Instructions for Authors

The guidelines of the scientific journal “Nursing Care and Research” have been revised and harmonized with the “Common Requirements for Articles Submitted in Biomedical Journals”, according to the International Committee of Biomedical Journals Publishers.


GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Article writing language and types of articles. ”Nursing Care and Research” publishes, following double blind peer review, articles in Greek or English, contributing to the understanding and development of all aspects of nursing care. The journal welcomes original research papers, reviews, theoretical or philosophical articles, interesting clinical cases, and methodological articles from experts. In addition, Letters to the editor, are also published (up to 500 words in length), which include reviews or comments on already published work, provided they are submitted within two (2) months after the publication of the respective work.

2. Parallel articles publication. Papers must be submitted exclusively to the Journal “Nursing Care and Research”, they have not been published previously in print or electronic form, nor they are under review in another journal electronic or printed by the time of submission, in English or in any other language. The Editorial Board decides on the (fastest possible) time of publication of articles and reserves the right to modify their format. However, major, or substantial modifications are made only after authors’ consent. Authors should avoid submitting two manuscripts from the same study without clear justification. Also, they should not include in paper submitted material from background literature reviews that have already been published (eg avoidance of self-plagiarism). In case that two papers emerge from the same research study, presenting different aspects of the work at hand, must be submitted independently and not as two parts of the same manusript. Each article should be autonomous and must not include one another, although cross - references can be made. When a complete description of the research methodology is reported in the first article, a brief description is sufficient in the second, provided that the first is adequately referenced. Generally, one should avoid publishing numerous individual papers originated from the same study (“salami slicing”) and instead should focus on the different aspects and research findings within a single publication. If the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors must complete and send electronically the copyright licence to publish form signed by the corresponding author, which is provided in the accompanying files at the bottom of these instructions.

3. Author participation in the drafting process. All authors cited in the manuscript should have actively contributed to the conception and design of the study and/or the analysis and interpretation of data and/or in drafting the manuscript and all should have analysed and approved the content of the final version submitted for publication. Participation only in the funding-seeking process or data collection does not justify listing among the authors and can be acknowledged in the Acknowledgement section. For this reason, when several authors are cited, a separate letter is required explaining in detail the contribution of each author (eg methodological design, statistical analysis, and interpretation, drafting of final text, reviewing and editing, literature review etc). The editorial department reserves the right to contact authors to obtain clarifications on specific issues.

Example:


4. Submission process. Manuscripts must be submitted electronically via the online platform of the Journal. Please visit the submission web site: Paper Submission (https://www.ejmanager.com/my/ncr/). Authors interested in submitting an article must previously register online (for free) via the https://www.ejmanager.com/my/ncr/ to create an account in the Journal.

Manuscripts for publication are submitted in Word for Windows format. Figures, tables, graphics, and images (only black & white) are to be submitted in separate files in JPEG, GIF, TIFF, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Excel formats.

Authors should always maintain a copy of their work. In case they do not receive an electronic automated message for successful submission of their work, they should contact the Secretariat at e-mail: info@nursingstudies.gr

If the work is accepted for publication and in order to be published the submitter or at least one of the authors must pay the publication fee (100 euro for non-member or 80 euro for Society's members). Payment can be made through Piraeus Bank at IBAN account GR53 0171 0130 0060 1301 0127 544. After payment the, deposit should be sent via e-mail to info@nursingstudies.gr for the issuance of the relevant receipt.

5. Periodicity and Mantainace of the Material. The journal is published three (3) times per year (quarterly). The authors are informed that the material submitted for publication in the journal is retained for one month after its publication. If the authors wish their material back, this should be clearly stated when manuscripts are being submited.


ORGANISATION AND FORMAT

6. Script: Texts should be double-spaced, with font size 12 and 2.5 cm white margin on all sides of each A4 page. All pages must be numbered in the lower right corner and the figures, tables, graphics, and photos are to be submitted in separate pages, in continuous numbering.


7. Identification Page: The first page of each manuscript includes the title (up to 15 words) and the names of the authors in Greek and English. Each author’s name is accompanied by qualifications, the last professional title, employer, mailing and e-mail address and telephone number of the author responsible for communication (corresponding author).

