1035
MOVI NG I N THE RI GHT DI RECTI ON:
FI RST STEP I N W RI TI NG FOR PUBLI CATI ON I N NURSI NG
Goolam Hu ssein Rassool1
Rassool GR. Moving in t he right direct ion: first st ep in writ ing for publicat ion in nursing. Rev Lat ino- am Enferm agem 2 0 0 5 n ov em br o- dezem br o; 1 3 ( 6 ) : 1 0 3 5 - 8 .
Cu r r en t t r en ds su ggest t h at t h e dissem in at ion of n u r sin g k n ow ledge an d pu blish ed paper s in h igh qualit y j our nals br ing fur t her developm ent in t he pr ofessionalisat ion of nur sing. Ther e is lim it ed under st anding of t he fact or s t hat enable nur ses’ w r it ing for publicat ion, but an educat ional pr ogr am m e on publicat ions skills developm ent at all levels of nur sing could act as a cat alyst in t his pr ocess of change. Nur sing leader ships not only account for t he responsibilit y t o cont ribut e t o t he nursing knowledge base t hrough publicat ions, but also t o prepare fut ure nurses in t he sam e arena. The aim s of t he paper are t o exam ine som e issues regarding nursing publicat ions, post gr aduat e nur ses in par t icular , and suggest book r ev iew s as a fr am ew or k for t he pr ofessional developm ent of nur ses in how t o w r it e for publicat ion.
DESCRI PTORS: nur sing; publicat ions; per iodicals
LA BÚSQUEDA DE UN NUEVO PARADI GMA EDUCACI ONAL PARA LA CAPACI TACI ÓN
DE ENFERMEROS CON VI STAS A PUBLI CACI ÓN
Tendencias act uales sugier en que la disem inación del conocim ient o en enfer m er ía y la publicación de ar t ículos en r ev ist as de alt a calidad pr opician m ay or desar r ollo en la pr ofesionalización de la enfer m er ía. Hay poca com prensión de los fact ores que hacen los enferm eros capaces de escribir para publicación. Sin em bargo, u n pr ogr am a edu cacion al sobr e com o escr ibir par a pu blicación en t odos los n iv eles de la en fer m er ía pu ede funcionar com o un cat alizador en est e proceso de cam bio. Los liderazgos de enferm ería no solo son encargados d e con t r ib u ir a la b ase d e con ocim ien t os d e la en f er m er ía p or m ed io d e p u b licacion es, p er o t am b ién d e preparar fut uros enferm eros en la m ism a área. Las finalidades de est e art ículo son invest igar algunas cuest iones r efer ent es a la publicación en enfer m er ía, par t icular m ent e al niv el post gr ado y suger ir y pensar en r eseña de libr os com o un r efer encial par a la capacit ación pr ofesional de los enfer m er os con v ist as a publicación.
DESCRI PTORES: en f er m er ía; pu blicacion es; pu blicacion es per iódicas
EM BUSCA DE UM NOVO PARADI GMA EDUCACI ONAL PARA A CAPACI TAÇÃO
DE ENFERMEI ROS NA ÁREA DE PUBLI CAÇÃO
Tendências at uais suger em que a dissem inação do conhecim ent o em enfer m agem e a publicação de ar t igos em r ev ist as de alt a qualidade pr opiciam m aior desenv olv im ent o na pr ofissionalização da enfer m agem . Há pouca com pr eensão dos fat or es que t or nam os enfer m eir os capazes de escr ever par a publicação. Cont udo, u m p r og r am a ed u cacion al sob r e com o escr ev er p ar a p u b licação em t od os os n ív eis d a en f er m ag em p od e f u n cion ar com o u m cat alisad or n est e p r ocesso d e m u d an ça. As lid er an ças d e en f er m ag em n ão só t êm a r esponsabilidade de cont r ibuir à base de conhecim ent os da enfer m agem at r av és de publicações, m as t am bém de pr epar ar fut ur os enfer m eir os na m esm a ár ea. Os obj et iv os dest e ar t igo são inv est igar algum as quest ões r elacionadas à publicação em enfer m agem , par t icular m ent e em nív el de pós- gr aduação, e suger ir r ev isão de liv r os ar cabouço par a a capacit ação pr ofissional dos enfer m eir os na ár ea de publicação.
