Plastic Surgical Nursing (PSN) journal's success would not be possible without the commitment of some very dedicated, and highly respected, the American Society of Plastic Surgical Nurses (ASPSN) members. We continue to publish professional and educational articles, but this can only be done through the collaboration of the editorial board, department chairs, manuscript reviewers, and manuscript authors. To become an editorial board members or submit a manuscript to the journal to be published may appear to be intimidating, but is vital to maintain the professional status of the PSN journal.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Currently, the journal has eight editorial board members who have graciously volunteered their time to solicit articles that they feel will enhance the knowledge base of plastic surgical nurses. If you have written an article in the past and know the process of writing an article, you would be in a perfect position to join the editorial board. The position is a 2-year term or eight PSN issues. Qualifications to sit on the editorial board include:
* Registered professional nurse-master's degree in nursing preferred.
* Expertise in plastic surgical nursing including reconstructive and/or aesthetic nursing.
* Documented writing ability as evidenced by publication.
* ASPSN member for a minimum of 1 year.
The board responsibilities include:
* Providing feedback and recommending changes for improving the journal.
* Consults with the editor on the direction and focus of the journal.
* Reviewing manuscripts when asked.
* Submitting one article per year.
* Soliciting one manuscript per issue or contributing to a Quarterly Department topic per issue.
* Required to attend an editorial board meeting at the annual fall convention and editorial conference calls.
* Assist new authors in the writing and submission process.
DEPARTMENT CHAIR
Currently, the journal has five dedicated departments that include aesthetics, pediatrics, skincare, reconstruction, and wound care. If you do not want to take on the sole responsibility of this position, you and a colleague can work together and share the duties. The department chairs must have experience in writing and expertise in the specific area of plastic surgical nursing. This position would require you to write, co-author, or solicit one article per issue. This is a 2-year term or eight journal issues.
Qualifications for department chair include:
* Member of the ASPSN.
* Expertise in plastic surgical nursing with a focus in the department she/he will be responsible for.
* Documented writing ability as evidenced by publication.
MANUSCRIPT REVIEWERS
The role of a manuscript reviewer is a recognized and critical component to the journal submission process. Without skilled and knowledgeable reviewers, our journal would not be able to maintain the high standards that have been set forth by the ASPSN. The role of the reviewer is to be responsible for critiquing submitted articles for grammar, consistency, conflict of interest, and references. The nurse must have experience in writing and publishing, and expertise in an area of interest to the journal. This appointment would be a 2-year term or eight journal issues. PSN uses editorial manager-an online submission and peer review system that has simplified the journal review process. As a manuscript reviewer, you will receive credit hours that may be used toward recertification of your CPSN or CANS designation.
SUBMITTING AN ARTICLE TO PSN
Writing an article for PSN is a great way to enhance your professional profile. Sharing your knowledge by publishing an article is an invaluable addition to your curriculum vitae. Suggestions for articles include clinical articles covering a wide variety of surgical and nonsurgical procedures, patient education techniques and research findings, ethical issues, and trends that are relevant to this clinical nursing specialty. Writing an article is a perfect forum to share your knowledge with others in the plastic surgery field, resulting in improved patient care. It is important to know that you do not have to be an academic scholar to write an article; instead you have information that you would like to share. Many authors feel that they are not qualified to write, so they do not even entertain the idea. Writing an article is not easy. It is a challenge that requires organization and dedicated time. However, it is personally and professionally rewarding once you see the finished product in print. Nurses have a wealth of knowledge that is a part of our normal working environment; what seems like basic information to you would greatly benefit a nurse who has just started in this area of specialty. Sharing this knowledge would improve patient care, which is our ultimate goal with any aspect of nursing.
Writing an article for a journal can be a challenging but rewarding task. The PSN editorial board is available to assist and walk you through the writing process. You may then easily submit your manuscripts online with LWW's Editorial Manager. This automated, web-based tool simplifies the manuscript submission and review processes and enables users to submit electronically, review, and track manuscripts and artwork online in a few easy steps. The journal invites contributors to use the Editorial Manager interface at https://www.editorialmanager.com/psn.
