should be made explicit.
1.2.2 Review Articles
The contribution of the paper to, or implications for, nursing practice and health and social care policy must be made explicit.
The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.
1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.
Sage does not permit the use of author-suggested (recommended) reviewers at any stage of the submission process, be that through the web-based submission system or other communication. Reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Our policy is that reviewers should not be assigned to a paper if:
• The reviewer is based at the same institution as any of the co-authors
• The reviewer is based at the funding body of the paper
• The author has recommended the reviewer
• The reviewer has provided a personal (e.g. Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail) email account and an institutional email account cannot be found after performing a basic Google search (name, department and institution).
All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.
Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.
2.3.1 Third party submissions
Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:
- Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
- Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
- Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.
Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.
2.3.2 Writing assistance
Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance”).
It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.
Please supply any personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.
Journal of Research in Nursing requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
Journal of Research in Nursing encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway
2.6 Research ethics and patient consent
Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki
Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.
For research articles, authors must state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal. Authors must also state whether ethical approval was required or not for the research, please also include any relevant additional ethical considerations.
Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative.
Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants
Sage acknowledges the importance of research data availability as an integral part of the research and verification process for academic journal articles.
Journal of Research in Nursing requests all authors submitting any primary data used in their research articles [“alongside their article submissions” or “if the articles are accepted”] to be published in the online version of the journal, or provide detailed information in their articles on how the data can be obtained. This information should include links to third-party data repositories or detailed contact information for third-party data sources. Data available only on an author-maintained website will need to be loaded onto either the journal’s platform or a third-party platform to ensure continuing accessibility. Examples of data types include but are not limited to statistical data files, replication code, text files, audio files, images, videos, appendices, and additional charts and graphs necessary to understand the original research. [The editor(s) may consider limited embargoes on proprietary data.] The editor(s) can also grant exceptions for data that cannot legally or ethically be released. All data submitted should comply with Institutional or Ethical Review Board requirements and applicable government regulations. For further information, please contact the editorial office at [email address].
Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.
3.1.1 Plagiarism
Journal of Research in Nursing and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.
3.1.2 Prior publication
If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.
3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway.
3.3 Open access and author archiving
Journal of Research in Nursing offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.
Please check whether you are entitled to publish open access via a deal between your institution and Sage by checking this page of Open Access Agreements.
4. Preparing your manuscript for submission
The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.
Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.
This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files.
Journal of Research in Nursing adheres to the Sage Harvard reference style. View the Sage Harvard guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.
If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the Sage Harvard EndNote output file.
4.5 English language editing services
Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.
Journal of Research in Nursing is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jrn to login and submit your article online.
IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.
As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.
The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.
If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).
Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.
6. On acceptance and publication
Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.
Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.
6.3 Access to your published article
Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.
6.4 Promoting your article
Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Journal of Research in Nursing editorial office as follows: