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Posts from the ‘Journal Information’ Category

Sep 21

Authorship


Unless you are preparing a manuscript all alone with absolutely no other person involved in any way, you are likely faced with the challenges involved in deciding who actually qualifies as an author, and once that decision is made, deciding whose name should be first, second, third and beyond.  The first and vitally important guideline for this process is this: early discussion and open negotiation among all parties involved.  This discussion can be initiated by any individual involved in a project – and hopefully that person is already familiar with the resources presented here as guidelines for the discussion.

This is no simple challenge.  In fact, matters of authorship are the most common cases presented for discussion by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics).  Their excellent discussion paper on Authorship should be at the top of your reading, and re-reading list every time you embark on a new project!  When you initiate an early discussion with your collaborators who might also become authors, if you start with a review of the widely accepted guidelines for authorship described here, you by-pass, or at least lessen the temptation to get involved in arguments and disagreements based purely on personal preferences and motivations.

For ANS, we subscribe to the guidelines for authorship provided by ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors), which require that anyone who is included as an author on a manuscript must meet four essential criteria:

  1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

During the submission process for ANS, all authors must confirm that they meet these four criteria, and soon, you will also be required to include a statement for each author that describes the specific contributions that they have made to the work (criteria #1).  The fact remains that there are typically people who have made a contribution of some type to the conception or design of the work, but have not participated in all of criteria 2, 3 or 4; thus they do not qualify as an author, but they should be acknowledged as non-author contributors in the “acknowledgements” that are published with the article.

The matter of the order in which authors’ names appear is even more difficult to determine. The earlier you can settle this matter, the better for all concerned.  Further, whatever the decision, you will have a much more comfortable working relationship throughout the entire process if everyone involved is fully “on board” with the order in which authors’ names appear.  You can base this decision on the relative contributions of each person, or, if all contributions are roughly equal, you can use an alphabetical or reverse-alphabetical order.

There is a specific situation that many ANS authors face – that of the role of the dissertation or thesis committee members who have worked with a student who ultimately is expected to produce publishable manuscripts based on the scholarly project required for the degree.  The ANS editorial and publishing team concur with the recommendations that have emerged from ICMJE and COPE – faculty advisors do not qualify for authorship based on their advisory role alone. Even though it is typically the case that faculty advisors make significant contributions to the development of the dissertation project, and in turn the content that emerges in a publishable article, faculty advisors rarely meet all of the criteria 2, 3 and 4 above.  Therefore they should be acknowledged for their contribution as an advisor to the project required for the degree, but not as authors.  Of course, in the event that faculty advisors do actively participate and meet all four criteria, they should be authors. However, in my opinion, the student (or former student), as the sole author of the dissertation or thesis, would typically be named as the first author based on their relative investment in the project.

I welcome your comments and responses related to this important issue!  Leave your ideas below – I will respond!

Sep 15

Future Issue Topics


You may have noticed a shift that is gradually emerging in ANS – the “mix” of articles, some of which focus on an issue topic, and some of which represent a wide range of nursing scholarship that have been submitted as “ANS General Topic” articles.  The ultimate “profile” for each issue depends on the response that our planned issue topics elicits!  Our issue topics have been an important ANS feature, calling forth creative and important works that have influenced the emergence of nursing’s disciplinary focus.  Even though it is time to shift to a new model, we will continue to invite articles that focus on a specific topic.  Here are the topics we have planned for the forthcoming issues:

Women & Girls
Vol 39:2 –   June 2016
Manuscript Due Date: October 15, 2015
In 2011, the United Nations declared October 11th an annual “International Day of the Girl Child.” We are dedicating the mid-year 2016 issue of ANS in anticipation of the October 2016 international observance focusing on girls. We seek manuscripts that address nursing perspectives on health care for girls and women, their families and communities. We welcome research reports that provide evidence for nursing practice, theoretical and philosophic perspectives, or methodologic issues related to investigating health issues and nursing concerns for women and girls. We particularly welcome manuscripts with an international focus.

