JOURNALS provide a vehicle for disseminating new ideas, research findings, and other types of information to readers. Nurses use journals to learn about advances in patient care and initiatives underway in other settings, find solutions to problems, and keep up-to-date with trends in nursing and healthcare. Journals share findings of quality improvement projects and research studies that might be applicable to the nurse's own setting or lead to other useful ideas. Early scientific journals were a means of sharing ideas and discoveries among members of a society, often in the form of letters to society members.1 Gradually, over the years, journals became more specialized to meet the needs of readers in a particular area.
The Journal of Nursing Care Quality (JNCQ) is a specialized journal whose purpose is to provide useful information to nurses about quality care and patient safety. Our goal is to meet readers' needs not only in the content of papers that are published in the journal but also in how readers access that information. Recognizing the need to disseminate quickly new ideas about quality and safety initiatives, over a year ago we began publishing articles in electronic form ahead of print. For authors, that means their work is published within a short time after they submit the final version of their paper; for readers, it means they do not have to wait to learn about new ideas and research findings.
JNCQ has now launched a new Web site, making it easier for readers who have a limited amount of time to access information about quality and safety. The Web site is easy to navigate and search for specific topics. At http://www.jncqjournal.com, readers have access to the following:
* The current issue of the journal, with both abstracts and full articles available. Articles are free to journal subscribers (remember to register online at the Web site).
* All previous issues of JNCQ with abstracts and full articles beginning with the first issue published in November 1986.
* Publish-Ahead-of-Print papers. These accepted articles have undergone full peer review and have been copyedited and proofread. They are published online before they appear in print.
* All of the continuing education articles that appear in JNCQ.
* Featured articles and most viewed and most e-mailed papers with links for readers to access them if interested.
* Information about the journal and author guidelines.
* Their own collections of papers. A link with each article allows readers to save their searches and papers they read in personal collections.
Another useful feature for readers is the ability to search for a topic published in JNCQ. For example, a search for papers on falls yielded 113 articles that were published in JNCQ. Searches can be modified by using key words and saved at the Web site. There are options for free e-mail alerts and RSS feeds, allowing readers to automatically monitor new articles that appear in JNCQ. Readers can sign up for the table of contents and abstracts to be downloaded to their PDAs.
In the upcoming months, there will be other new features at the Web site to enhance JNCQ's readability and usefulness to readers. Put this editorial aside, and visit the Web site at http://www.jncqjournal.com.
Marilyn H. Oermann, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF
Editor
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