Instruction for the reviewers

Iranian Journal of Nursing Research (IJNR)

Each researcher gathers and produces a lot of information during the research. The aim of writing an article as a scientific report is to provide necessary and useful information about the research’s process and findings to readers to be used appropriately. So, the question would be; what part of the research and what kinds of information are useful for the readers? The scientific journals develop an instruction for the authors to answer this question and to help authors and evaluators when reviewing the paper.

Iran’s Journal of Nursing Research is scientific/ research journal that publish papers related to nursing profession. Papers would be accepted in this journal if they have been written in following forms:

1. Original Research Articles: this type of article has been written based on an ordered research design and valid scientific findings, and should include; title, abstract (Farsi & English), introduction, Methods, findings, discussion, conclusion, and references.
2. Review Articles: these types of articles should be prepared based on the expertise of the author in relation the subject and should have at least 20 valid scientific references. They should include; title, abstract, introduction and a brief history of the subject, aim of the study, scientific statements and related previous studies, analysis and discussion about presented studies, and conclusion. Main conclusion and recommendation for the future studies should also be included. (From 20 references, 3 should belong to the author(s) and related to the subject of study).
3. Case report: these types of articles should be written based on a specific professional issue and should provide particular view and understanding of the issue. They should also include; title, abstract (in Farsi & English), introduction, case report, discussion, references and documents.
4. Team Work: these types of articles are based on a joint group/team work on a specific professional subject, particularly at national (inter-university cooperation) and international levels.      

Main principles

1. The main language of the journal should be Farsi, but international English articles are also accepted.
2. The article should have not been published in or sent to any national journal previously, also scientific undertaking of the author should be clearly specified and all the authors of the article should be aware about the publication. Therefore, it is necessary that, the authors should confirm these issues in their request letter. 
3. The author(s) should upload two copies of the article (with and without name) along with the request letter to www.ijnr.ir . The journal does not accept any Email or normal post-delivery.
4. Specific names or words in the manuscript or tables must be among famous abbreviations and their complete word with abbreviations in a bracket should be written once in the manuscript.
5.  Graphs, pictures and tables must be clearly visible and readable for publication and should be in separate pages. The number and title of the tables should be on top of them and for graphs should be under them. The picture of individual people should not be identifiable.
6. For spacing: the row spacing should be 1.5 cm in A4 paper with clear margin of 2.5 cm from either side. For Farsi text, the Microsoft world 2003 with Mitra fonts and text size 12, and for English text, Times and Roman fonts and text size 12 must be used along with the name of the file and must be send to the journal.
7. The responsibility for the accuracy of the statements is on the author(s). Also, the time lap from the start of research and sending of the article should not exceed 5 years.
8. The journal has the right to reject, accept, amend, edit, and summarize the articles, and articles with their attachments will not be returned.
9. Only the articles that are in compliance with ethical principles of Helsinki-Tokyo agreement regarding clinical studies of human, and approved by ethical committee of the author’s institution will be published. Also an inform consent must be obtain from the participants of the study and this should be clearly reflected in the article.
10. Publishing of statements in the journal with the reference to the Iran’s Journal of Nursing Research is acceptable.
11. In each issue, only one article review and for each person only on article as the first author or corresponding author will be published.
12. All intervention study must be registered in the website (www.irct.ir) and its code must be mentioned in the article.

The process of evaluation for acceptance of article

1. The articles will be accepted if they comply with the main mentioned principles.
2. Each article will be peer reviewed at least by three reviewers and decision whether to accept or reject the article is made first by journal’s editorial board and then by the jury. 

How to set up articles’ pages

1. The title page:  The complete title of the article must be short (maximum 15 words) and should include the main subject and author’s orientation in relation to the subject. In the qualitative studies, the title should be experienced –based and reflect the subject of the study. It must also be written in (bold font) letter.

