WESTERN JOURNAL OF NURSING RESEARCH
Manuscript Requirements (2009)
Provide a descriptive manuscript title of no more than 12 words.
Number all pages, including references and cover page. Research reports may be 16 pages, review articles generally may be 20 pages, and grantsmanship papers may be 7 pages. (Title page, abstract, references, tables, and figures do not count towards total.)
Do not right-justify, use bold, or italics in the manuscript. Use one inch margins and 12-point typeface. Double space the entire document including tables and references.
Include an abstract in paragraph form without citations. Limit the abstract to 150 words. Include four to five keywords at the bottom of your abstract for indexing. Use MeSH headings if possible.
The organization for WJNR research reports is as follows:
Introduction: No more than one paragraph about the study topic without a heading.
Description of the Problem: Rationale for the study, any conceptual framework, and literature review. Use a substantive heading which describes the topic.
Purpose: Include specific research questions or hypotheses.
Methods: Specify design, participants/sampling, data collection/measures, interventions, procedures, and/or analysis plans as relevant. Intervention reports are welcome. Please use the CONSORT guidelines (http://www.consort-statement.org/) when developing intervention manuscripts (flow charts are generally not necessary). Provide extensive details regarding any interventions (interventionist, subject preparation for intervention, setting, intervention content specific information, dose, etc.).
Results: Describe sample attributes then present results by research questions or hypotheses. When statistical tests are performed, provide test statistics and exact p values. Report means and measures of variability for important variables. Report numbers of subjects included in analyses, if this varies.
Discussion: Findings interpreted in the context of other research, conceptual frameworks, or design.
Acknowledgements: Treat as footnotes, title "Notes," and place at the end of the manuscript. Do not state authors’ names in acknowledgements. Limit acknowledges to major contributions. Be brief.
References: Use the most recent APA Manual of Style for citations and reference lists. References for research reports are generally limited to 40 citations, reviews may include more citations.
Tables and figures are encouraged when they convey information not presented in the text. Group tables and figures at the end of the manuscript. If a table exceeds one page, it is counted as more than one table. Produce tables in word processing programs and eliminate any dividing lines within tables. Limit the combined total number of tables and figures to 3 for research reports. Review articles may contain additional tables.
Figures are optional and must be camera-ready. No more than one figure per page.
Review papers should address health problems or nursing practice issues with high significance for many patients or nurses. Reviews should synthesize previous findings as well as suggest future research and practice. Review articles should be organized in a manner consistent with the content area and have appropriate headings and subheadings. The extent of previous research determines the number of references and tables.
Prepare a manuscript file that does not contain any author information. Be sure you do not mention authors in acknowledgements. Do not include a title page in the manuscript file as the online system will generate a title page when the review copy is assembled. Include the abstract in the manuscript file.
Submit manuscripts online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wjnr.
WJNR Editor Vicki Conn or Assistant Sandra Dearlove or may be contacted at WJNR@missouri.edu.
WJNR Welcomes Outstanding Review Manuscripts |