Palliative Care
Vol 39:3 –   September 2016
Manuscript Due Date: January 15, 2016
All health care providers encounter situations that call for palliative care, but nurses are at the center of care when palliative care is the approach that is agreed to be the best choice. This issue will focus on all aspects of nursing knowledge that influence the decisions and the approaches that shape palliative care. We welcome manuscripts containing research reports that provide evidence for practice, theoretical and philosophic perspectives, or methodologies that are well suited to this area of inquiry.

Toxic Stress
Vol 39:4 – December 2016
Manuscript Due Date: April 15, 2016
Toxic stress, unlike positive or tolerable stress, can result in life-long health challenges. For this issue of ANS we seek manuscripts that focus on the contributions that nurses are making to understanding the dynamics of toxic stress, and nursing approaches that demonstrate effective outcomes for children and adults suffering the effects of toxic stress. Articles that provide research outcomes, theoretic and philosophic constructions, practice models, or educational programs related to toxic stress are welcome. Implications for the development of nursing knowledge must be emphasized.

ANS Retrospective
Vol 40:1 – March 2017
Manuscript Due Date: July 15, 2016
This issue of ANS marks the beginning of the 40th year since ANS first appeared in print! Throughout the journal’s history, we have featured issue topics that focus on “Critique and Replication” – calling for informative and cutting-edge scholarship that builds on previously published work in ANS. For this issue of ANS we invite the submission of manuscripts that follow our “Critique and Replication” tradition. Manuscripts can take any form of scholarship, such as critical reviews of past ANS publications, data-based research based on prior reports found in ANS, or qualitative explorations that extend ideas addressed in past ANS articles. We especially welcome manuscripts that challenge prior assumptions and that open new perspectives that contribute to the development of nursing knowledge.

Family & Community Health
Vol 40:2 – June 2017
Manuscript Due Date: October 15, 2016
For this issue of ANS we seek articles that embrace the integral nature of family and community health, particularly in the context of changing family compositions and geographic location patterns. We are interested in exploring, for example, factors such as urbanization, adoption, surrogacy, socio-economic and/or racial segregation, and ideologic polarization. Articles must reflect scholarly merit and a clear focus on nursing knowledge development. We welcome all forms of scholarship, including qualitative or quantitative research, philosophic or theoretic constructions, critical integrative reviews, and models developed to guide practice.

ANS General Topic
Manuscripts considered any time
Manuscripts submitted as “ANS General Topic” are expected to address the purposes of ANS, which are to contribute to the development of nursing science and to promote the application of emerging theories and research findings to practice. We expect high scholarly merit, and encourage manuscripts that challenge prior assumptions and that open new perspectives that contribute to the development of nursing knowledge.

 

May 18

Future Issue Topics Update!


One of the hallmarks of ANS has always been our future issue topics, calling forth a collection of current scholarly articles that address a particular theme or topic.  While the topics form a focus, they also embrace a wide range of scholarship, so in each issue you are likely to find something that introduces a new idea or challenges “old” ideas!  Recently we added a feature we are calling “ANS General Topic” to accommodate cutting-edge scholarship that is not quite fitting for our issue topics.  Still, there is a strong interest in our topics, so we are continuing to encourage scholars to watch for topics that are well suited to their work!  Here are the topics that are currently on the schedule, with links to the descriptions on the ANS web site:

ANS General Topic
Submissions any time

39:1 – Technologies, Nursing & Health – March 2016
Manuscript Due Date – July 15, 2015

39:2 – Women & Girls – June 2016
Manuscript Due Date – October 15, 2015

39:3 – Palliative Care – September 2016
Manuscript Due Date – January 15, 2016

39:4 – Toxic Stress – December 2016
Manuscript Due Date – April 15, 2016

May 13

Nursing Models for the Future: Acknowledging the Political Nature of Nursing


Adeline Falk-Rafael, PhD, RN, FAAN in her guest editorial for the current issue of ANS makes a strong case for nursing models that ground practice in our own disciplinary knowledge, and makes nursing work visible and credible.  Dr. Falk-Rafael serves as a member of the ANS Advisory Board, and is a renowned nurse author/scholar whose work focuses on critical caring and social justice. She has shared these reflections on the message conveyed in her guest editorial (available here):

