Writing for Publication

Julia Muennich Cowell PhD, RN, APHN-BC, FAANExecutive Editor

The Journal of School Nursing

What’s your writing Experience?

• Academic writing• School Newsletters• Professional publications

What’s important to you?

• Immunizations– Parents’ rights

• Dating violence– Respect in schools

• School Nurse Ratios?– Evidence to support NASN ratio

• Obesity in schools?– Decline in services preventing obesity

Publication Media

Who’s target audience– Students– Parents– Administrators/board

– Scholarly peers

What outlet?– Handouts– School Newsletter– American School Board

Journal– Professional Journals

What are the publication guidelines?

• Page/word limits• Form guidelines– JOSN: American Psychological Association (APA) 6th

edition• Standard English

Universal Elements of all publications

Literary writing• Beginning– What is the problem?– What is the purpose?

• Middle– What’s been done? – What’s the point your making?

• End– Conclusions/recommendations

Universal Elements

Scientific writingBeginning• Introduction– What is the problem?– What is the relationship to previous work– Research questions or hypotheses– Theoretical basis

Universal Elements

Middle• Methods– Design– Sampling– Measurement– Interventions

Universal Elements

End• Results• Discussion/Implications• References

Universal Elements

• Tone• Economy of Expression– Wordiness & redundancy

• Clarity– Colloquialisms, jargon, pronouns• TIP: remember the ‘This, those, these, that rule’

• Accuracy– Order, smooth expression, precision

Universal Elements

• Active voice vs. passive voice– Use of first person: I & we

• Tense• Agreement of subject & verb• Simple sentences vs. compound, complex

sentences

Universal Elements

• Use of section headings• Linguistic Devices– Scientific vs. literary writing

• Proof reading, PROOF READING, PROOF READING!

• Reading level

Bias

• Specificity• Labeling• Acknowledgement of participants• Gender• Sexual Orientation• Racial & ethnic identify• Disabilities• Age• Historical & interpretive inaccuracies

Ethics

• Plagiarism • Conflict of interest• Protecting the rights of participants• Property rights

The Journal of School Nursing

As the official research publication of the National Association of School Nurses (www.nasn.org), The Journal of School Nursing (JOSN) provides a bimonthly, peer-reviewed forum for improving the health of school children and the health of the school community. The JOSN seeks to engage a broad range of clinicians, scholars and community leaders in an ongoing exchange of information through scholarly articles. . .

JOSN

• Types of manuscripts– Letters to the editor• See JOSN 27 (5) October 2011, 325- 328.

– Commentary• See Faigenbaum, A, Gipson-Jones, T, & Myer, G. (2012)

Exercise Deficit Disorder in Your: An Emergent Health Concern for School Nursing, JOSN 28, 252-255.

JOSN

Types of Manuscripts Continued: – Evidence based-practice & policy• Hoxie-Setterstrom & Hoglund, B. (2011). School

Wellness Policies: Opportunities for Change. JOSN, 27, 330-339.

JOSN

Types of Manuscripts– Literature reviews• Shannon, RA, Bergren, MD, & Matthews, A (2010).

Frequent visitors: Somotization in school-age children and implications for school nurses. JOSN, 26, 169-182.

– Original research• Song, SJ, Ziegler, R, Arsenault, L, Fried, LE & Hacker, K

(2011). Asian student depression in American high schools: Differences in risk factors. JOSN, 25, 455-462.

JOSN Peer review criteria

• Accuracy of title & abstract• Clear statement of the purpose• Reported literature• Relationship of the purpose, problem,

methods, and conclusions• Strength of the discussion, clinical implications

& recommendations

Barriers & Challenges

• Matching style to submission guidelines– Don’t ‘tick-off’ the reviewers!– Are you familiar with the style of the APA style? – Check out previous issues to see style

Barriers & Challenges

• Timelines– Are there published timelines– Turn around time for revision– Competing with other responsibilities

Barriers & Challenges

• Fear– Rejection– Exposure– Demands

Barriers & Challenges

• Confidentiality– Institutional requirements – Ethical concerns– Self-preservation

The Inner Writer in You!

• Find a mentor or collaborator!• Feel the joy of seeing your name in print!• Consider becoming a peer reviewer!– jcowell@nasn.org

• TURN ON YOUR COMPUTER!http://jsn.sagepub.com/