To write or not to write: a nurse's account of writing for publication

Abstract

Writing for publication is often seen as an arduous, daunting task reserved mainly for those in academia. This paper represents the first author's experience over the past 2 years of working on writing papers for publication in the context of personal and academic development. The aim is to reflect on the first author's journey towards publication with the intention of encouraging nursing staff to make their work visible and validate their practice through publication. This personal journey was made easier by the encouragement, help and support of the second author, a university lecturer acting as a mentor, advisor and critical friend. This paper is also intended to assure and give courage to those who have considered writing about their practice but are reluctant to do so.

Supporting students in higher education in transforming their thesis into a scientific article

“…Supervisors can also help students to acknowledge the voluntary work that is done by reviewers and to appreciate the time taken by them to create opportunities for improving the manuscript and thus increasing the likelihood of acceptance. Students, for their part, need to be motivated and positive towards the review and writing process to see the transformation as a learning journey towards becoming a scientific writer (O'Halloran & Doody, 2014).…”

“…For higher education, students' and supervisors' joint publishing can introduce students to the scientific community of practice and exemplify how the education is anchored in research (Jeppson & Haglund, 2019). Whatever the motivation for transforming the thesis, it is essential to understand that the work includes substantial revision to meet the requirements of a scientific article (Kennedy, 2018;O'Halloran & Doody, 2014).…”

“…The first key to successfully spreading new knowledge is to target the right audience ( O'Halloran & Doody, 2014;Turbek et al, 2016). Thus, students must resolve several questions regarding the audience, namely: who this audience is, why it has been identified as the target audience and how it can be reached.…”

Suggestions to nurse authors from one manuscript reviewer

“…Finally, a number of nurse authors have published books and articles about the process of writing for publication. [3][4][5][6] Because there are abundant resources readily available for nurse authors, this article will share my experiences as a reviewer and offer practical recommendations.…”

“…These articles provide a wealth of intelligence and insight from experienced nurse authors and editors about writing for publication. Finally, a number of nurse authors have published books and articles about the process of writing for publication . Because there are abundant resources readily available for nurse authors, this article will share my experiences as a reviewer and offer practical recommendations.…”