2. Each page must have a short title (maximum 5 words).

3. The name of author(s) must be written under the title.

4. Corresponding author must be identified by (*), for example; it should be written as (* corresponding author)

5. Complete detail of the author(s) such as scientific undertaking and addresses, including research institution, faculty and university. Page 1 footnote must include abstract in Farsi and English.

6. In the English abstract, the principles of Latin writing should be preserved for example; Last name, the first letter of first name, scientific undertaking (as Ph.D, MD, MSc, BSc), post code, phone number, fax and email address respectively must be written in the footnote.

Abstract: Study’s abstract (Farsi and English) must be in the separate sheet, structural, maximum 250-300 words, without references and abbreviations, and should include all concepts and components of the study, as follow:

Introduction: It must be in two or three sentences regarding the necessity for conducting the study or summary of manuscript.

Aim: Aim(s) must be a clear, measurable (in quantitative studies), and accessible and should be homogeneous all throughout the article.

Method: Method must include general information about the type of study, population and sampling, method and tools of data collection, and time and type of intervention.

Findings: In the quantitative study, the findings must be related to the aim(s) of study, and should be presented for each study group with the used statistical tests along with results and coefficients/ confidence intervals. In the quantitative study, categories, themes or concepts and/or theoretical explanation of the findings related to the study’s subject along with the brief, related and clarifying explanation should be presented.

Conclusion: This section should not repeat the study’s findings. In this section, final conclusion of the findings along with recommendations, and findings’ applications in nursing must be presented.

Keywords: It should include maximum 5 keywords based on MeSH. Farsi and English abstracts must correspond with each other and Farsi keywords in Farsi abstract and English keywords must be in English abstract.

The main manuscript of study should include introduction, method, findings, discussion, conclusion and references.

Introduction: Introduction must be clear, brief, ordered and purposive. Thus, the author(s) in the introduction must pay attention to the logical sequence of presented information. This principle is applicable in both qualitative and quantitative studies and its sequence includes;  

1. General explanation about study’s setting and subject
2. More detailed explanation about aspect of the issue that is the focus of the study
3. Review of other studies related to the subject of study
4. Analysis of presented information in above items particularly, related studies and vacuum regarding the subject.
5. Presentation of study’s aims, questions, and/or main hypothesis.

Study Method:

One of the import parts of any article which reflects its accuracy and strength is the information presented in the study method. Considering the differences in the methodology of qualitative and quantitative studies, how to write these sections are explained separately.

In the quantitative studies, method must include clear information about;

1. Study design and its relevance to the study aim/question, time and place, population, samples, inclusion and exclusion criteria, estimation of sample size, sampling method and process of sample distribution into study groups
2.  Study method or stages of intervention, measuring tools, validity and stability, process of scoring tool’s data (qualitative and quantitative) and interventions
3. Data management, computer software, and statistical test methods

In the qualitative studies, method must include clear information about;

1. Study design and its relevance to the study aim/question, time and place or natural environment, access to the participants and their characteristics
2. How researcher entered the natural setting of study, full explanation about data gathering processes, ending of data gathering or data saturation, explanations about the methods used for  data validity, accuracy, credibility, confirmability, transferability and dependability, and ethical consideration
3.  Data management, computer software (if used), data analysis method and its relevance to study method

Findings: one of the important parts of study that reflects the study’s achievement is the information presented in the study findings. Since the findings of qualitative and quantitative studies are different, how to write these sections are explained separately.

Findings in quantitative studies include;

1. Examination of amount and distribution of interferer demographic variables (their distribution and uniformity)
2. Clear and adequate presentation of findings based on the study findings. So, readers can easily judge how much study has achieved its aims.
3. Statistical data and concepts such as; number/percentage or the mean/standard deviation should be written without any explanation. Type and suitability of the tests and significant level should also be included.
4. Data and findings that appear in the tables and graphs should not be repeated in the manuscript. However, a summary of them should be reflected in the manuscript briefly.
5. Tables and graphs should be written in Farsi and they must be clear and readable. They should also contain title, and time and place of the study. No more than 5 tables and graphs should be in the article and their size should not be bigger than 15x10 cm (they do not require subtitle, and only symbols like *, +, etc, should have subtitle). 

In the qualitative studies;

1. First, method of analysis should be determined according to the model and a brief report of the findings should be included in each stage.
2. Categories, main themes or concepts with sub-themes along with direct statements of the participants or primary data should be stated and explained.
3. At the end, the finding of the study that are related to the study’s question(s) (meaning or process of phenomena under study) must be explained in a way that, explained meaning or main theory derived from the study data should reflect a logical and clear correlation between concepts, themes, categories or main variable.

Discussion:

Discussion should include conclusion and summery of the data that are in line with the study’s question(s). Following items should be considered in the discussion;

1. In the quantitative studies, the summery should not include statistical and numeric findings.
2. Relevance of study findings with the findings of other national/international studies (computability or contradiction) should be critically analyzed (not just discussed) and reasons for their acceptance or rejection must be discussed.
3. If a study has been conducted based on theoretical model or framework, their relevance with the findings should also be discussed.
4. Expression of personal opinions should be limited to the study findings.

Final conclusion:

Final conclusion must include; conclusion and a belief report about discussed subjects that should be related to the aims, main question(s) or theory of the study.

1. Conclusion should be limited to study findings.
2. Applications of the findings, study limitation and generalizability must be carefully considered.
3.  Recommendation about further study and the use of findings can be highlighted in this section.

Acknowledgement:

In this section, the author(s) would thank the funding institutions, people or organizations that helped to conduct the study

References:

Vancouver method should be used for referencing. Citations with number and according to the order of appearance in the manuscript should be written at the end of article. In the manuscript, after the use of each reference the number of reference must be written in a bracket. 

Notice: Considering the condition for indexing of scientific journals in the world’s high ranking databases, all Persian references are required to be translated to English. To write the title of a Persian article, the English translate of the title that has been published in a journal should be used.

How to write the references (articles and books):

1. Persian references as article:

Author’s surname, first letter of author’s fist name, title of the article, year of publication, issue number, pages.

Example; Ahmadi J, Fathie S, Sajari Sh, Endemic Goiter in Province Hamadan: intake iodine salt after 5 years, Pajohesh dar Pezeshki, 1998; 22(2): 135-145

2. Persian references as books:

Author’s surname, author’s fist name, title of the book, edition number, name of the city-place of publication, name of publisher, year of publication.

Example; Mohammadi Hassan, Jalili Hassan (authors), ensuring the quality of laboratory, second edition, Tehran, center of university publication, 1996.

3. Dissertation references:

Writer’s surname, writer’s first name, title of dissertation, PhD/ MSc dissertation of program, city: name of educational center, name of university, year.

4. English references as article:

Author’s surname, first letter of author’s first name, title of the article, name of journal, year of publication, issue number, pages. Names of up to six authors should be written and if there are more than six authors the word (et al) must be used.

Example; Vega KJ, Pina I, Krevsky B, Heart transplantation is associated with an increased risk for pancerratobiliary disease. Annals Internal Medicine. 1996; 124 (11): 980-3.

5.  English references as books:

Author’s surname, first letter of author’s fist name, title of the book, edition number, name of the city of publication, name of publisher, year of publication.

Example;  Ringseven MK, Bond D, Geronology and leadership skills for nurses. Albany (NY): Delmar publishers; 1996.

If the reference used is a chapter of the book:

Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP, Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. New York: Raven Press; 1995. P. 465-78.

6. Use of electronic (online) references (Farsi and English):

Hughes, J. Satisfaction with Medical Care: A review of the field. www.chagesufer.com/html. Accessed: Feb 2, 2003-5,2003

National Library of Medicine. (2002). Fact Sheet. Medical Subject heading (MeSH). [online]. Available: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/mesh.html. accessed June 7, 2000

Notice 1: To publish journal’s content, permission must be obtained from journal of Nursing Research’s editor-in-chief.

