Contribute to the Australian Nursing Journal
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ANJ Writing Guidelines
Content
The ANJ welcomes articles written by nurses for nurses. These guidelines are intended to help contributors write articles that are clear, accurate, interesting and easy to read.
Having your article published in the Australian Nursing Journal means your work will be read by thousands of other nurses, working in a wide variety of practice areas. To write in a way that appeals to them, avoid jargon and overly technical language, except where appropriate (i.e. in clinical update).
Please contact the editor/s first to make sure your article is appropriate for the journal and to avoid disappointment in case a similar article has already been scheduled for publication.
Please note: All submissions selected for publication will be edited by the ANJ editors.
All submissions must include complete author details: name, address, work and home phone numbers and email address, present position and qualifications. Submissions should be original and should not have been published or submitted elsewhere.
Submissions for the following sections are welcome: letters, network, working life, focus, and clinical update.
Submit your article by emailing anj@anf.org.au
Letters
Letters should be no more than 250 words. All letters must be dated and have the writer's name, address, job title and telephone number written clearly.
Email letters to: anj@anf.org.au or post to the address above.
Please indicate clearly if you wish to have your name withheld from publication.
Network
The Network section helps nurses maintain links interstate, intrastate and across specialties. If you need help from colleagues or are planning a reunion, email or fax your information to the address above.
Working Life
This section provides an opportunity for nurses to write a personal account of their nursing work, or for the ANJ to publish interviews with nurses about their 'working life'. Submissions to this section should be easy to read, informative and of no more than 750 words. Articles should provide details about the particular nursing work/role and the challenges and highlights of this role. They must be accompanied by a publication quality photograph.
(The onus is on the contributor to obtain permission to use the photo. Photos should be sent with the names of participants, a suggested caption, and a statement that identifiable participants have given their permission for the photograph to be used. If photos are emailed, they should be high resolution (300 dpi), saved as a 'jpeg' file.)
Nursing Focus
If you have been involved in an innovative project or undertaken research of direct relevance to nursing, consider writing a focus article.
Articles should be between 200 and 400 words and be simple and to the point. They should highlight the importance of the project/research to nurses or nursing and present any practical outcomes that have improved nursing work or patient care, or helped nurses resolve issues critical to their area of nursing practice.
We welcome colour photographs to accompany the story. The onus is on the contributor to obtain permission to use the photo. Photos should be sent with the names of participants, a suggested caption, and a statement that identifiable participants have given their permission for the photograph to be used. If photos are emailed, they should be high resolution (300 dpi) saved as a 'jpeg' file.
Clinical Update
Before writing a clinical update, please contact the editor/s to discuss your topic.
A clinical update should be a best practice 'how to guide' for nurses in an area of nursing practice relevant to a wide cross section of nurses and be between 2000 and 2400 words. The focus should always be on nursing interventions and practice.
A clinical update may include a case study/ies, guidelines, graphs, tables, or illustrations. (Please send as separate documents and clearly indicate where they are to be placed in the text).
If you wish to submit a draft, the following structure may assist: introduction; overview of the problem/issue; risks to health in the target group; opportunities to address; project outline - aims/nursing interventions; results; conclusion.
Nursing Issues
Articles in this section should be approximately 800 words and raise an issue of current relevance to nurses. They should be written in the third person, and be thought provoking, challenging nurses to reflect on and possibly modify their view or practice. Please contact the editors to discuss your ideas.
Referencing
The ANJ uses the author/date system. The closest bibliographic style is Chicago B. References in the text should cite the author/s names followed by date of publication, in date order, eg (Chalmers 2004; Barnett and Renior 2003; Quillan et al 2001). Page numbers should be given in the text for all quotations and paraphrases (eg Smith 2004, pp.26-27). Where there are three or more authors, the first authors' name followed by et al will suffice, but all authors should be cited in the reference list. A reference list should be provided in alphabetical order of first authors' names. All references should be to primary sources. Publications listed in references should follow the format below:
ANJ style is as follows:
Books
Author/s' surnames and initials. Date of publication. Title of work (in italics). Edition (edn) when not the first edition. Place of publication (city). Name of publisher eg: Ivy, J.M., Gift, D.J. and Hurt, S.T. 2004. The nurse as curer. 2nd edn. New York: Macmillan.
Journals
Author/s' surnames and initials; year of publication; title of article; full name of journal (in Italics); volume number with issue number in brackets and the page or pages separated by a colon eg: Jones, S.T. 2003. Nursing and caring. Nursing Journal. 8(2):61-65.
Collections
Author/s' surnames and initials; date of publication; title of article; surname and initial of editor of collection (ed); title of work (in italics); edition (edn) other than first; place of publication (city); name of publisher eg: Smith, A.B. 2001. Writing changed my life, in Jones C.D. (ed). How to get published. Melbourne: Nursing Press.
Government publications
Country; department; year; followed by full details of article or book as described above; place of publication and publisher eg: Australia. Department of Health. 2001. Notes on special diets for use in hospitals. Canberra: Australian Institute of Anatomy. Cat.no.43.
Conference proceedings
Conference convenor; title of conference; year; title of paper; author (or eds); place of publication and publisher eg: Australian Nursing Federation. Nursing Forever. 2001. The new nurse. Ivy J. Melbourne: Australian Nursing Federation.
Unpublished material
This may take many forms, eg: an unpublished thesis or book, a conversation, or correspondence. To the extent that information is available it should be presented in a style applying to published items ie: name of author; date; title (without any distinguishing quotation marks or italics); place of origin. Letters should also be as comprehensively described as information allows eg: Kent, B.A. to Surrey C. May 2 2001. Letter. Sydney, Australia.
Web addresses
The full web address should be included followed by the date accessed.
Please check and recheck your references/bibliography before submitting your manuscript.