There is a limit on the number of authors allowed for original articles, which should not exceed six (6), except from special cases when it comes to multi-disciplinary, large-scale multicenter studies. The authors of systematic reviews (meta-analysis, meta-synthesis, mixed methodology, scoping reviews and certain types of non-systematic reviews (eg narrative or critical reviews) should not exceed four (4) authors, while the authors of descriptive reviews should not be more than two (2).

The identification page will be stored at the journal’s Secretariat office until the completion of the anonymous peer review process, receiving a code number, which will be communicated to the author via e-mail. With this number the author can request information on the progress of the manuscript after submission.

8. Title Page: Immediately after the identification page, follows the title page, which includes the title and running title of the paper. The running title will appear in Greek and English language and should not be more than five (5) words (or 45 characters), including spaces. Any identifying information, suh as authors’ names or any other item that reveals their anonymity during the peer-review process, should be avoided.

9. Abstracts and Keywords: The title page is followed by two abstracts (up to 250 words) both in Greek and English, which should briefly state the major findings of the work. The abstract of research studies and systematic reviews should be stuctured into a) introduction, b) aim(s), c) methodology, d) results and e) conclusion(s) and must not contain any bibliographical references or abbreviations.

In case of non-systematic reviews, the structure described above should not be followed, but should be limited to a single text that includes: an introduction to the topic, purpose, summary of the content and conclusion. Each abstract is followed by up to six (6) keywords that indicate the content, purpose, and focus of the manuscript.

10. Main body of the work: The main text should be 2,000-5,000 words (excluding abstracts, tables, and bibliography) for reviews and quantitative studies and up to 7,000 words for quilitative studies. Short manuscripts (up to 2,500 words and up to fifteen (15) references) are particularly welcomed. This option is recommended for the dissemination of small-scale research studies of high quality if they have the potential to contribute to future research. In addition, smaller-scale manuscripts are more likely to reach faster publication stage. The manuscript should include headings to further clarify text sections. Proposed headings include a) introduction, b) purpose and research questions, c) literature review, d) hypothesis (if there is any), e) Methods: i. Research desigh, ii. Sample, iii. Instruments, iv. Data collection, v. Reliability and validity, vi. Ethical issues, vii. Data analysis, f) Results, g) Discussion, h) Conclusions and relevance to nursing practice, suggestions for future research, i) Limitations of the study, k) Acknowledgements, work recognition (in case it has been presented and / or awarded at a recognized national or international conference), l) Bibliography etc. Headings must be selected and adapted to content needs and their hierarchical order should be clearly distinguishable; for example first level headings should appear in upper case and bold fonts, second level headings in lower case and bold fonts, third level headings in italics and so on and so forth.

For non-systematic reviews, the following structure should be followed:

- Title: In Greek and in English (up to 15 words)

- Summary: The summary follows a single paragraph structure that does not exceed 250 words.

- Keywords: Three to six keywords representing the content of the background, are written alphabetically.

- Introduction: The introduction should be written in such a way that readers without specialization in the field, to understand the subject under investigation. The introduction concludes with a brief reference to the purpose of the specific article.

- Main topic of the review: The main topic is divided into subsections (chapters and sub-chapters) depending on the results from the search of recent international and national literature.

- Conclusions: They do not constitute a summary or repetition of the results listed in the main topic. The contribution of the descriptive review to the existing knowledge is clarified, issues for modification of practices are proposed as well as, implications for future research are included

- Bibliography Note: The descriptive reviews do not include a methodology chapter.

The formatting of chapters (uppercase, bold), sub-chapters (uppercase and lowercase, bold) and sections of sub-chapters (uppercase and lowercase and italics) will follow without numbers on the left side of the page, while the alignment of the text remains central. Regarding the data, it refers to the past and be put in the past tense. However, the time of data collection must be stated in both the summary and the main text. For example, in the case of empirical (research) studies, this can be worded as follows: “Data collection took place during 2017” or “Data collection took place during 18 months, in the period 2017-2019 ». It is noted that the journal “Nursing Care and Research” does not publish articles that refer to data older than five (5) years, unless there is sufficient justification for their current relevance and usefulness. In qualitative studies, individuals should be referred to by numbers or pseudonyms (inquotation) and there should be a balance of references across the range of responses.