DESCRI TORES: en f er m agem ; pu blicações, pu blicação per iódica
Rev Lat ino- am Enferm agem 2005 novem bro- dezem bro; 13( 6) : 1035- 8
w w w .eer p.usp.br / r lae Art igo de Revisão
1
1036
I NTRODUCTI ON
P
ublicat ions by nurses in high qualit y j ournal are part of t he current t rends in t he dissem inat ion ofn u r sin g k n ow led g e. How ev er, t o en ab le t h is w h ole
pr ocess in t o act ion , t h er e is a n eed t o ex am in e an
“ u p - st r eam ” ap p r oach an d t ack le t h e r oot f or t h e
d e v e l o p m e n t o f n u r se s t o w r i t e f o r p u b l i ca t i o n ,
whet her in English or any ot her language.The pot ent ial
t o p u b l i sh r esear ch st u d i es as f i r st p u b l i cat i o n i n
int ernat ional peer- reviewed is rat her rest rict ed for t he
n ov ice au t h or s.
Th e f i r st st e p i n l e a r n i n g o f h o w t o g e t
p u b lish ed in n u r sin g an d ot h er j ou r n als is t o w r it e
s h o r t p a p e r s i n t h e f o r m o f b o o k r e v i e w s . Th e
p u b licat ion s of b ook s r ev iew or op in ion let t er s ar e
of t en r eg ar d ed b y som e elit ist s t o h av e n o ad d ed
value in t he hierarchy of publicat ion papers. This m ay,
how ev er, be t he case for seasoned and ex per ienced
writ ers and academ ics. But for t he m aj orit y of nurses
w ho has a desir e t o publish or t o see som e for m of
publicat ion in print , having a st art on short pieces of
writ ing is t heir window of opport unit y. This is t he first
st ep in t he “ rit es de passage” for new aut hors t o have
t he opport unit y t o get som e publicat ions in print . Som e
h ig h q u alit y j ou r n als p r ov id e op p or t u n it ies f or t h e
pu blicat ion of book r ev iew s, clin ical pr ocedu r es an d
car e st u d ies. Th e aim s of t h is p ap er t o p r ov id e a
f r am ew or k f or w r it in g a b ook r ev iew f or p ot en t ial
publicat ion in nur sing j our nals.
PROCESS OF W RI TI NG A BOOK REVI EW
A book r ev iew is bot h a descr ipt ion and an
analy sis of a book w hose pur pose is t o descr ibe t he
cont ent and t o present som e kind of evaluat ion. Book
r ev i ew s p er f o r m an i m p o r t an t p ar t f o r r ead er s i n
bringing an insight t hose who would like t o keep wit h
u p - t o - d at e w i t h n ew p u b l i cat i o n s b u t al so h av i n g
lim it ed spar e t im e t o r ead. The im por t ance is t hat a
book r ev iew needs t o be w r it t en w it h sim plicit y and
clar it y. A r ead er w h o r ead s y ou r r ev iew sh ou ld b e
able t o decide w het her t he book is w or t h r eading or
buy ing. Som e r ev iew s sum m ar ize t he book ’s cont ent
and t hen evaluat e it ; ot hers int egrat e t hese funct ions,
com m ent ing on t he book and using sum m ary only t o
give exam ples( 1). I t is definit ely not a sum m ary of t he
book . Ther e is no single appr oach in book r ev iew ing
an d t h e k ey is t o w r it e a piece an d t h en w or k ou t
what suit s your st yle. This t ype of publicat ion require
t he need t o be focus on t he book’s t hem e and m ake
a few key point s about t he book. There is no way t o
hav e a w r ong opinion, but in or der t o hav e a useful
op in ion , y ou m u st b e ab le t o ex p lain y ou r op in ion
clear ly( 2 ).
