Holland Karen Watson Roger - Writing for publication in nursing and healthcare: getting it right

This edition first published 2012
2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Writing for publication in nursing and healthcare : getting it right / edited by Karen Holland, Roger Watson.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-470-65782-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
I. Holland, Karen, 1949- II. Watson, Roger, 1955
[DNLM: 1. WritingNurses Instruction. 2. PublishingNurses Instruction. WZ 345]
808.06661dc23
2012011412

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Cover images: main image iStockphoto.com/ DNY59; patient/nurse image iStockphoto.com/ deanm1974
Cover design by Meaden Creative

List of Contributors

Editors

Karen Holland

Research Fellow

School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work

University of Salford

Salford

UK

Roger Watson

Professor of Nursing

Faculty of Health and Social Care

University of Hull

Hull

UK

Contributors

Seamus Cowman

Head of School of Nursing

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

Dublin

Ireland

Jan Draper

Head of Nursing

Department of Nursing

Faculty of Health and Social Care

The Open University

Milton Keynes

UK

Mark Hayter

Faculty of Health and Social Care

University of Hull

Hull

UK

Tracy Levett-Jones

Deputy Head of School (Teaching and Learning)

Lead Research Centre for Health Professional Education

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Faculty of Health

University of Newcastle

Callaghan, NSW

Australia

Zena Moore

Lecturer in Wound Healing and Tissue Repair and Research Methodology

Programme Director

Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

Dublin

Ireland

Paul Murphy

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

Dublin

Ireland

Charon A. Pierson

Editor-in-Chief, Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners

Director, Center for Aging

University of Texas

El Paso, TX

USA

Chantal F. Ski

Associate Professor

Cardiovascular Research Centre

Faculty of Health Sciences

Australian Catholic University

Melbourne, VIC

Australia

Teresa Stone

Senior Lecturer

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Faculty of Health

University of Newcastle

Callaghan, NSW

Australia

David R. Thompson

Professor of Nursing

Cardiovascular Research Centre

Faculty of Health Sciences

Australian Catholic University

Melbourne, VIC

Australia

Sue Turale

Editor-in-Chief, Nursing and Health Sciences

Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing Australia

Fellow of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses

Professor of International Nursing

Yamaguchi University

Yamaguchi

Japan

Dean Whitehead

Senior Lecturer

School of Health and Social Services

Massey University

Palmerston North

Wellington

New Zealand

Foreword

It is a pleasure and privilege to be asked to write the foreword for this important book. It has arrived at an opportune time when there is a growing interest among health professionals in writing about their work and in understanding the mechanics of publishing.

Nurses and health professionals generally are members of applied disciplines, and the generation of knowledge is of little use if it is not disseminated. Our continued existence as a profession is based entirely on how we can improve the health and well-being of patients, their families and communities. The link between our knowledge base and our practice stands at the core of our survival as a discipline. As a result, we are extending our research and scholarly roles so as to provide evidence that underpins our practice and teaching. However, to produce such evidence without sharing it with others through publication and presentation is a fruitless exercise.

There are many reasons why health professionals publish. These include personal satisfaction, peer recognition or promotion of their career. Increasingly, health professionals in academia are expected to publish to promote scholarship or to have their research assessed. Currently, there are research assessment exercises in Australia, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom. In each of these, the main element for consideration is publication. The old adage publish or perish is more of a truism now than ever.

Publications take many forms, including everything from books, book chapters, book reviews, journal articles, editorials, conference papers, commentaries and letters. Both Karen Holland and Roger Watson have many years of experience in this field. Not only have they published extensively in all of the formats outlined above, they are also experienced editors and have boundless insight into the editorial process. They have assembled a number of high-profile contributors for this text from across the globe. Chapters cover everything from the basics of starting to write, to how publications are reviewed, to ethical and legal issues. I have always believed that the true experts in a subject are so comfortable with it that they can make it easily understandable. These contributors have this uncanny ability of simplifying the most complex of subjects. They do not have to dress the topic up in jargon and complicated terminology. They are also good storytellers and their stories of how ideas and research findings can be developed into publishable works will make readers come back to this text again and again.