Version 2

Adeline Falk-Rafael

I first learned to be a nurse in a hospital “training” program in the early 1960s. During that time, I learned what nursing was in relation to medicine – what nursing care was in the context of specific medical diagnoses and treatments. Likewise, the relatively minimal attention to health promotion focused almost entirely on disease prevention. A substantial amount of the content of many of the program’s courses was delivered in the form of a physician’s lecture. Ethics was medical ethics and taught by the hospital’s priest. The nursing scope of practice was defined by employers as largely an ancillary medical service that also had some usefulness as a supplementary housekeeping service (cleaning linen and utility rooms and carbolizing the beds of discharged patients were required duties) as well as providing cheap labor in the guise of an educational experience through rotations that including several weeks of making and sterilizing infant formulas and filling individual dietary requests through short-order cooking. Little wonder that as a Registered Nurse, I had difficulty articulating what nursing was, let alone what nurses knew!

While much has changed, thankfully, in the education of nurses, I do not find that nurses practicing at point of service are much more proficient today in clearly articulating the valuable and often unique contribution they make to the health and healing of patients and populations. Because most nurses continue to be employees in bureaucratic organizations and/or large corporate structures, their scope of practice typically remains heavily influenced by prevailing medical and business models.

Nurses are still, in the words of Susan Reverby1, “ordered to care in a society that refuses to value caring.” For this reason, I am a strong apologist for nursing models. I believe they have a strong potential to strengthen nurses’ sense of identity as professionals who make a complimentary but unique contribution to health and health care. As such, nursing models can be tools of empowerment by grounding nurses solidly in disciplinary knowledge and naming aspects of nursing work, thus giving nurses language and credibility to make their work more visible. Grand theories help shape our values and belief systems about what caring for human beings means. Mid-range and micro theories provide more focused approaches to the provision of care that can and must be tested through research and linked to patient/health outcomes. To be useful, nursing models must be seen to be relevant and useful to nurses at point-of-practice, for example, as “apps” that can provide a quick resource when needed. But nursing models of the future must also have a critical perspective. They must serve as tools of resistance by assisting nurses to examine and challenge the larger societal and political forces that advantage a few while disadvantaging many others, whether those others are patients or nurses.

1Reverby S. Ordered to Care: The Dilemma of American Nursing, 1850-1945. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press: 1987.

May 13

What Would Florence Nightingale Do (WWFND)?: Nightingale and 21st Century Health Care Reform


From the Bates Center Blog:

What Would Florence Nightingale Do (WWFND)?: Nightingale and 21st Century Health Care Reform

 

 

May 11

3 Comments

Historical Nursing Documents Archived by City of Toronto


This update has been provided by Adeline Falk-Rafael to follow-up on the ANS article titled “Towards Justice in Health.”An Exemplar of Speaking Truth to Power.

Our article “Towards Justice in Health: An exemplar of speaking truth to power” is an analysis of 6 issues of the magazine (TJH) produced by Nurses for Social Responsibility (NSR) in Toronto, Canada, between 1992 and 1995. The article reported that the request of the magazine’s editors for archival of the magazine in the Library and Archives Canada had been denied.

A few days ago, Cathy Crowe, one of the magazine’s editors, notified us that the City of Toronto Archives has accepted both the 6 issues of the magazine and the NSR’s newsletters which predated the magazine and were alluded to in the article but were not part of the analysis. As Cathy Crowe noted, they will now be available “to aid and inspire future nurse and academic researchers on nursing and social justice.”

The vision and courage of these remarkable nurses for social responsibility is evident in some of the topics they wrote about and in which they actively sought change between 1985 and 1995. Their newsletter s and, in the later years, their magazine, covered many contentious issues that impacted health, including the environment, the sale of arms and war itself, women’s reproductive rights, health care policy, trade agreements, lesbian nurses, and needle-exchange programs, as well as issues that affected nurses in the workplace, such as working conditions and staffing mix. As we said in the article, they were exemplars in speaking truth to power and it is fortunate that the newsletters and magazines will now be available for aspiring historians and activists.

The images below of the newsletter and the magazine provide examples of the amazing topics that were addressed in this publication! Their placement in the City of Toronto archives provides a valuable resource and inspiration for nursing’s continuing social justice commitment.  For more information about Dr. Falk-Rafael’s and Dr. Bradley’s analysis of these important historical publications, see their blog message published here in August 2014.