The lengt h of a book review in nursing j ournals
is b et w een 3 0 0 an d 5 0 0 w or d s an d t h e aim is t o
exam ine t he book’s cont ent in t erm s of it s readabilit y
and relevance. Som e int ernat ional publicat ions devot e
as m uch as half of t heir pages t o book r ev iew s and
t her e ar e lit er ar y j our nals w hich dev ot e near ly t heir
ent ire cont ent s t o t hem . The im port ant t hing is get t o
k now t he j our nal and it s guidelines for aut hor s and
i t s b o o k s’ r e v i e w i n g p o l i cy. I f n o i n f o r m a t i o n i s
p r o v i d ed , w r i t e t o t h e ed i t o r s. No n - so l i ci t ed b o o k
r ev iew s ar e not gener ally published by j our nals but
edit ors will oft en com m ission books reviews. The first
t hing t o do is t o send short curriculum vit ae wit h your
int er est s and specialit y or t he ar eas t hat y ou w ould
like t o be a reviewer. I f you are int erest ed in a book
and it s t hem e it w ill help you w rit e a m ore balanced
r ev iew . Befor e beginning t o r ead t he book , ex am ine
t he t it le of t he book and have som e ideas about what
it suggest s.
PREPARATI ON: READ THE TEXT
Lik e m ost piece of w r it t en publicat ions a lot
of t here is a lot of preparat ion t o be done. First of all
y ou n eed r ead b ook r ev iew s in v ar iou s j ou r n als t o
get an idea of h ow ot h er au t h or s h av e appr oach ed
t h e t ask . At t h e begin n in g of t h e r ev iew , scan t h e
b o o k a n d m a k e a n o t e o f a l l t h e b i b l i o g r a p h i c
infor m at ion about t he book : t he num ber of pages in
t he book , t he publisher, t he dat e of publicat ion, t he
p lace of p u b licat ion , t h e n am e of t h e au t h or ( s) or
edit or ( s) an d t h e I SBN n u m ber. Most book r ev iew s
st ar t off w it h a heading t hat includes t hose det ails.
Look at t he t it le page, is t here a sub- t it le?
Th e goal or pu r pose of t h e book is u su ally
found in it s Pr eface or back cov er. Alw ay s r ead t he
preface or int roduct ion for st at em ent s about t he book’s
aim s. Th e Con t en t s pr ov ides in f or m at ion abou t t h e
organisat ion of t he book and t he developm ent of t he
t op ic an d m ay b e w h at t op ics ar e m issin g . As y ou
scan t he book under lined passages and m ak e not es
of it s relevance, st rengt hs, lim it at ions. Here, you w ill
ident ify effect iv e passages for quot ing and t o r ecor d
Moving in t he right direct ion...
Rassool GR
1037
your react ions. St at em ent s quot ed or cit ed from ot her
sou r ces m u st be pr oper ly ack n ow ledged. Ch eck t h e
referencing in t he aut hors’ guidelines. How m any t im es
you need t o read t he book for a review is a m at t er of
p ract icalit y. Th e k ey f act or s ar e t o be f am iliar w it h
t he essence of t he book and it s evaluat ions. As you’re
reading, ask yourself t he quest ions( 3) as present ed in
Table 1.
Table 1: Quest ions Relat ing t o Book Rev iew
s n o i t s e u
Q Responses
t n i o p w e i v s ' r o h t u a e h t e r a t a h W ? e s o p r u p d n
a Checktheintroducitonorpreface.
. s t n i o p n i a m s ' r o h t u a e h t e r a t a h
W Checkintroduciton.