CHOOSING AN ARTICLE
The PSN journal is composed of CME articles and department articles. We try to have at least two CME articles per issue so the members have alternate ways to earn credit hours, when they are unable to attend the annual convention. To be accepted for a CME article, there must be no conflict of interests related to the article. All authors must state possible conflicts of interest in the manuscript, including financial, consultant, institutional, and other relationships that might lead to bias or a conflict of interest. If there is no conflict of interest, this should also be explicitly stated as none declared. All relevant conflicts of interest and sources of funding should be included on the title page of the manuscript. An article selected for CME approval must have two manuscript reviewers review the article.
Suggested manuscript topics include:
* Ambulatory surgery settings, patient safety, intraoperative considerations
* Evidence-based practice, patient education, nursing research
* Legal topics-consents, documentation, accountability
* Pain management or anesthesia techniques
* Age-specific considerations
* Pharmacology
* Hand surgery or injuries
* Psychosocial care
The department articles are intended to be shorter, easier-to-read articles. These could include highlighting a new product or procedure, a case study, and a new policy or procedure utilized in your clinic or hospital that you would like to share with the readership. The departments include the following titles, but topics are not limited to these headings:
* Aesthetics (i.e., surgical and nonsurgical facial or body procedures, lasers, and injectables)
* Pediatrics (i.e., congenital deformities, adolescent issues, and body dysmorphia)
* Skin Care (i.e., products ingredients, sun protection, chemical peels, skin cancer, and dermatology)
* Reconstruction (i.e., breast and body surgeries, Mohs, burns, flaps, and grafts)
* Wound Care (i.e., products, procedures, ulcers, care plans, and diabetes)
ONCE THE TOPIC IS CHOSEN
Once the topic is chosen, an organized literature search should be performed to see how other authors have discussed the topic. A well-structured literature search is the most effective and efficient way to find sound evidence on the subject you are researching. To make this easier, search your topic in the form of a question. You must then filter down the information you have gathered, so the focus of the article is singled to one main purpose or idea. Discussing too many topics may dilute the knowledge instead of fully explaining the main purpose.
PREPARING TO WRITE
Once you have decided on an appropriate topic according to your expertise, you must arrange and organize time to write the article. You must block time in your schedule to do it. Determine when you are the most productive and most creative. If you are a morning person, then you will make the most of your time in the morning. This may be done in small blocks or a large block of time, whatever works out best for your writing style. Set realistic deadlines to complete each section of the manuscript. Make sure the environment is free of clutter and distractions. Use this writing space consistently so your writing time is productive (Gonce Morton, 2013a).
The next step is designing an outline to organize how the article should be laid out, ensuring the flow of the article is favorable to the readership. An outline is a framework for presenting the main and supporting ideas for your topic. A good outline can help you generate ideas, organize thoughts, help you save time, and write faster. Use this time to brainstorm a list of main ideas that you want to present in the article. Once you have these main ideas and structure, you can add content to each one. This may be with text, tables, figures, and/or quotes. Remember that writing is an interactive process, and good writers constantly review and revise their writing. The same goes for an outline. It should not be a static framework but more so like a living roadmap (Zomick, 2014).
CONTENTS OF THE MANUSCRIPT
According to Angeli et al. (2010) the manuscript should contain four major sections.
The Title Page would include the title of the paper, written in upper and lower case letters and centered in the upper half of the page. The title should be no more than 12 words in length and should not contain abbreviations. Beneath the title is the author(s) name, written as first name, middle initial(s), and last name. Beneath the authors name is the institution affiliation.
The second section is the Abstract. The page is titled "Abstract" and is positioned at top and center of the page. The abstract contains a concise summary of the contents of the article. It is a single paragraph, double-spaced, and should be between 150 and 250 words.