Newsletter

Magazine

May 6

Interview with Dr. Barbara Carper


 

 

 

 

 We are delighted to publish the first “ANS General Topic” article, which is an interview with Dr Barbara A. Carper by Elizabeth R. Eisenhauer, RN, BSN, MLS.  Dr. Carper is the author of one of the most important articles published in ANS – “Fundamental Patterns of Knowing in Nursing,” published in the first issue of the journal in 1978!  Still among the most frequently cited articles in nursing, Dr Carper’s insights set in motion a major shift in nursing scholarship and practice.

Ms Eisenhauer shared this description of her experience interviewing Dr. Carper, and of her own reflections on the meaning of Dr. Carper’s ideas:

I remember being so struck by the paper “Fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing” that my librarian skills immediately kicked in —What else had Barbara Carper written? Where was she? What more did she have to say? When Google provided few answers to these questions, I knew I had to seek her out. Her views about there being so much more to nursing than science are foundational; I couldn’t let it go. However, I was afraid people would think I was going off on a zany tangent, so initially, I kept the project a secret.

Eventually, I knew that I needed to discuss it on a professional level. So I confided in one of my professors, Dr. Arslanian-Engoren, at the University of Michigan. I had gotten the idea for the project while I was sitting in her advanced nursing theory development class. She was very supportive and encouraging of the project! If she had dismissed it, I am not sure I would have had the courage to pursue it so ardently. I am very grateful for her mentorship.

The “patterns of knowing” are also ways of making decisions, and this relates to my research on informed consent and decision-making among clinical research volunteers who are asked to donate biospecimens for research purposes. For example, there is a movement to collect, store, analyze, and even manipulate DNA. But DNA can alternatively be seen as more than just scientific material. It can be seen in a spiritual sense as the “essence of our individuality” [1]. Therefore, tinkering with it may have implications for some people that go beyond science and empirics. Research volunteers may not understand or consider these ethical implications, until they are explicated, weighed against volunteers’ personal values, and the consequences clearly described [2]. Helping patients or research volunteers clarify their values and make informed choices are acts of caring, fundamental to nursing [3,4]. Carper discusses the connection of veracity and transparency, during informed consent, to caring and nursing in her 1979 paper, “The ethics of caring” [3]. I fear such values are being overlooked in the modern age of blanket consent for genetic research. Again, there is so much more than science that goes into caring for and knowing a patient.

On a personal note, talking to Dr. Carper and getting to meet her was phenomenal—-a dream come true! Anyone who has had the experience of getting to meet someone they so admire will understand. I was awestruck, and she was so humble and gracious. It was an amazing, remarkable experience that I will never forget, and for which I am most grateful.

References

  1. This phrase has been used by numerous people, including Senator Pete V. Domenici in discussing the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2005. See: Weeden, JL.      Genetic liberty, Genetic property: Protecting genetic information. Ave Maria Law Review.2006; 4(2): 611-664. (Quote p.631).
  2. Tomlinson, T, Kaplowitz, SA and Faulkner, M. Do people care what’s done with their biobanked samples? IRB: Ethics & Human Research. 2014;36(4):8-15.
  3. Carper BA. The ethics of caring. Adv Nurs Sci. 1979;1(3):11-20.
  4. Dungan, JM. Dungan model of dynamic integration. International Journal of Nursing Terminologies and Classifications. 1997;8(1);17-28.

Visit the ANS web site today to download Ms. Eisenhauer’s interview, and return here to contribute your ideas and comments to further discussion!

May 4

ANS 38:2 now published!


ANS 38:2 was released today and is available to view online!  This issuwhich focuses on the topic “Models of Care for the Future.” This issue contains two notable “firsts” for the journal, To begin, an interview with Dr Barbara Carper by Elizabeth Eisenhauer introduces our new feature: “ANS General Topics.” This issue also contains the first ANS “open access” article: “Adaptive Leadership Framework for Chronic Illness” by Dr. Ruth Anderson and her colleagues. The articles that focus on the issue topic “Models of care for the Future” cover a broad spectrum of settings and approaches to care that can inspire new ideas and possibilities. If you follow this blog, you will receive notices of our posts that feature each of the articles included in this issue over the next several weeks!  I hope you will also visit the blog frequenty, and share your comments and ideas!  We will respond!

