Editorial Policies

Focus and Scope

Contemporary Nurse (ISSN 1037-6178) is the preferred Asia-Pacific forum for nursing educators, researchers and practitioners who require high-quality, peer-reviewed articles, literature reviews, clinical papers & protocols, and cross-cultural research. Special issues dedicated to Advances in topic areas of central interest to contemporary nursing appear twice annually.

Contemporary Nurse appears on a July-June subscription cycle in 3 volumes comprising 6 issues averaging 128 pages. General issues with feature articles on nurse education and research are alternated with special issues on topics of emerging interest. Special issues are also available as a subseries of Contemporary Nurse in annual boxed sets of 4 volumes: Advances in Contemporary Nursing.

  • International editorial board of high calibre
  • East Asian, North American, European and Australasian perspectives
  • Guest Editorials in each issue in topical subjects
  • Regular literature reviews
  • Book reviews in each issue
  • Feature research articles and clinical papers
  • Methodology articles in each issue
  • Clinical vignettes, student papers, exemplars and polemical articles

Contemporary Nurse: Healthcare Across the Lifespan is an independently published, peer-reviewed journal designed to increase nursing skills, knowledge and communication, assist in professional development and enhance educational standards by publishing stimulating, useful and interesting articles on a range of issues influencing professional nursing.

 

Section Policies

Editorial

  • Editorial submissions are sought from the editorial board of the journal for regular and special issues. Authors wishing to submit editorials should contact the Editorial Team.

Submissions for general issues

  • This section is for submissions for general issues only and they will be edited by the journal's editors.

Vol 39/2 General Issue

To be published October 2011

Vol 40/1 Advances in Community and Family Health Care, 2nd edn

  • This special issue 'Advances in Community and Family Health Care, 2nd edn ' (Volume 39/1) will be edited by a team of guest editors.
  • Summary of the issue on the Contemporary Nurse web site
  • Deadline for Manuscript Submissions 1 February 2011

Vol 40/2 Advances in Complex Health Care: Nursing Interventions

  • This special issue 'Advances in Complex Health Care: Nursing Interventions' (Volume 40/2) will be edited by a team of guest editors.
  • Summary of the issue on the Contemporary Nurse web site
  • Deadline for Manuscript Submissions 30 November 2011

Vol 41/1 Advances in Community and Family Health (3rd Ed)

To be published April 2012

All papers in production by end of February 2012

Vol 41/2 General Issue

Cover date of June 2012

Deadline for papers

Vol 42/1 Health Care for Vulnerable Populations

  • This special issue  (Volume 42/1) 'Health care for vulnerable populations' will be edited by a team of guest editors.
  • Summary of the issue on the Contemporary Nurse web site
  • Deadline for Manuscript: 31st January 2012

Vol 42/2 General Issue

Opinion Pieces

  • Opinions, Exemplars, Responses and Rejoinders
  • Authors should consult the journal's Submission Guidelines regarding content and length

Book Reviews

  • Submissions and proposals for book reviews should be made to this issue/section of the journal.

Call for Papers

  • Approved call for papers submissions appear in this section of the Journal.
  • New proposals should follow the guidelines regarding special issues.

 

Peer Review Process

Manuscripts submitted for publication are subject to a double blind peer review process.

Contemporary Nurse welcomes electronic submission of articles in the following areas:

  • Original Research articles across all specialised areas of nursing education, teaching and practice including: aged care, clinical practice, community nursing, cross-cultural nursing, family health, health advocacy, health equity, mental health, methodology, palliative care, remote and rural nursing, traditional and complementary nursing, workplace issues, etc.
  • Literature Reviews from graduate theses that bring new or neglected areas into focus.
  • Research Methods and Practice Protocols of value to researchers and practitioners.
  • Opinion Section - Short articles presenting viewpoints on current issues in nursing knowledge.
  • Students' Corner Section - Undergraduate students' well-graded papers that contribute to nursing knowledge (submitted with recommendation from supervisor).
  • Exemplar Section - Brief descriptions of nursing practice that have made a critical difference.
  • Reviews Section - reviews of books, journals, educational software and portals (submitted to Book Reviews Editor).
  • Noticeboard Section - notices of upcoming events such as conferences.

Guidelines for manuscript reviewers

Authors generally agree that a good review process provides the following:

  • helpful assessment of the paper's strengths and diagnosis of problem areas
  • clear, constructive advice (in a friendly tone) on how to develop the paper. Without this, authors find it difficult to accept critique
  • promptness of review - while ideas are still fresh, and to assist completion and publication of the paper so authors can move on to other projects

Reviewers can provide comments via the Peer Review form or appended to their version of the manuscript.

This blind peer review process and information in manuscripts must have guaranteed confidentiality. To ensure this, reviewers are requested to not discuss the manuscript with another person.

Conducting a review

We expect reviewer's to bring to their reading of papers their full scope of experience, and advice on any aspect of the paper will be valued. Reviewers may find the following broad questions useful.

  • Is the paper well-grounded in the contemporary literature on the topic?
  • Does it make clear the contribution it aims to make to that literature?  And succeed in making that contribution?
  • Does it present a coherent argument for its position, and are positions, propositions or hypotheses persuasively developed?  Do conclusions follow persuasively from the argument?
  • Is written expression clear, concise and accessible to students and academics with an interest in this field?
  • Please highlight poor grammar or spelling. 'American' or 'English' spellings are acceptable, providing they are used consistently. It is not the reviewer's role to correct but helpful to identify errors.
  • Are heading levels appropriate and concise? 
  • Has ethical clearance been shown for research papers? Are ethical processes followed included in the body of the article?
  • Are references accurate and timely, and consistent throughout?  Do in-text citations appear in References, and vice-versa as appropriate?
How are reviews conducted?

We ask reviewers to:

  1. register on OJS as a reviewer

  2. access assigned manuscripts for review promptly

  3. complete the online CNJ Review form

  4. make annotations on the manuscript itself - using Track Changes or highlighting your comments - then upload that document

  5. submit a review recommendation.

Within 2 weeks of receiving all reviews, remarks are conveyed to the author(s) together with a summary report from the editor. The editor will correspond with authors and reviewers on any subsequent revision to the paper that may be requested, until a decision is reached on publication.

 

Publication Frequency

Contemporary Nurse appears on a July-June subscription cycle in 3 volumes comprising 6 issues averaging 128 pages. General issues with feature articles on nurse education and research are alternated with special issues on topics of emerging interest. Special issues are also available as a subseries of Contemporary Nurse in annual boxed sets of 4 volumes: Advances in Contemporary Nursing.

 

Access

Contemporary Nurse (ISSN 1037-6178) is indexed/abstracted/listed in:

  • Thomson ISI Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE - SciSearch)
  • Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)
  • Social Scisearch
  • Journal Citation Reports/Social Sciences Edition
  • Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition
  • NLM Medline
  • EmCare
  • Scopus
  • PsycINFO
  • Meditext
  • CINAHL
  • EBSCOhost
  • International Nursing Index
  • DEST Register of Refereed Journals
  • Ulrich's Periodicals' Directory.

 

Availability

Contemporary Nurse is available as an 'online plus print-on-demand' subscription. Institutional subscribers can also elect to receive access to all current and back issues online for the subscription year. Supplementary print copies may be ordered directly from the publisher. Online access is available to subscribers through Atypon Link, EBSCOhost, SwetsWise, CNPIEC and CELDES.

 

Individual articles may be ordered on a Pay Per View Basis from: atypon-link.com; Meditext; CINAHL or the Publisher.




Contemporary Nurse
http://www.contemporarynurse.com/

ISSN 1037-6178
©2011 eContent Management