s ' r o h t u a e h t s i t a h
W style? Isitformalorinformal?Doesitsuit ? e c n e i d u a d e d n e t n i e h t w o
H accurateistheinformaitonin ? k o o b e h t f i s e c r u o s e d i s t u o k c e h C . y r a s s e c e n e h t s e o d e c n e d i v e f o d n i k t a h W r e h r o s i h e v o r p o t e s u r o h t u a ? s t n i o p r o h t u a e h t s e o D ? t o n y h w r o y h W s t n i o p r e h r o s i h t r o p p u s ? y l e t a u q e d a s ' k o o b e h t f o e t o n e k a m , t n a v e l e r fI a m r o
f t
-, s e c n e r e f e r , x e d n I , t u o y a L d i a y e h t o D . s n o it a r t s u ll i ? g n i d n a t s r e d n u r e h t o o t e t a l e r k o o b s i h t s e o d w o H . c i p o t e m a s e h t n o s k o o b d d a t i s e o D ? e u q i n u k o o b e h t s I f o p u o r g t a h W ? n o it a m r o f n i w e n k o o b s i h t d n if d l u o w , y n a f i , s r e d a e r ? l u f e s u t s o m s ' k o o b e h t h s il b a t s e o
T authority. Whatareasarecovered/not ? y h W ? d e r e v o c ? d e h s il p m o c c a k o o b e h t s a h t a h W ? d e d e e n k r o w r e h t r u f s I s i h t y b s r e h t o o t k o o b e h t e r a p m o C . s r e h t o y b r o r o h t u a e h t k n i h t u o y o d l u f s s e c c u s w o H e h t t u o g n i y r r a c n i s a w r o h t u a k o o b e h t f o s e s o p r u p ll a r e v o . s m i a r o e s o p r u p g n it e e M ? t c e j b u s e h t n o g n it i r w e v i a t i r o h t u A r o k r o w e m a r f a s e d i v o r P . e r u t a r e t il e t a d o t p U ? e c n a d i u g ? t x e t e h t f o y t il i b a d e r d n a y c a r u c c A
Adapt ed from Writ ing Tut orial Services ( 2004)
PREPARE AN OUTLI NE
You w ill n eed t o r ev iew all y ou r n ot es an d
t hen m ak e an at t em pt t o w r it e a basic out line. Lik e
m ost pieces of writ ing, t he review it self usually begins
w it h an int r oduct ion t hat let s t he r eader s k now t he
point s you int end t o m ake. I t is im port ant t o capt ure
t he reader’s at t ent ion and t o m ot ivat e t hem by m aking
y ou r open in g sen t en ces effect iv e. Th e st r u cu t u r e of
y ou r b ook r ev iew sh ou ld b e d ev elop ed in a log ical
m an n er. St at em en t s su ch as: “ Th is b ook is. . .” or “ I
am w r it ing t his r eview because…” should be av oided.
I nst ead begin w it h a v er y br ief anecdot e connect ed
w it h t he book. Som et im es you w ill need t o include a
back gr ound t o enable r eader s t o place t he book int o
a specific con t ex t . For ex am ple, y ou m igh t w an t t o
descr ibe t he gener al pr oblem t he book addr esses by
r efer in g t o cu r r en t h ealt h or n u r sin g policies. Nex t ,
you should also include a sum m ary of t he cont ent , it s
purpose, t o whom t he book is aim ed for, it s accuracy,
an d y ou r ev alu at ion s. I n t h e f in al assessm en t it is
v aluable t o m ak e a r ecom m endat ion about t he book
as a w hole. I s is w ort h recom m ending?
W RI TI NG THE REVI EW
Writ ing a first draft from t he ouline is t he next
st e p f o r w a r d . Th e f i r st d r a f t u su a l l y w i l l co n t a i n
m at er ials t h at w ill r equ ir e fu r t h er edit in g at a lat er
st age. You w ill need t o keep w it hin t he lim it s of t he
m ax im um of w or ds allow ed. Keep going back t o t he
fir st draft and r ead it a few t im es. You m ay w ant t o
st art doing som e severe edit ing checking for am biguit y
an d in com plet e st at em en t s. Ch eck again f or logical
pr esent at ion and, if necessar y, m ak e m aj or r ev isions
t o t he t ext . Make draft 2 and st art t he whole process
ag ain . I n ad d it ion , con t in u e ch eck in g f or er r or s in
gr am m ar and punct uat ion.
FI NAL COPY
Pr oof r ead t h e t y p ed cop y an d m ak e som e
f i n al m i n o r r ev i si o n s. I t i s r eco m m en d ed t o h av e
so m e o n e e l se r e a d y o u r b o o k r e v i e w l o o k i n g f o r
basic coher ence t o t he t ex t and gr am m at ical er r or s.
Make t he necessary changes, if appropriat e, from t he
feedback r eceiv ed. Just a r em inder t hat t hat e spell
an d gr am m ar ch eck pr ogr am m es on y ou r com pu t er
do not addr ess all y our spelling m ist ak es. For som e
papers considerat ions should also be given t o having
t h e p ap er t o t r an sl at ed i n t o En g l i sh o r an y o t h er
int er nat ional language. Finally hav e t he paper r eady
for subm ission t o t he par t icular j our nal. All of t his is
done now t hrough t he elect ronic m ails syst em s or on
t he I nt er net . The book r ev iew edit or w ill infor m y ou
in due course when your book review will be published
FURTHER READI NG ABOUT PUBLI CATI ONS
Cast ledine G. A Publicat ion Guide t o 40 Healt h Car e
Jour nals London: SB Com m unicat ions Gr oup; 2001.
