This document provides details on typesetting and layout requirements pertaining to final manuscript submission to Journal of Nursing & Interprofessional Leadership in Quality & Safety.

General Considerations

• Write your article in Standard English.
• Use APA 7 format throughout. Submit your manuscript, including tables, figures, appendices, etc., as a single MS Word (.doc or .docx) file.
• The page size should be 8.5 x 11 inches.
• All margins (left, right, top, and bottom) should be 1 inch (2.54 cm), including the tables and figures.
• The article text should be double-spaced.
• Use a single-column layout with left margin justified.
• Font:
  1. Main body—10-pt. Trebuchet MS or the closest comparable font available.
  2. Footnotes—9-pt. Trebuchet MS or the closest comparable font available.

Article Types

Articles

Submissions should be limited to 3,500 words and should follow the SQUIRE 2.0 format (i.e., Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion). Research studies should include an abstract of no more than 250 words and should include a statistical/data analysis section and statement(s) regarding IRB approval, animal care, patient informed consent, and/or compliance with the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT), when applicable. When appropriate, the main article text should be formatted according to relevant reporting guidelines.

Quality Improvement Reports/Studies

Articles reporting quality and safety initiatives should be limited to 3,500 words. Topics include the development and implementation of quality initiatives and new approaches to education and training that inform quality and safety. Quality improvement papers should include an abstract of no more than 250 words that summarizes the objectives and the key issues and learning points for nurses and other healthcare professionals. The main text of quality improvement articles should include the elements outlined in the Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence [SQUIRE 2.0] (SQUIRE) 2.0 guidelines.

Systematic Review Articles

JoNILQS welcomes systematic reviews reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). These articles should not exceed 4,500 words.

Editorials

JoNILQS publishes editorials at the discretion of the Editor in Chief and the Editorial Board. Editorials that are commissioned by the Editor in Chief will be reviewed by the Editor in Chief. Unsolicited editorials that comment on articles published in JoNILQS or comment on general trends that may be of interest to the journal’s readership will be reviewed by the Editor in Chief and Editorial Board to determine their suitability for publication.

Invited Commentaries

Commentaries may address topics of interest related to nursing and interprofessionalism, quality improvement research, health policy, education, and current events. Commentaries should be limited to 1,500 words and 10 references.

Perspectives from the Field

These manuscripts are essays written to illustrate the experiences of nurses, nursing students, faculty, and practitioners as they affect these individuals’ professional development and scholarship. An abstract is not required for these pieces, which should comprise no more than 1,500 words and 5 references.

Special Reports

Special reports are articles of special interest to the JoNILQS readership. An abstract is not required for these articles, which should be limited to 2,500 words and 10 references. These pieces might include, for example, new or updated guidelines or policies, position statements, or other miscellaneous submissions that do not fit the descriptions of other article types.

Case Studies

We welcome case studies that focus on issues related to all healthcare fields, interprofessionalism, and quality and safety in healthcare settings. These articles should comprise no more than 2,500 words and 15 references. Authors should write case reports according to the (CARE) guidelines and templates and should include an abstract of no more than 250 words that summarizes the objectives of the case study presentation and the key issues and learning points for nurses. Authors should take extra care to ensure that patients’ anonymity is maintained and should consult the treating hospital/facility to confirm whether permission or informed consent is needed.

Manuscript Preparation

Abstract

Please include an unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words that provides brief background information and/or a statement of the problem, a summary of the methods/intervention, the specific endpoint(s), the most relevant findings, and a conclusion based on those results. The abstract should not include citations for references or figures/tables. Immediately after the abstract, please include 4-6 keywords for indexing.

Style and Language

All submissions must be in standard English. Except for common foreign words and phrases, the use of foreign words and phrases should be avoided. Abbreviations and acronyms should be established at the first appearance of the phrase in the main article text (i.e., not in the title or headings) and should be used at least 5 times. Abbreviations and acronyms that do not appear at least 5 times should be spelled out as full phrases.

Fonts

Except where special symbols are needed, use 11-pt Trebuchet MS or the closest comparable font available for the main article text. If you desire a second font, for instance for headings, use another sans serif font (e.g., Arial). In addition to a second font, headings can be distinguished from the main body text by using small caps. In any instance, use the same font face for all headings and indicate the hierarchy by reducing the font size. There should be space above and below headings.

For footnotes, use 9-pt. Trebuchet MS or the closest comparable font available. Avoid the use of fonts smaller than 6 pt. When possible, use italics rather than underlining to emphasize text. The use of color to emphasize text is discouraged. Likewise, whenever possible, foreign terms should be set in italics rather than underlined, as should the titles of books, movies, and other longer works.