All rights for publication are reserved.

For those whose article are published in the journal, the same issue of journal ( one for each author) will be send to corresponding author.

Notice 2: According to the directive of editorial council and board of directors of Iran’s scientific nursing association, from the first issue in 2011, all articles that are accepted following the reviewing process must pay part of the costs for publication. This decision has been made due to the lack of effective sponsor, reduced membership fees and increased expenditure of the journal. The journal must pay review fee to reviewers in order to maintain its scientific quality, and also there are other costs including, publication, Farsi and English edit, distribution all across the country, etc, which the journal cannot afford. The cost of publication for authors is 3,000,000 Rials.

At the end, the authors are recommended to use the above instructions in their article and after registering in the journal and obtaining username and password, submit their articles. Good luck.    

    1. Aims and Scope: The “Iranian Journal of Nursing Research (IJNR) “is the offi­cial scientific quarterly publication of the Iranian Nursing Scientific Association.

  2. This Journal ac­cepts Original Papers, Review Articles, Short Communications and Let­ters to the Editor in the fields of nursing

   3. Submission: Always submit three copies of the article and two sets of photographs, illustration, diagrams etc to mentioned address. Manuscript must be accompanied by a cover­ing let­ter to the Editor-in -Chief, including title and au­thor(s) name and undertaking that it has not been pub­lished or submitted elsewhere. In case the manuscript was earlier submitted to some other Journal and was rejected, the authors must provide full information for proper analysis. Manuscript should be typed in double space on one side of the A-4 size paper with clear margins on both sides. Tables as well as illustrations should be typed and drawn on a separate paper. Do not submit tables as photographs.

  In case of electronic submission of the manuscript the authors must declare that it is being exclusively contributed to IJNR. The text should be submitted in Microsoft Word format as an attachment. The figures should be sent in a format of JPEG or GIF which will produce high quality images in the online edition of the journal. Submission is also acceptable via Journal URL: http://ijnr.ir .

   4. The manuscript should include: Title page; the Ab­stract; Introduction; Methods; Results; Discussion; Ac­knowl­edge­ment and Ref­erences.

    5. The title page: The complete title of the manuscript, the name of all the authors with their highest qualifications, the department or institution to which they are attached, address for correspondence with telephone numbers, e-mail, and Fax number.

   6. The Abstract: All original articles must accompany a structured abstract up to 250 words. It should be structured as Background, Methods, Results and Conclusion followed by 3 to 5 Keywords. Keywords will assist indexers in cross indexing the article as they are published with abstract. Use terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of index medicus (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html ). Authors need to be careful that the abstract reflects the content of the article accurately.

  7. Introduction: This should summarize the purpose and the rationale for the study. It should neither review the subject extensively nor should it have data or conclusions of the study.

  8. Methods: This should include exact method or observation or experiment. If an apparatus is used, its manufacturer’s name and address should be given in parenthesis. If the method is established, give reference but if the method is new, give enough information so that another author is able to perform it. If a drug is used, its generic name, dose and route of administration must be given. For patients, age, sex with mean age ± standard deviation must be given. Statistical method must be mentioned and specify any general computer programme used. The Info system used should be clearly mentioned.

  9. Results: It must be presented in the form of text, tables and illustrations. The contents of the tables should not be all repeated in the text. Instead, a reference to the table number may be given. Long articles may need sub-headings within some sections (especially the Results and Discussion parts) to clarify their contents.

  10. Discussion: This should emphasize the present findings and the variations or similarities with other work done in the field by other workers. The detailed data should not be repeated in the discussion again. Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them. It must be mentioned whether the hypothesis mentioned in the article is true, false or no conclusions can be derived.

  11. Acknowledgement: All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be covered in the acknowledgement section. It should include persons who provided technical help, writing assistance and departmental head that only provided general support. Financial and material support should also be acknowledged.

  12. Tables: In limited numbers should be submitted with the captions placed above. Do not submit tables as pho­tograph. Place explanatory matters in footnotes, not in the heading.

