Evidence-Based Practice for Nurses

Write in the same place every day.

Write at the same time every day, preferably in the morning.

Put your writing time in your calendar as an appointment.

Start your writing session in the same way each day.

Learn to stop internal and external interruptions.

BOX 19-3 Tips for Writing for 15–30 Minutes a Day

and can also be fun. It can be productive when novice writers collaborate with

more seasoned writers.

When collaborating with others, it is important to determine authorship

at the onset. Authors are listed in terms of their contribution to the paper.

Usually the idea for the paper was generated by the first author. Other authors

are listed in an order reflecting the amount of their contributions to writing.

Others who participated in the project, but not in the writing, can receive an

acknowledgment rather than authorship (Valente, 2013). When writing teams

have good collegial relationships, authorship may be rotated among members

of the team. Early in one’s career, it is advisable to give consideration to the way

one’s name will appear in publications. For example, some authors include a

middle name or initial. Consistently using the same format builds publication

recognition and facilitates citation chasing.

After the decision to publish has been made, the next decision is to determine

where the manuscript will be submitted (Valente, 2013). Manuscript is the term

used for a scholarly paper prior to its publication. Just as with poster abstracts,

consideration should be given to matching the topic and the intended audi-

ence with the purpose of the publication. Reading articles in journals to get a

feel for their styles can help in determining whether the manuscript would be

a good fit. With the expanse of the Web, open-access journals have prolifer-

ated. Although some open-access journals are reputable, there are others that

are known as “predatory journals.” It may be tempting to submit to predatory

journals because a manuscript is more likely to be accepted due to questionable

peer review processes. For example, authors may be misled because editorial

boards may be fabricated or articles may be plagiarized from other publications

(Haug, 2013). Be aware that exorbitant fees may be required after an article

is accepted, so it is helpful to know if fees are required before submitting an

article. A list of predatory journals can be found at http://beallslist.weebly.com/.

Once a journal for publication has been selected, query letters can be sent

to journal editors to receive feedback about their interest in publishing the

KEY TERMS

authorship: List of

authors in an order

that reflects the

amount of their

contributions

manuscript: A

scholarly paper

prior to its

publication

502 CHAPTER 19 Sharing the Insights with Others