In the case of reviews, the year in which the review was conducted and the range of years of publication of the reviewed studies inluded should be indicated. Similar details should be mentioned in the case of historical studies. The statistical tests used should be defined and, where necessary, documented by bibliographic references. Abbreviations and symbols should be used infrequently and only when large names or expressions are repeated. Full names or expressions should be given in full during the first use, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. In all cases, the rules applicable to the publications of the Royal Society of Medicine Press will be followed.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR QUALITATIVE STUDIES

The Journal of Nursing Care and Research accepts original qualitative studies. The maximum number of authors that can participate in the authors’ team is up to six (6). In the case of multicenter studies, the number of authors may be increased, after consultation with the chief editor. As far as it concerns, the length of the text, it could be up to 6,000 words, however, it can be accepted for quantitive studies the limit of 8,000 words (excluding bibliography, summary and tables). The formatting of the text must follow the general submission instructions and include the title and the summary (up to 250 words) in Greek and English, the keywords, the introduction, the methodology (Design, Participants, Data Collection, Ethical issues, Data Analysis, Study Evaluation (criteria of plausibility, fidelity, stability, and applicability), results, discussion, conclusions, study contribution, and bibliography.


ETHICAL ISSUES

11. Study population anonymity and informed consent. Authors should conform to the rules included in the New European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In order to ensure anonymity, the manuscript should not include the names of specific individuals, hospitals or other entities, without their explicit consent. Furthermore, patients retain the fundamental right for privacy protection which should not be infringed without their informed consent. However, in those cases where the authors consider that certain personal patient data is essential for scientific purposes (such as patient initials or photographs or names of hospitals) informed consent is necessary. This means that authors are expected to submit the final version of their work with the accompanying files: Images and Annexes, prior to submission to the journal and receive written consent from the patients. In either case, the authors should try to ensure the greatest possible degree of patient anonymity. For example, covering the eye area in photos does not fully ensure the anonymity of the depicted person. Changes in some patient characteristics is the technique recommended to authors, provided that these changes do not distort/misinterpret the research results. Such changes should always be communicated to the publisher along with assurances that these changes will not result in any “alteration” of the scientific nature. The procedure describing the way the written informed consent was obtained should be stated in the methodology section, in the final text of the submitted manuscript. Finally, the author(s) should indicate in their article the approval number of the institution(s) and / or the Ethics Committee for conducting of the study.

12. Adherence to the Human and Animal Rights. When authors publish studies results conducted on humans or animals, the methods section should indicate whether they were conducted according to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki as revised in 2013 and Directive 2010/63/EU for the animal’s rights. Should certain processes deviate from these principles, these must be methodologically outlined and justified. Specifically, concerning clinical studies (invasive or not), authors should indicate, in the methods section whether they were conducted upon approval of the National Agency for Medicines (EOF) in accordance with Ministerial Decision DYG 3/89292 Gazette V1973/31-12-2003 (aligned with Directive 2001/20/EC).

13. Conficts of interest. Public confidence in the peer-review process depends partly on the management of any conflicting interests arising in the writing, evaluation and final publication decision as articulated by the editorial department. Conflicts of interest arise when an author (or the institution to which the author belongs to), a reviewer or the Managing Editor maintain financial or personal relationships that can in a negative way affect their actions/ judgement regarding the manuscript submitted to the journal. More specifically, according to the requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals (as issued in February 2006 by the International Committee of Medical Journals Publishers), conflicts of interest arise when financial relationships exist (eg employer – employee, ownership of property, financial honorary prizes, and paid expert opinions) and these are the most easily identifiable cases and those that most often undermine the credibility of the journal, the publishers, the authors and the scientific endeavours in general. However, conflicting interests may arise for other reasons as well such as poor interpersonal relationships, academic competition etc. Authors must indicate at the end of the text and prior to the reference section if they consider that the peer review of their work may be affected or not by the existence of any conflict of interest as described above.

14. Sources of funding. Authors should indicate details (entity name, contact information, amount awarded) of all funding sources from which their research benefitted. Examples of such sources include medical or non-medical interest company funds, scholarships, national or European Community grants, support from scientific bodies (eg scientific societies, non-profit institutions etc.). It should also be indicated if the work was carried out as part of a national or trans-national program, financed by national or international sources. In this case, full details of the program (awarding body, duration, amount of funding, etc.) must be disclosed. This information should be listed in a separate section following the conflicts of interest section.

15. Acknowledgements. The funding sources section is followed by the optional Acknowledgements section, stating the names and affiliations of all those who contributed (eg through the provision of primary data, or by reviewing the text or providing their opinion) to the manuscript draft (apart from the authors). This section should acknowledge any sponsors donating materials and tools required for the research. Authors at this point can also indicate if the work has already been awarded or presented at a conference.

