Directions:
Decide on a nursing/midwifery topic from practice that you think would make an interesting journal article. Please be very aware that journals will not publish information that is already common knowledge like information that currently accessible and well known. They want interesting, cutting edge ideas from clinical practice. The topic should also be relevant to your clinical area and be negotiated with your tutor or lecturer. Please also remember that we are nurses/midwives and nursing journals also want a nursing focus in your paper.
It might be a case study, a report on a new initiative, a discussion on a problem facing your practice area, or about an area of practice in which you have particular expertise or experience. The type of paper you choose to write will be determined by the author guidelines from the journal that you choose. You may even want to write another literature review, but if you decide to do the latter, you must be careful to choose a different topic or aspect of that topic to that addressed in Assessment 1 to avoid plagiarism from your previous submission.
Select an appropriate nursing journal that publishes peer-reviewed articles. This can be difficult as there are many poor quality journals available. To choose a journal, you should consider both your topic AND the style of your paper you want to write. What journals do you refer to in your workplace? Read articles from these journals and see if you might like to write to that style. To assist you a list of quality journal for each speciality will be discussed at the presentation on assessment 3. Download the ‘Guidelines for Authors’ provided by that journal, and see if you think the type of paper you want to write would be suitable for both your chosen journal and your style of writing.
NB. The journal requirements take precedence over the School’s usual requirements, including referencing style.
You MUST submit the journal guidelines as a separate document appendix when you submit your paper for marking. This is to prevent the Turnitin score being exceptionally high