Cam pbell G. C. ( 1 9 9 8 ) Helpin g y ou get pu blish ed in
t he Jour nal of Adv anced Nur sing. J Adv Nur s 1 9 9 8 ;
2 8 : 8 - 9 .
Har r ison B, Har die B. How t o Wr it e a Book Rev iew ,
Fi l m Re v i e w , o r Ot h e r Cr i t i q u e . Cu l l o w h e e : Th e
Moving in t he right direct ion...
Rassool GR
1038
Un i v e r s i t y W r i t i n g Ce n t e r a t We s t e r n Ca r o l i n a
Univ er sit y. Updat ed: 10/ 07/ 2004.
McI ner ney DM. Publishing Your Psy chology Resear ch:
a Gu i d e t o Wr i t i n g i n Jo u r n al s i n Psy ch o l o g y an d Relat ed Fields. London: Sage: 2001.
Oe r m a n n MH. W r i t i n g f o r Pu b l i ca t i o n i n Nu r si n g . Philadelphia ( PA) : Lippincot t William s & Wilkins; 2001.
Walford, AJ. Reviews and reviewing: A guide. London ( UK) : Mansell Pub.; 1986.
Wr it ing Book Review s LEO: Lit er acy Educat ion Online URL: h t t p: / / leo. st clou dst at e. edu / acadw r it e/ book r ev.
Last updat e: 28 Sept em ber 1997.
I ndiana Univ er sit y. Wr it ing Tut or ial Ser v ices. ht t p: / / w w w .indiana.edu/ Last updat ed: 27 Apr il 2004.
CONCLUSI ON
To m ov e in t h e r ig h t d ir ect ion w e n eed t o enable post graduat e nurses t o writ e and publish. There
Moving in t he right direct ion...
Rassool GR
Rev Lat ino- am Enferm agem 2005 novem bro- dezem bro; 13( 6) : 1035- 8 w w w .eer p.usp.br / r lae
is a br oad spect r um bet w een w r it ing a book r ev iew
an d h av in g a r esear ch st u d y or a b ook p u b lish ed .
Academ ic st aff should be t ar get ed w it h t he pr ov ision
of cont inuing professional developm ent t o m ake t hem
bein g bet t er in f or m ed abou t pu blicat ion s sk ills an d
a b o u t t h e i r r e s p o n s i b i l i t y a t t a c h e d t o f a c i l i t a t e
post gr aduat e nur ses publicat ion sk ills’ dev elopm ent .
Co- aut hor s or super v isor s should be clear about t he
im plicat ions of facilit at ing post gr aduat es t o w r it e for
p u b l i c a t i o n . A g e n e r a l r e c o m m e n d a t i o n f o r a l l
st a k eh o l d er s i n w r i t i n g f o r p u b l i ca t i o n a n d p o l i cy
dev elopm en t is r equ ir ed.
Ge t t i n g a b o o k r e v i e w p u b l i sh e d i n h i g h
q u a l i t y j o u r n a l i s o f i m m en se v a l u e f o r t h e b o o k
r ev iew er s an d a st ep in t h e r igh t dir ect ion in t h eir
pu blish in g car eer s. Most j ou r n als alw ay s n eed book
r eview er s and fr om t im e t o t im e t hey r ecr uit ing new
b ook r ev iew er s an d r ef er ees. Nu r ses in d ev elop in g
count ries should t ake t his opport unit y t o get published.
REFERENCES
1. Har r ison B., Har die B. How t o w r it e a book r ev iew, Film Rev iew , or ot her cr it ique. The Cullow hee: Univ er sit y Wr it ing Cent er at West er n Car olina. Univer sit y. Last Updat ed 10/ 07/ 2 0 0 4 . Di sp on ív el em : h t t p : / / w w w . w cu . ed u / w r i t i n g cen t er / isou r ce. asp?page= w br ev iew s. h t m l.
2 . Wr it in g Book Rev iew s Lit er acy Edu cat ion On lin e. h t t p: / / l eo . st cl o u d st at e. ed u . 2 0 / 0 4 / 2 0 0 4
3. Wr it ing Tut or ial Ser t v ice ht t p: / / w w w.indiana.edu
