Nursing Times publishes articles usually written by practising nurses to support readers in their clinical, management, leadership and teaching roles. Articles are published in print and online, becoming part of our online archive at nursingtimes.net – the most visited nursing website outside of the United States. These guidelines:
Before writing, look at a selection of our articles on nursingtimes.net to become familiar with our style and article types.
Articles published by Nursing Times usually fall into one of the following categories:
Usually commissioned, this type of article discusses aspects of nursing practice or theory, and uses the literature and expert clinical knowledge to explore professional and practice issues. It could be on a topic about which there may be different opinions and emerging issues that affect patients and/or the profession. A discussion article aims to:
A review article provides an update and overview on a nursing issue in clinical practice. It could cover a diagnosis (for example, COPD, heart failure) or a nursing intervention (for example, ECG, peritoneal dialysis, management of pain). It should discuss the literature in a clear, logical format, broken into sections, as appropriate, to guide the reader through the article. It is an opportunity to publish a literature review that aims to:
An innovation article will report on innovative practice developments done, or led, by nurses. It aims to:
A research article will report on original nursing research. It should aim to:
Clinical comments are more informal in style than other clinical articles in Nursing Times and represent a viewpoint or describe an experience – authenticity is key.
Submission checklists for each article type are provided below. If you wish to discuss the suitability of a proposed article, please submit it to: clinical1@emap.com
Nursing Times aims to meet the information needs of busy nurses, most of whom work in clinical practice or managerial roles. We publish articles in clear, plain English, avoiding complex or overly academic language, and keeping jargon to a minimum.
Articles should have a logical order, and be broken up with headings, bullet points, boxes, tables and figures, as appropriate, to help readers to follow your ideas.
Plain English is not simplistic or patronising; it is clear and concise with a tone and language that is appropriate for the audience. It means readers have to do less work to understand what is written, and can focus on evaluating and appreciating its content.
The list below shows how words and phrases can often be replaced by something simpler:
Complex Simple
With regard to About
Prior to Before
For the purposes of For
For more information on writing plain English, go to http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/free-guides.html
Keep abbreviations to a minimum; any used must be spelt out in full the first time they are used, followed the abbreviation in brackets. Specialist terms should also be explained.
References and citations should be in:
Author name and the year of publication should be cited in the text. If there are more than two authors, name the first author followed by et al.
“xxx (Jones, 2021; Smith et al, 2020).”
“Jones (2021) stated that…”
Noting the punctuation given in the examples, format references according to the type of source (journal, book, chapter in book, website etc), as indicated below.
Author surname(s) and initial(s), year of publication, article title, journal title in full (Journal of Advanced Nursing, not J Adv Nurs), volume, issue (where available), page numbers/range in full.
Smith K, Jones P (2012) The challenges of multiprofessional education. Journal of Advanced Nursing; 42: 5, 470-478.
Author surname(s) and initial(s), year of publication, full book title, publisher. There is no need to include edition or publisher location.
Macrophagus MH (2012) Viral Warts: Their Biology and Treatment. Oxford University Press.
If the chapter author differs from the editors of the book, you must note the name of the book’s editor(s) as well as the author of the particular chapter. Include the following:
Chapter author surname(s) and initial, year of publication, chapter title, book editors, book title, publisher.
Cathala X, Cost A (2019) Anatomy and physiology. In: Moorley C (ed) A Guide to Your First Year in Nursing. Sage.
Clarke M (2005) The autonomic nervous system. In: Hinchliff S et al (eds) Physiology for Nursing Practice. Baillière Tindall.
If the chapter author is the same as the author of the whole book, include the following:
Chapter author surname(s) and initial, year, chapter title, book title, publisher.
Jones CF (2019) Symptoms. In: Managing Diabetes. Elsevier.
Noting punctuation, set as: organisation name/author(s) surname(s) and initial(s), year of publication, full document title, publisher (abbreviated if appropriate).
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2018) Urinary Tract Infection (Catheter-associated): Antimicrobial Prescribing. NICE.
Please include the:
Cancer Research UK (nd) Screening for cancer. cancerresearchuk.org (accessed 9 December 2021).
Howarth G (2022) London nurse wins case for unfair dismissal over religious necklace. nursingtimes.net, 10 January (accessed 11 January 2022).
With the exception of seminal works, references should only cite work published in the last 10 years. Please ensure all books cited are the most up-to-date edition that hold the stated information/data.
Graphs and tables
Graphs and tables can be used to clarify information. Graphs/charts should be supplied separately as Excel files and must not be embedded in the Word document. Please include the raw data for graphs and charts so they can be accurately reproduced.
Figures, illustrations and photographs
Articles should be emailed to clinical1@emap.com stating ‘Clinical article’ in the subject line. You must not submit your article to other publications while it is under consideration by Nursing Times.
Submission checklists for each article type are provided on below.
You need to confirm that by submitting to Nursing Times, your submission is your own work and any additional sources of information have been correctly cited.
If you have a financial or personal interest in products, technology or methodology mentioned in your article (for example, if research was funded by a commercial company), please make this clear on your manuscript.
Articles should be:
On the title page, state the full name, job titles and places of work of all authors in the order you would like them to be published, with full contact details for the lead author and, if appropriate, a second author.
If the subject matter and article level seem appropriate for Nursing Times, the article will be sent for double-blind peer review. Reviewers report on articles from a range of perspectives, including whether they fit with Nursing Times’ formats, accuracy, relevance and level. They are also asked to make suggestions on how the articles could be developed.
You should receive a decision within eight weeks of submitting your article. We may accept it as is, but it is more likely that we will ask you to undertake developments on the basis of the reviewer’s report. Some articles sent for review are rejected.
We cannot give a publication date when your article is accepted, but will usually contact you shortly before publication with editing queries, and can let you know at this stage. You will be sent a copy of the issue in which your article is published.
Nursing Times does not ask the authors of journal articles to transfer to us the copyright for their work. Instead, we ask authors or their employer to grant us an exclusive licence to publish their article. The exclusive licence enables us to publish, reproduce, distribute, display and store your article, and to translate, create summaries or derivative works and to sublicense such rights and exploit all subsidiary rights. Nursing Times is committed to disseminating your published article through our journal, website and partnerships.
You will be sent a publication agreement form if your article is accepted (a copy of this form is available to download here). Please complete and return this as soon as possible, as your article cannot be published until we receive it.
If you send us copyright material from other sources, such as diagrams or assessment tools, you are responsible for obtaining permission to do so. Please obtain permission before submitting your article.
Including the abstract and a maximum of 35 references, these articles can be either:
Include the following:
Including the abstract and a maximum of 35 references, these articles can be:
If you have concerns about the word count or number of references, please contact the clinical team at: clinical1@emap.com
Include the following:
Including the abstract and references, an innovation article should be:
Include the following:
Including the abstract and a maximum of 35 references, a research article should be:
Include the following:
Including a maximum of five references, a clinical comment article should be:
The piece must be free flowing, without sections or headings.