16. Bibliographic References. Bibliographic references in the text should indicate the names of the authors followed by the date in chronological order, eg. (Lewis 1975, Barnett 1992, Chalmers 1994). When there are more than two authors, the name of the first autor followed by et al., eg. (Barder et al. 1994), is referenced in the text but all authors should be listed in the bibliography. When quotes are used in the text, the page should be referred to eg. (Chalmers 1994, p.7). All references must be from primary sources. The literature list follows the Harvard system, written in alphabetical order based on the surname of the first author. The list should include authors’ surnames and initials, the date of publication, article title, full name of journal, volume number (and issue number if the volume pages are not consecutive) and the first and last page of the article. When the reference applies to a book, the author, the date, the title, followed by the publisher and the city must be stated. When the reference applies to a chapter in a book, details on the author(s) of the book, the date, place of publication and publisher must be provided. These references that are said to be “in press”, shall be accepted only if accompanied by a letter of acceptance from the journal in question.

Examples:

Websites are refered as follows:


17. Figures, Tables, Graphics , Photos. Tables must be referred to herein as Tables, numbered in the order they are presented, eg as Table 1, Table 2, etc. and indicate in the text the position of each table or figure, eg Table 1 here, Figure 1 here, etc. All images, including photos, must be referred to herein as Figures and numbered in the order they are presented, eg Figure 1, Figure 2 etc. They must also be captioned and may be accompanied by a legend not exceeding thirty (30) words. Figures of all forms will cover a single column (width 86mm) or two columns when needed (width 177mm). The journal reserves the right to adjust the size of figures for technical reasons. When material (including figures, tables, etc.) that has already been published elsewhere appears in the manuscript, the written permission of the original authors (or those who own the copyright of said material) must be obtained. The authors of published papers are fully liable for any copyright infringement.

18. Peer-review process. All submitted work is reviewed (as anonymous) by two (2) independent referees/reviewers and if they contain complex statistical methodologies by a statistician as well. Reviewers decide whether an article is a) accepted, b) requires modifications or c) is rejected. In case of disagreement among the reviewers, the Chief Editor will reach a final decision, considering all reviewer comments.

If the reviewers suggest modifications, the manuscript is returned by the journal secretariat to the corresponding author for redrafting and resubmission within six weeks from the date the comments were made (the review process lasts usually 6-8 weeks and in some cases can reach up to 10 weeks). During resubmission, authors are required to indicate the modifications they have carried out in accordance to reviewers’ instructions in a letter to the Managing Editor. The modified manuscript is forwarded to the reviewers if deemed necessary, and they confirm whether modifications comply with their recommendations. At that point the Editor reaches the final decision to publish the article. It is pointed out that the Editorial Board of the Journal reserves the right to request the database of primary studies and the authors are obliged to submit it.


ESSAY, REPRINT, ADDITIONAL REPRINTS


19. Electronic Reprint: Following publication, the corresponding author will receive an electronic reprint of the article in PDF format. Electronic reprints will be distributed by him/her to the other authors. The jounral does not issue printed reprints of published work.

20. COPYRIGHT. In order to publish any article in the “Nursing Care and Research” journal, the authors are asked to grant this exclusive right to the Society for Nursing Studies. Along with the draft for modifications the authors receive an Authorization for Exclusive Publication form which must be filled, signed and returned by mail to the journal, along with the modified manuscript. When a paper is derived from an extensive research study and the same or other authors have prepared additional papers, which have been published or submitted for publication in this or other journals, the corresponding author must notify the Managing Editor so as to ensure that third party copyright is not infringed. Any impact emanating from copyright infringement lies exclusively with the authors of published articles and the journal will proceed with all necessary actions.

FINAL NOTE

Subscribers preparing manuscripts for publication in the “Nursing Care and Research” journal are requested to adhere to these Instructions for Authors carefully in order to avoid delays in the publication of their work and the publication of new volumes of the journal. All authors listed in the manuscript must have made an active contribution to the conception and design of the study and/or the analysis and interpretation of data and/or in the drafting of the manuscript and everyone should have studied and approved the final version submitted for publication. Participation only in the funding-seeking process or data collection does not justify listing among the authors and can be acknowledged in the Acknowledgement section.