Submitting a manuscript for professional publication can be a daunting experience. Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing (DCCN) welcomes manuscripts of relevance and interest to critical care and acute care nursing. However, there are some tips that may help you submit to DCCN.
First, it is always helpful to precede submission with an e-mail message of inquiry, or query letter, to the editor and review the Information for Authors found through the author's link on the journal home page. This correspondence early in publication process allows the editor to indicate interest in your work and give developmental advice or direction on topics of interest. At this stage, you may introduce an idea, include an outline or abstract of your manuscript, or suggest a dimension that will be a good fit for your topic. Of course, at any stage of your writing project, you can contact the editor directly with questions or ideas or to discuss projects already in progress or manuscripts under review.
Before you submit, we suggest that you
* visit the DCCN Web site at http://www.dccnjournal.com.
* determine the DCCN department that is most relevant to your idea or topic by reviewing the list of departments.
* send a query letter describing your idea to the editor. The editor will provide individual feedback on how to develop your idea to best meet the DCCN formats.
* develop the manuscript around 1 main idea. Avoid all-inclusive articles, which are often broad or too basic for our advanced readers. Instead, develop a unique aspect or slant on the idea. Often, 1 general idea can be developed into several specific articles covering different topics. State this unique idea clearly in the introduction and summary of your paper.
* research or quality improvement projects or reports must have structured abstracts. These abstracts should have the subheadings to indicate Background/Introduction, Objectives/Aims, Methods, Results, and Discussion/Conclusions.
* submit manuscripts to only 1 journal at a time. Copyright will be processed during the submission process.
Remember, all manuscripts are subject to peer review. To ensure a blinded review, do not include the author's name or institution in the running head or anywhere in the manuscript after the title page. Authors must obscure references in the first person to the author's own work, within the body of the text or references. It should not be possible for reviewers to identify authors from any section of the manuscript.
* finally, submit the completed manuscript directly through Editorial Manager at http://dccn.edmgr.com/.
Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing accepts manuscript submissions through a submission service on our electronic Web site (Editorial Manager). Here you will find specific instructions and guidelines for submitting articles. Please read and review them carefully. Articles that are not submitted in accordance with our instructions and guidelines are more likely to be sent back to the author or rejected!
GUIDELINES AND RESOURCES
Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing endorses using the following guidelines for specific manuscripts:
* SQUIRE-Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence Guidelines for quality improvement studies at http://squire-statement.org/guidelines
* CONSORT-Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials guidelines for randomized clinical trial design at http://www.consort-statement.org/consort-statement. CONSORT checklist and flowcharts are available at http://www.consort-statement.org/consort-statementoverview0/#checklist.
* PRISMA-Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses, for systematic review and meta-analysis at http://www.prisma-statement.org/
* EQUATOR network-Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research for resources addressing many additional types of publications at http://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/
New for Features for Authors now include language and editing services.
Wolters Kluwer, in partnership with Editage, offers a unique range of editorial services to help you prepare a submission-ready manuscript. These include the following:
* premium editing: intensive language and structural editing of academic papers to increase chances of journal acceptance
* advanced editing: a complete language, grammar, and terminology check to give you a publication-ready manuscript
* translation with editing: write your paper in your native language and Wolters Kluwer Author Services will translate it into English, as well as edit it to ensure that it meets international publication standards
* plagiarism check: helps ensure that your manuscript contains no instances of unintentional plagiarism
* artwork preparation: save precious time and effort by ensuring that your artwork is viewed favorably by the journal without you having to incur the additional cost of purchasing special graphics software
Start your next writing project today; there are many ways to begin!
Contact Kathleen Ahern Gould, PhD, RN, at mailto:[email protected].
VisitDCCN's home page at http://www.dccnjournal.com.
Review Information for Authors at http://edmgr.ovid.com/dccn/accounts/ifauth.htm.
Submit manuscripts directly through Editorial Manager at http://dccn.edmgr.com/.