How are the clinical and educational credentials of the author(s) related to
the subject of or the methodology used in the study?
The clinical and educational credentials of the authors show they have the
authority to assess clinical issues, implement practice change and/or develop QI
projects in relation to identified problems in the healthcare setting. The authors
are authorities in the field of nursing trained and skilled to identify problems
related to effective healthcare delivery or practice change and develop methods
or evidenced based practice that can improve healthcare delivery, promote
competence among nurses and improve patient satisfaction.
For example, in this study by Usher, Cronin and York (2018), the researchers
have DNPs and PhD’s in the field of nursing and were able to identify the need
for implementing a standardized bedside handoff process and assessing the
effectiveness of the implemented bedside handoff process in a medical surgical
unit on the basis of the perception of nurse’s communication, handoff report
time, work accuracy, work completion and the use of a whiteboard for
communication by nurses, with the aim of preventing or reducing patient harm,
improving service delivery and patient satisfaction. Nurses with the credentials
of the authors have a responsibility to identify healthcare problems and or
implement evidence-based QI projects that would improve service delivery and
patient satisfaction.
What conflict(s) of interest (if any) are reported by the author(s)?
There is no evidence of a conflict of interest for the authors in this study which
could have led to a bias by the researchers in the design of the study or the way
results are analyzed and presented. The authors have disclosed no conflict of
interest, financial or otherwise in the study. (Usher et al., 2018)
Does the journal have an external editorial board in addition to external
reviewers? What information is given about the board members and the
reviewers, and where is this information found?
There is no mention of an external reviewer in the research paper. Research was
peer viewed by the Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing to ensure that
research is valid, is applicable to the field of nursing and meets suitability for
publication. A review date is also indicated in the research. The Journal of
Continuing education in Nursing editor is P. Yoder Wise with other associated
reviewers mentioned on Healio.com a clinical website affiliate of the journal.
What is the time lag between manuscript acceptance and publication? Is this an
acceptable interval? Explain your answer.
Acceptance to publication time for most scientific manuscripts is usually 3 – 8
weeks. In some cases, it could be delayed by the editorial board up to a few
more weeks when more review or corrections are needed to be made. In the case
of this researcher, the manuscript was submitted in December 2017 and
published in April 2018 (4 months), so that is an acceptable time frame.
(Cofactor, 2012)
Are articles submitted to the journal subject to blind review? How do you
know?
Yes, articles submitted to the journal of Continuing Education in Nursing are
subject to blind peer review. Information on this can be found in Healio, which
is a clinical information website run by the Journal of Continuing Education in
Nursing. Under the section that describes guidelines for manuscript
preparation, it was stated that manuscripts should not include a title page or any
other author-identifying or institution-identifying information to ensure a blind
review. (Healio, n.d.)
What is the journal’s impact factor? How would you interpret this? [MO
7.2]
The Journal’s 2019 impact factor as stated on Healio is 0.765. An Impact
Factor (IF) is a measure of the frequency in which the average article in a
journal has been cited in a particular year. The IF is used to rank journals by
their relative importance. The IF can be found in Journal Citation Reports (JCR)
by Thomas Scientific. The JCR defines IF as the number of times on average
articles from a journal published in the past two years have been cited in the
JCR year. An IF of 3 means that, on average, the articles published one or two
years ago have been cited three times while an IF of 0.765 means that, on
average, the articles published one or two years ago have been cited almost 1
time. (LibGuides, n.d.)
Reference:
Cofactor. (2012). Acceptance to publication time. Retrieved from
https://cofactorscience.com/blog/acceptance-to-publication-time
Healio. (n.d.). Submit an Article: Guidelines Updated. Retrieved from
https://www.healio.com/nursing/journals/jcen/submit-an-article
LibGuides. (n.d.). Scholarly Impact and Citation Analysis: Home. Retrieved from
https://osu.libguides.com/c.php?g=110226
Usher, R., Cronin, S. N., & York, N. L. (2018). Evaluating the influence of a standardized
bedside handoff process in a Medical–Surgical unit. The Journal of Continuing Education
in Nursing, 49(4), 157-163. doi: http://fir.tesu.edu:2074/10.3928/00220124-20180320-05