Writing for Publication in Nursing and Healthcare

Getting it Right

Karen Holland, Roger Watson, Karen Holland, Roger Watson

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781119583639
• eBook ISBN: 9781119583615
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Nursing

Writing for Publication in Nursing and Healthcare helps readers develop the skills necessary for publishing in professional journals, presenting conference papers, authoring books, research reports, and literature reviews, and more. This comprehensive resource covers all aspects of writing for publication, including good practice in reviewing, the editorial process, ethical aspects of publishing, and the rules that govern academic writing, publishing, and dissemination. Assuming no prior expertise in the subject, the text uses an accessible, step-by-step approach that incorporates a wealth of real-life examples, hands-on activities, and valuable tips throughout.

The second edition reflects the latest developments, guidelines, and practices both in academic publishing and in research assessment and dissemination. New and updated material covers the increasing use of social media to disseminate published work, post-publication scrutiny, contemporary issues surrounding predatory or unethical publishers, and new requirements for research registration and submission data. Edited by leading experts in the field, this practical 'how to' guide:

• Describes the basics of writing for publication and how to get started
• Includes numerous examples illustrating the practical ways abstracts, papers, book reviews, and other publications are written and disseminated
• Discusses current issues and developments, such as the impact of major ethics organisations on publishing worldwide and the rise of online journals, blogging, and podcasting
• Features contributions by internationally recognised academics and practitioners
• Explains how to turn research reports and other assignments into publishable works

The definitive introduction to the subject, Writing for Publication in Nursing and Healthcare is a must-have for all nurses and healthcare professionals, as well as undergraduate and graduate students in nursing and healthcare programs who are required to write for publication.

Chapter 1
Introduction: The Book, Its Philosophy and Its Focus

Karen Holland¹ and Roger Watson²

¹School of Health and Society, University of Salford, Salford, UK

²Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of Hull, Hull, UK

Introduction

The use of evidence has become a central part of both faculty (academia) and professional practice. For many, it has become a core element of their career development and opportunity for advancement. Therefore, producing this evidence has become an essential skill for nursing and midwifery academics and qualified practitioners; one that all undergraduate and postgraduate students also need to develop as part of their curriculum and for their future careers.

Disseminating the evidence once it has been produced is at the core of this book, but we do not intend to enter into philosophical debates on the nature of what is best evidence and what we do to obtain the evidence itself, nor about which approach is best for dissemination. This book is, arguably, a body of evidence in its own right; one that has collected a range of views and supporting material on writing for publication, different approaches and – most importantly – how to help you translate your ideas, opinions and research findings into meaningful dialogue with those who will want to read them and hopefully influence and contribute to the development of their professional practice.

This written evidence is found in a range of published works: books, peer‐reviewed articles, opinion papers and research reports. Therefore, ‘getting this right’ with regard to writing for publication becomes essential for the future scholarship of the nursing and midwifery professions as well as the evidence‐based rigour underpinning professional practice.

However, in the twenty‐first century the ‘written’ word is no longer the main form of communication; technological advances enable us to disseminate research evidence and other forms of scholarly endeavour in numerous innovative ways, but which has also brought with it many new challenges. Maybe, we should now consider ‘desktop typing for publication’ as an adjunct to ‘writing for publication’, and offer the basics on not only how to write but also how to use the technology to engage in the dissemination of scholarship. Roger Watson in Chapter 2 of this book refers to some of the practical issues of using a computer in the writing process.

Why publish what we write?

Although publishing in various forms is about sharing best practice and evidence of various kinds, we publish for other reasons. Many of you reading this will recall situations where you read something in a newspaper article that you disagreed with or something you feel strongly about and wished you had the courage to write a letter to the newspaper in reply. You may even have reached the stage of having written the letter, but something held you back and you did not send it; possibly having second thoughts that, maybe, the language was too strong!

In many journals, there are opportunities for a similar kind of communication, especially as editorials or guest editorials where, again, it is about having a strong or opposing view on a topic that you feel needs to be raised, resulting often in being a trigger for other responses to be published to further debate (if the editor allows!) or in some cases ideas for further research.

Many clinical practitioners will be developing new ways of nursing that others could benefit from, and unlike in the past, where publishing anything was viewed as the province of ‘academia’ or faculty staff, there has been a major shift in who is writing for publication. Publishing what you write is no longer the province of the few, evident by the plethora of journals published worldwide.

For colleagues in many countries, having the opportunity to publish what they write is not easy; in particular, where English is not the first language, they may not have journals to write in and most importantly no large publishers to take on the risk of developing new journals or publishing new books in an area such as nursing, which is still developing as a profession in many countries. This development also involves the undertaking of research, the writing and dissemination of their work in their own country and, most importantly, sharing this with the international community in their own discipline.