Set the font color to black for the main article text. We encourage authors to take advantage of the ability to use color in the production of figures, maps, etc.; however, this could cause problems when the documents are printed in black and white. For this reason, please avoid the use of colors in situations where their translation to black and white would render the material illegible or incomprehensible. Please ensure that there are no colored mark-ups or comments in the final version, unless they are meant to be part of the final text. (You may need to “accept all changes” in "track changes" or set your document to “normal” in final markup.)

Indentation, Line Spacing, and Justification

Indent all paragraphs except those following a section heading. An indentation should be at least 2 em spaces. Do not insert extra space between paragraphs of text, except for long quotations, theorems, propositions, special remarks, etc. These should be set off from the surrounding text by additional space above and below. In addition, do not “widow” or “orphan” text (i.e., do not end a page with the first line of a paragraph or begin a page with the last line of a paragraph).

All text should be left-justified (i.e., flush with the left margin—except where indented). Where possible, it should also be right-justified (i.e., flush with the right margin). Although flush right margins are preferred, some programs achieve right justification by inserting excessive white space within and between words; jagged right margins are preferred over flush right margins with awkward intra- and inter-word spacing.

Footnotes

Footnotes should appear at the bottom of the page on which they are referenced rather than at the end of the paper. Footnotes should be in 9-pt. Trebuchet MS or the closest comparable font available; they should be single-spaced, and there should be a footnote separator rule (line). Footnote numbers or symbols in the text must follow, rather than precede, punctuation. Excessively long footnotes may be better included in an appendix. All footnotes should be left- and right-justified (i.e., flush with the right margin), unless this creates awkward spacing.

Tables and Figures

To the extent possible, tables and figures should appear in the document near where they are referenced in the text. Large tables or figures should be put on pages by themselves. Avoid the use of very small type in tables. In no case should tables or figures be submitted in a separate document or file. All tables and figures must fit within 1.5" margins on all sides (top, bottom, left and right) in both portrait and landscape view.

Mathematics

Roman letters used in mathematical expressions as variables should be italicized. Roman letters used as part of multi-letter function names should not be italicized. Whenever possible, subscripts and superscripts should be a smaller font size than the main text.

Short mathematical expressions should be typed inline. Longer expressions should appear as display math. Also, expressions using many different levels (e.g., fractions) should be set as display math. Important definitions or concepts can also be set off as display math. Equations should be numbered sequentially. Whether equation numbers are at the right or left is the choice of the author(s). However, the display should be consistent throughout the article.

Symbols and notations in unusual fonts should be avoided. This will not only enhance the clarity of the manuscript, but it will also help ensure that it is displayed and printed correctly. When proofing your document as a PDF, pay particular attention to the rendering of the mathematics, especially symbols and notations drawn from other than standard fonts.

References

Citations in the main article text and tables, figures, appendices, etc. should follow the APA referencing style outlined in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed. (http://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4200067.aspx).

Authors are obligated to provide complete references with all necessary information. After the last sentence of the main article text, please insert a line break—not a page break—and begin the references on the same page, if possible. The margins of the reference list should be both left- and right-justified. You may choose not to right-justify the margin of one or more references if the spacing looks too awkward. Each reference should give the last names of all the authors, their first names or first initials, and, optionally, their middle initials. The hierarchy for ordering the references is:

1. Last name of first author
2. First name of first author
3. Last name of second author (if any). Co-authored work is listed after solo-authored work by the same first author (e.g., Edlin, Aaron S. would precede Edlin, Aaron S. and Stefan Reichelstein).
4. First name of second author
5. Publication date
6. Order cited in text

Examples

Articles in traditional journals:

Author’s (authors’) name(s), title of article, name of journal, year of publication (or “n.d.” if no date), volume number, page numbers. If possible, include the issue number and month/season of publication as well as a hyperlink to the article. For forthcoming (in press) articles, include the expected year of publication and substitute “forthcoming” for the volume and page numbers.

Frazier L., Sanner J., Cron S. & Moeller F.G. (2014). Using a single screening question for depressive symptoms in patients with acute coronary syndrome. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 29(4), 347-353: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3772998/.

Books:

Author’s (authors’) name(s), title of book, year of publication (or “n.d.” if no date), publisher, publisher’s address, edition (if not first). For forthcoming (in press) books, include the expected year of publication and add “forthcoming.”

Wardell D., Kagel S., & Anselme L. (2014). Healing Touch: Enhancing Life Through Energy Therapy. iUniverse.

Chapters in collections or anthologies:

Required: Name(s) of author(s) of chapter, name(s) of editor(s) of book, title of chapter, title of book, year of publication (or “n.d.” if no date), publisher, publisher’s address, and edition (if not first). For forthcoming (in press) books, include the expected year of publication and add “forthcoming.”

Meininger J. C. (2011). Observational research design. In J. Fitzpatrick (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Nursing Research. New York: Springer.