The Main Body is your written work. This section may be divided into sections or headings to break up the text and organize the information. Editorial Manager requires that Dorland's Medical Dictionary (28th edition) and Webster's Dictionary (10th edition) should be used as standard references. Use minimal direct quotes. It is better to paraphrase the information from the resource and cite it according the journal guidelines. Quotes should only be used for famous sayings that may lose its meaning if paraphrased (Gonce Morton, 2013b).
Readers can better understand the information being disseminated if illustrations, figures, or tables are utilized within the main body of the manuscript. There are specific requirements to be considered when formulating these additions to the manuscript. They may then be referenced so the information does not need to be repeated in the body of the article (Zomick, 2014). Numbered tables, in black and white, can be submitted in Microsoft Word through Editorial Manager, PSN's online submission site.
High-resolution, camera-ready images may be submitted electronically as either a TIFF or an EPS file, with a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Originals can be scanned with a high-resolution scanner and saved as a TIFF file. Use computer-generated lettering. Do not use screens, color, shading, or fine line. Art that has been photocopied, is embedded in a Word document (has a .doc extension), was downloaded from the Internet, or was created in PageMaker cannot be accepted (Wolters, 2011). The number and title of the tables and/or figure appears below the visual.
References are the last requirement of the manuscript. They must appear on a new page at the end of the manuscript and are double-spaced. Other requirements are listed as follows:
1. Hanging indent format with the first line flush to the left margin and all other lines indented.
2. Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name.
3. List the journal title in full and capitalize all the major words in the journal title.
4. Journal title and the volume number are in italics.
5. Issue number is in regular type in parentheses adjacent to the volume number.
6. If a reference has two to seven authors, list all authors.
7. If a reference has eight or more authors, list the first six authors and the last author.
See Table 1.
APA FORMAT
Many writers get hung up on the APA format of an article, as not all journals follow the same format. PSN follows the guidelines outlined in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), 6th Edition, 2001.
A few key points to remember are:
* Font is new Times New Roman in 12 points.
* Submissions must be double-spaced.
* When abbreviating a term, use the full term the first time you use it, followed immediately by the abbreviation in parentheses.
* Scientific (generic) names of drugs should be used when possible.
* Units of measurement should be expressed in the metric system.
* Temperatures should be expressed in degree Celsius.
CITING REFERENCES-WITHIN THE TEXT
Citations in the text provide brief information to lead the reader to the source of information in the reference list at the end of the article.
Guidelines to follow for citing the reference within the text:
1. Use the author(s)-date method; author(s) last name and year of publication are inserted into the text.
2. Use a page number when utilizing a direct quotation.
3. If direct quote is less than 40 words, incorporate it into your text, using quotation marks.
4. If direct quote is more than 40 words, make the quotation a free-standing indented block of text and do not use quotation marks.
5. References require parenthetical citations within the text rather than endnotes or footnotes.
See Table 2.
PSN does not endorse any specific APA format programs. Some of the programs available include the following:
* Reference Point Software: http://www.ReferencePointSoftware.com
* Format Ease: http://http://www.formatease.com
* APA Wizard: http://www.APAFormatWizard.com
* APA Style Helper 5.1: http://www.apa.org/software
* APA Referencing Macros: http://www.southernocean-soft-ware.com/apamacros/
* StyleEase: http://www.styleease.com
CONCLUSION
The success of the PSN journal could not be possible without your contribution. This may be by accepting a position of a board member, department chair, manuscript reviewer, or submitting an article. Every position has an important role. I am blessed to be working with such a great team of talented, professional, and dedicated nurses.
If you are interested in becoming an editorial board member, department chair, or a journal reviewer or submit a manuscript, please do not hesitate to contact me at mailto:[email protected].
This is your journal and your association. Take advantage of the multitude of educational opportunities that are available to build your professional portfolio.
Respectfully,
Tracey A. Hotta, RN, BScN, CPSN, CANS
REFERENCES