For many countries and disciplines worldwide, the question ‘why publish what we write?’ is more than simply a question of having to publish, but retains some of the altruistic stance that many of us began with in relation to helping others through sharing our knowledge and evidence as well‐perceived wisdom.

For others, publishing what we write becomes an employment necessity with many jobs requiring applicants to have undertaken research and also published papers in journals. For others, retaining their posts also requires the same criteria, and this is often even more challenging for colleagues and takes them very often outside their ‘comfort zone’ both in terms of confidence in their abilities to write anything for publication and also needing additional skills to be gained to maximise their chances of success. Others among you will be postgraduate or even undergraduate students, for whom writing elements of their theses or dissertations becomes an integral part of that studentship. Many of you will be expected to write with your supervisors as a continuous process, but most of you will have a publication plan built into your personal and professional learning plans, including publishing at least one or two of your papers in a peer‐reviewed international journal. For many undergraduate students, having an opportunity to write for publication may take a different form, as seen in the Nursing Standard journal (Lee, 2011, p. 29) where students write their reflection and actions as a result of a practice experience in the ‘the real world of nursing’. This is an excellent starting point for the future in managing time, writing and also helping others to learn through their experiences.

We hope that this book will enable this group to gain in confidence and skills, while the more experienced colleagues will use it more for ‘branching out’ into new areas of publishing their work. Seeing your work, whatever form it takes, in print or electronically for the first time or in a different medium is a wonderful feeling and, in fact, for many of us that initial ‘buzz’ never really goes away. Mainly, it is because we remain committed, especially as editors, to writing and sharing our knowledge and experience with others, as well as actually enjoying the writing itself. It is not quite the same as having to write to order, when it possibly can be seen as a chore.

Therefore, if publishing what we write is important, either politically or professionally, why do so many people still find it hard to achieve success or even get off the ground?

What are perceived barriers to successful writing?

In the chapters in this book, you will find examples of why individuals either set up barriers themselves to writing for publication or find obstacles placed in front of them. Many reasons also overlap and are often a combination of both. As mentioned, many of us have to begin somewhere, and all of us writing in this book will have come across barriers of one kind and another since we began to see our work being published for others to read and the material being used in some way in their work or their professional development.

To say that writing for publication is easy would not be the whole truth; however, depending on what you are writing and who you are writing for, some people find some forms of writing much easier than others. This could be writing an article for some, writing a book for others, or writing conference abstracts and papers. Some of you reading this in order to learn new skills or knowledge may well be saying, ‘it’s all right for them, as they already do it,’ but even for us there are always new things to learn, and in today’s publishing climate, there are new media to try out in terms of publishing what we write about.

Barriers written about in other books on writing for publication or articles in journals include:

• time and effort to write;
• difficulty in writing down what you need to say;
• lack of skills in writing for different audiences;
• lack of awareness of what is required for successful publication;
• ‘writer’s block’ – situations where not only it is difficult to write anything at all but also you may be under pressure to write to a deadline and ‘your mind goes blank’ and panic sets in.

And one that most of us fear when first starting on this ‘writing journey’, and that is:

• fear of rejection – of having your work rejected and, therefore, self‐perception that you have been rejected as well as the actual publication.

With all these barriers that could be affecting your personal commitment to write for publication, how can you be successful in your writing endeavours? Overcoming these barriers is considered in Chapter 2.

How can we succeed?

Books like this one will give you a basic foundatio...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• List of Contributors
• Foreword to the 2nd Edition
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1: Introduction: The Book, Its Philosophy and Its Focus
• Chapter 2: The Basics of Writing for Publication and the Steps to Success: Getting Started
• Chapter 3: Writing a Conference Abstract and Paper for Presentation
• Chapter 4: Writing for Publication: Blogs and Other Forms of Social Media
• Chapter 5: Writing for Publication: The Journal Article
• Chapter 6: Writing for Publication: The Book
• Chapter 7: Writing for Publication: Reporting your Literature Review
• Chapter 8: Writing for Publication: Turning Assignments into Publishable Works
• Chapter 9: The Editorial Process
• Chapter 10: Being a Journal Reviewer: Good Practice in Reviewing
• Chapter 11: Ethical and Legal Aspects of Publishing: Avoiding Plagiarism and Other Issues
• Chapter 12: Writing for Publication: Key Issues in Ethical Authorship and Dissemination
• Chapter 13: Open Access and Open Science
• Bibliography
• Index
• End User License Agreement