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EDITORIAL Vol.22 Issue 2
Nursing Praxis in New Zealand was established with the aim of encouraging nurses and midwives in this country to write for publication. Since the first issue in November 1985 there has been a strong policy of supporting and mentoring new authors. In the intervening 21 years, scores of New Zealand nurses have had the pleasure of seeing their work in print. For instance over the past five years Nursing Praxis has published a total of 48 articles relevant to New Zealand nursing and midwifery. These articles represent the work of 61 New Zealand authors, either as sole authors or in conjunction with others. As colleagues we have been stimulated, occasionally irritated, but always intrigued by what has been written. The range of topics and variety of the articles has offered important insights into the issues and context of nursing in New Zealand.
Clearly there is still a professional imperative for nurses to write, to document what they do, articulate how they make a difference, and signal the challenges and the issues that must be addressed in nursing practice. However, in the last few years, other factors have intervened and these are exerting significant pressure on nurses, especially educators and academics, in relation to publishing. In particular, the demands of the PBRF rating system have meant that higher ratings are allocated to articles published in international journals. This trend has the potential to bring about the demise of smaller journals, such as Nursing Praxis, which are not classified as being international. Although the rhetoric within the PBRF guidelines suggests there is a place for publication in local and national journals, we are aware that pressure is being placed on nurses to publish mainly in overseas journals.
As long-standing members of the Nursing Praxis Editorial Board, we have been concerned about the decreasing number of manuscripts submitted recently. So much so, that we wondered whether the Journal had outlived its usefulness. However, on reflection, we believe that the fundamental values that drove the establishment of the Journal are still valid, and indeed even more important. The Editorial Board has pursued a policy of working with authors for as long as necessary to help them bring their work to publication standard. The level of writing and reporting that is expected for Nursing Praxis is equivalent to that of international journals. Occasionally we do reject a manuscript outright, but only after very careful consideration and usually with some positive advice. However eventually the majority of articles submitted are published, given that the authors are prepared to work with us. We believe that this approach to supporting New Zealand authors to publish in their own journal is a win-win situation in a number of ways. Firstly, as they are not competing against hundreds of potential authors from around the world, nurses have a much higher possibility of being published in Nursing Praxis than in an overseas journal. Secondly, our commitment to publish only New Zealand nursing authors (with only one or two exceptions in special circumstances) increases the relevancy of the Journal content to New Zealand nursing practice. Thirdly, for those authors who do have an article accepted, publication usually occurs within a three to six month time frame, compared with delays of more than two years in some international journals. And finally, having a national journal also means that a number of nurses in this country are also able to develop their skills as manuscript reviewers.
The constraints imposed by the PBRF rating system cannot be ignored. However, we argue there is still a strong case to be made for nurses seeking to achieve a more balanced publication portfolio. As Nursing Praxis is indexed in CINAHL, this means that our publications are available to anyone anywhere in the world who chooses to search that database. Authors who publish in Nursing Praxis and then complete reference searches on, for instance, the Web of Science, may be positively surprised to find where and by whom their work has been cited.
In the end, while the Editorial Board may think that Nursing Praxis has made a real contribution to nursing in this country, it is up to individual nurses to decide whether they want to support the Journal. Has it outlived its usefulness? We welcome your feedback in any form but your draft manuscripts would be most appreciated.
Marian Bland and Lesley Batten
Members of the Nursing Praxis in New Zealand Editorial Board.
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