Writing an article for publication: an open invitation
Introduction
The idea for this paper, as the title suggests, came from an Editorial Board meeting in February 2002 (JON 2002) in which views were expressed to the new owners of the journal about the importance of the Journal of Orthopaedic Nursing continuing to be a practitioner based journal and a forum to share evidence based practice to inform best orthopaedic practice.
As with any strategic change, to be successful it must engage people to feel part of that change and take some ownership in it. Writing for publication is a way of sharing best practices and creates a dialogue for change, as well as having efforts rewarded by authors seeing themselves in print. An open invitation is extended to all staff in any orthopaedic environment, but particularly to staff that have never published before and are unsure about how to write for publication. This article is intended to enable you to become more confident in planning and writing with the intention of becoming published.
Whilst there are unfortunately no short cuts in the process, one of the biggest single factors to overcome will be convincing yourself that you can become published. The additional effort required will undoubtedly contribute to your continuing professional development and reputation in practice, but just as importantly will be of value to the orthopaedic community.
Section snippets
The contradiction of everyday practitioners writing for publication
A journal is a written medium for communicating to fellow professionals both nationally and internationally. Whilst seemingly grand, it might be reassuring to know that journal editors rely as much on practitioners to submit articles for publication, as much as practitioners want to see their work in print. Therefore there is an equal interest by both parties in the ongoing development of publishable materials. In addition to personal reasons for becoming published, there are emerging political
Thinking about writing: overcoming personal resistance to publishing
I suspect some of you who have an intention to publish may have begun to read through this article from the beginning based on the title, whilst others are just skimming over the contents to see whether it has any relevance to your practice. The finished product now looks very different from the original shape it took when I began writing. For instance, the subject headings and content has significantly changed and is presented in the house style of the journal.
Although what you read is
From thinking about writing to doing it
The previous section concentrated on the process of thinking about what you want to say before spending time on writing, and is an essential discipline in preparing for publication (Redfern 1995) because:
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It helps clarify thoughts that can then be transferred onto paper in a less personal and more objective way
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The process of constructing words and sentences in ones head before being committed to paper enables thoughts and recollections to be given some structure.
If you have previously
Preparing the script for publication: the importance of attending to detail
Whilst it is not in the scope of this article to examine the more technical aspects of writing (see Hall 1994, Newell 2000, or Maslin-Prothero 2001), the article for publication will be scrutinised by external reviewers working on behalf of the journal. Ensure you critique your draft script before submission against the Instructions To Authors or Contributors Guidelines. Most journals will devote up to a page outlining instructions and these MUST be followed to avoid rejection. In other words,
What happens after your article has been submitted for publication?
Most journals will send an acknowledgement within two weeks that they have received (not accepted), the manuscript. The longest part of the process for authors is when the article is sent out to reviewers for comment and then returned to the editor with comments. This may take between 6 and 10 weeks when the author is informed that:
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The article has been unconditionally accepted
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The article is accepted subject to satisfactory amendments being made
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The article is rejected on the grounds of failing
Personal reflections on writing an article
Despite having written many articles and published a book, my first reaction when having been assigned the task was that writing this article would be reasonably straightforward. In fact I think this article has been one of the most challenging, involving a surprising number of re-writes and drafting. On reflection, I offer the following reasons:
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I learned as I planned this article that much of my own writing was of an intuitive nature rather than being systematically planned
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I became complacent
Conclusion
In many respects you, the readership are the conclusion. This article was designed to be used as a possible template if read systematically, to encourage new authors to the journal. My personal reflections acknowledge that writing about writing is not the same as actually using the keyboard or pencil. However, I now have a much greater understanding about my own strengths and areas that still need to be developed in my writing style and hope that you now do as well.
Aside from the personal
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2011, International Journal of Orthopaedic and Trauma NursingCitation Excerpt :Perhaps writing for publication might be considered an additional burden in relation to the extra time and effort required, rather than seem to present any immediate benefits. Conversely, such effort might be primary evidence of the continuing professional development of the practitioner as well as increasing his/her reputation in practice (Driscoll and Driscoll, 2002). It is interesting to note that for both authors of this paper, publication of their first articles (Aquilina and Baldacchino, 2007; Driscoll, 1989) not only enhanced their careers, but more importantly led to significant changes in their practice areas.
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