Mar 10

Issue topic planned on “Toxic Stress”


We have just announced our projected issue topic on “Toxic Stress” for ANS Volume 39:4.  Manuscripts are due on April 15, 37-3 cover2016, but can be submitted at any time! Here is the description of this topic:

Toxic Stress
Vol 39:4 – December 2016
Manuscript Due Date: April 15, 2016
Toxic stress, unlike positive or tolerable stress, can result in life-long health challenges. For this issue of ANS we seek manuscripts that focus on the contributions that nurses are making to understanding the dynamics of toxic stress, and nursing approaches that demonstrate effective outcomes for children and adults suffering the effects of toxic stress. Articles that provide research outcomes, theoretic and philosophic constructions, practice models, or educational programs related to toxic stress are welcome. Implications for the development of nursing knowledge must be emphasized.

In addition, we always welcome submissions for the new “ANS General Topic” at any time!  Here is the information about this type of submission:

ANS General Topic
Manuscripts considered any time
Manuscripts submitted as “ANS General Topic” are expected to address the purposes of ANS, which are to contribute to the development of nursing science and to promote the application of emerging theories and research findings to practice.

You can see the full listing of our planned issue topics on the ANS Web site!  And our guidelines for authors can always be found here!

Feb 18

Sources of Inner Strength for Elderly People


Our current featured article comes to ANS from Finland authors Erika Boman, MSc, RNT; Anette H¨aggblom, PhD, RNT; Berit Lundman, PhD, RN; Bj¨orn Nygren, PhD, RNT and Regina Santamaki Fischer, PhD, RN.  Their article is titled “Inner Strength as Identified in Narratives of Elderly Women: A Focus Group Interview Study.”  While it is featured on the ANS web site, you can download your free copy of this article here!  Erika Boman has shared this message for ANS readers:

Do you study inner strength? Is that possible? Those are questions often asked when presenting the research topic of our interest. And yes, I can see what they mean. If you google on inner strength today you get 14 200 000 hits where inner strength is interpreted in almost the same amount of ways. That is why I am so happy that I have been privileged to work with members in a research group that thoroughly have studied the concept, and through meta-analysis developed a theoretical model of inner strength. In the model inner strength is conceptualized by four interacting core dimensions: connectedness, creativity, firmness and flexibility. The core dimensions have explicit definition and are more in depth described in the article, with reference to the theoretical model. Further a questionnaire was developed to measure each dimension and thereby a person’s degree of inner strength. Studies, applying the scale, have for example shown that strong inner strength is associated with better self-rated health. And through literature review inner strength has been interpreted as a health resource for experiencing well-being despite illness. 

My field of interest is related to health and quality of life among elderly women and elderly women, in general, outlive men, have impaired socio-economic and functional status, as well as report more health problems. I thought to myself – research is implying that inner strength is of importance for experiencing well-being despite illness. Identifying sources of inner strength can give health care personnel valuable information about elderly people’s capacities despite their frailty erika_johansson_2and weakness. So now there was this theoretical model defining the concept, a questionnaire to estimate a person’s degree of inner strength, as well as literature suggesting that inner strength is a health resource of importance. But, is it always applicable in nursing to use a questionnaire to estimate a person’s inner strength? What about criticism to nursing science being to theoretical? Is there some way we can enlighten how inner strength can be expressed in everyday conversations implementing the theoretical model? The aim of this study was therefor to explore how inner strength and its dimensions, as described in a theoretical model, can be identified in the narratives of elderly women. Focus group interviews where made with 29 women between the age of 66 and 84. Inner strength was identified in there narratives of the elderly women as a strive to be in communion, to make the best out of the situation, having a mind-set that it is all up to you, and considering life as a balancing act. Further descriptions are found in the article, where also possible application of the theoretical model in relation to previous research is discussed. The study is considered to add nuance to the notion of inner strength and deepen empirical knowledge about the concept. Finally, we hope that this study can be a contribution to narrowing theory to practice.

Please join the conversation to explore the ideas presented here and in the article!  Share your comments here, and we will respond!

 

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