  13. Figures: Should be in limited numbers, with high quality art work and mounted on separate pages. The cap­tions should be placed below. The same data should not be presented in tables, fig­ures and text, simultane­ously.

  14. References : All manuscripts should be accompanied by relevant references. The author should ensure reference to locally published studies by doing proper literature search. It may not be possible for the editor and reviewers to check the accuracy of all reference citations. To minimize such errors author should verify references against the original documents. The Reference should provide the following information as stated in the presented models as follows:

  Article : - Vega KJ, Pina I, Krevsky B. Heart transplantation is associated with an increased risk for pancreatobiliary disease. Annals Internal Medicine. 1996; 124 (11): 980-3.

  Chapter : - Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. New York: Raven Press; 1995. P. 465-478.

  Book : - Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.

  Web Pages: Key and critical objectives of JAMA. Available at: http://jama.amaassn.org/about_current.dtl , Accessed July 4, 2004.

  15. Proof Reading: A computer printout is sent to the corresponding author for proof reading before publication in order to avoid any mistakes. Corrections should be marked clearly and sent immediately to the Journal office.

  16. Abbreviations and symbols: Use only standard abbre­viations. Avoid using them in the title and ab­stract. The full term for which an abbre­viation stands should precede its first use in the text unless it is a stan­dard unit of measurement.

  17. The corresponding author: Will be supplied with 5 free issues.

  18. Ethical guidelines : Ethical considerations must be addressed in the Materials and Methods section. 1) Please state that informed consent was obtained from all human adult participants and from the parents or legal guardians of minors. Include the name of the appropriate institutional review board that approved the project. 2) Indicate in the text that the maintenance and care of experimental animals complies with National Institutes of Health guidelines for the humane use of laboratory animals, or those of your Institute or agency.

  19. Conflicts of interest: Authors must acknowledge and declare any sources of funding and potential conflicting interest, such as receiving funds or fees by, or holding stocks and shares in, an organization that may profit or lose through publication of your paper. Declaring a competing interest will not lead to automatic rejection of the paper, but we would like to be made aware of it.

  20. Page charges: the charges for publica­tion in this Journal is 2000000 iranian Rials.

  21. Copyright : The entire contents of the IJNR are protected under international copyrights. This Journal is for your personal noncommercial use. You may not modify copy, distribute, transmit, display, or publish any materials contained on the Journal without the prior written permission of it or the appropriate copyright owner.

  22. Peer review process: All manuscripts are considered to be confidential. They are peer-reviewed by at least 2 anonymous reviewers selected by the Editorial Board. The corresponding author is notified as soon as possible of the editor decision to accept, reject, or require modifications. If the manuscript is completely acceptable according to the criteria set forth in these instructions, it is scheduled for the next available issue.

  23. Disposal of material : Once published, all copies of the manuscript, correspondence and artwork will be held for 6 months before disposal.

   The Final Checklist

  The authors must ensure that before submitting the manuscript for publication, they have taken care of the following:

  1. Title page should contain title, name of the author/co-authors, their qualifications, designation & institutions they are affiliated with and mailing address for future correspondence, E-mail address, Phone & Fax number.

  2. Abstract in Structured format up to 250 words.

  3. References mentioned as stated in the Instruction to Authors section.

  4. Tables should be typed on separate pages.

  6. Make sure for Headings of Tables, their numbers and Captions of illustrations. Don’t repeat the information in tables if it is covered in the text.

  7. Photographs / illustrations along with their captions.

  8. Manuscript in Triplicate

  9. Letter of Undertaking signed by all the authors.

  10. Disclosure regarding source of funding and conflict of interest if any besides approval of the study from respective Ethics Committee/Institution Review Board.

  11. Covering Letter

  The Editor-in-Chief,

  IJNR Journal

  P.O. Box: 398-14195,Tehran, Iran

  Tel/Fax: + 98-2166592535

  Email: info@ijnr.ir

  URL: http://ijnr.ir