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Manuscript Types

Scientific Journal of Nursing Research (SJNR), published by Poltekkes Kemenkes Pontianak, disseminates original scholarship that advances nursing knowledge, nursing practice, education, leadership, and healthcare. The journal's subject areas include nursing care, community health nursing, maternity nursing, nursing management, critical care nursing, medical-surgical nursing, gerontological nursing, and pediatric nursing.

Manuscript categories differ in purpose, expected content, and assessment procedures. Original Research Articles and Scholarly Review Articles are consistent with the research and review formats described in SJNR's current Author Guidelines. Book Review Articles and Editorial Notes are additional proposed categories and may be considered only when approved and enabled by the Editorial Board. The categories and procedures below should be read alongside the journal's Focus and Scope, Author Guidelines, and Peer Review Process.

On this page

1. Original Research Articles
2. Scholarly Review Articles
3. Book Review Articles
4. Editorial Notes
5. Submission and Review Summary
6. General Submission Requirements

1. Original Research Articles

Original research articles report a clearly defined research problem, an appropriate and transparent study design, and findings that make an original contribution to nursing science, clinical nursing practice, nursing education, healthcare services, or health outcomes.

SJNR welcomes quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research relevant to its scope. Examples include experimental and quasi-experimental studies, observational studies, qualitative investigations, health services research, nursing intervention studies, instrument development and validation, and practice- or community-based research. Research designs must be justified by the questions being investigated.

Expected content

• A clearly stated nursing-related research question, problem, hypothesis, or study objective.
• A critical introduction to relevant literature and an explanation of the study's significance and novelty.
• A transparent account of the study design, setting, participants or data sources, sampling, interventions or procedures, measurement instruments, and analytical methods, as applicable.
• Appropriate information about ethics approval or exemption, informed consent, confidentiality, and participant safety, where relevant.
• Research findings supported by systematically collected data and sufficiently explained analyses.
• A critical discussion that interprets the findings in relation to existing nursing evidence and identifies their implications for research, nursing practice, policy, or education.
• Conclusions that directly address the objectives and acknowledge limitations, potential bias, and appropriate future directions.

Case studies, quality-improvement initiatives, and descriptions of nursing programmes are eligible as original research articles only when they have a clear research purpose, appropriate methods, analysis, and a substantive contribution beyond a description of routine activities. Reanalysis of existing datasets may be considered when it offers a novel, well-supported scientific contribution.

Assessment: Initial editorial screening followed, where appropriate, by external double-blind peer review in accordance with SJNR's Peer Review Process.

2. Scholarly Review Articles

Scholarly review articles critically examine and synthesise published evidence on a well-defined nursing question or topic. They must advance understanding by evaluating evidence, identifying knowledge gaps, assessing methods or debates, or offering a meaningful synthesis relevant to nursing practice, research, education, management, or policy.

Suitable approaches may include systematic reviews, scoping reviews, integrative reviews, critical or narrative reviews, and bibliometric studies when the research design and analytical depth are appropriate. Authors must explicitly identify the review type and use methods consistent with that approach.

Expected content

• A clear review question, objective, rationale, and explanation of the topic's relevance to nursing.
• A description of the review methodology and scope of the evidence considered.
• Transparent methods for locating, selecting, evaluating, and synthesising sources, consistent with the review design.
• Critical appraisal of evidence quality, limitations, heterogeneity, or risk of bias where appropriate.
• An integrated synthesis of the evidence rather than a sequential summary of individual studies.
• Interpretation of findings in relation to nursing theory, professional practice, clinical decision-making, or healthcare systems.
• A clear contribution, such as evidence-informed recommendations, a conceptual framework, identification of research gaps, or priorities for future investigation.
• A discussion of limitations in the evidence base and in the review process itself.

Systematic and scoping reviews should report databases or other information sources, search dates, search terms or strategies, eligibility criteria, screening procedures, and methods of synthesis with enough detail to permit appraisal. Where applicable, authors are encouraged to use suitable reporting guidelines, such as PRISMA or PRISMA-ScR. Integrative, critical, and narrative reviews should clearly explain the rationale for selecting and organising the literature.

Bibliometric studies should do more than present publication counts, citation rankings, or network visualisations; they should explain what these patterns mean for nursing knowledge and scholarship.

Assessment: Initial editorial screening followed, where appropriate, by external double-blind peer review, applying the journal's established scholarly and ethical standards.

3. Book Review Articles

Proposed additional category — subject to approval by the SJNR Editorial Board and configuration of the relevant submission section in OJS.

Book review articles provide a critical, balanced assessment of a scholarly book relevant to nursing, nursing education, nursing management, or health sciences. A comparative review of a small set of closely related books may be considered where the comparison is organised around a clear academic question.

A review should explain a book's contribution to nursing knowledge or professional practice, critically evaluate the strength of its arguments and evidence, and identify its relevance for students, researchers, educators, clinicians, or policymakers.

Selection of books

Recent scholarly books are preferred. Reviews of older influential works, revised editions, or translations may be considered when their continued relevance to nursing is convincingly explained. The work must be related to SJNR's focus and scope.

Expected content

• Full bibliographic information: author or editor, title, publisher, year, edition where relevant, page count, and ISBN or DOI if available.
• A concise explanation of the book's purpose, intended readership, central argument, and organisation.
• A critical evaluation of its conceptual framework, methodological approach, evidence, and reasoning, as applicable.
• Discussion of how the work contributes to, challenges, or extends relevant nursing literature and practice.
• An assessment of strengths and limitations supported by specific examples and page references when useful.
• A concluding judgement on the work's scholarly or professional significance and the readership that would benefit most.

A book review should be a coherent critical essay rather than a promotional endorsement or an extended chapter-by-chapter summary. Quotations should be accurate, appropriately attributed, and limited to what is required for the analysis.

Independence and conflicts of interest

Authors must not review books they authored, co-authored, edited, or translated. Any relationship with an author, editor, or publisher that could compromise impartiality, or reasonably appear to do so, must be disclosed. Complimentary review copies must also be declared and do not guarantee publication or a positive assessment.

Submission and assessment

Book reviews may be solicited by the Editorial Board or considered following prior editorial consultation if this category has been formally authorised. The editorial office will determine whether a proposed review fits the journal's scope and whether external assessment is necessary. No invitation or receipt of a review copy guarantees acceptance.

Assessment if authorised: Editorial screening and external double-blind peer review where required by the Editorial Board's adopted category policy; reviews must not be described as externally peer-reviewed unless they have undergone that process.

4. Editorial Notes

Proposed additional category — subject to approval by the SJNR Editorial Board.

Editorial notes are prepared or commissioned by the editorial team. They may introduce an issue or thematic collection, identify emerging developments in nursing science or practice, connect published papers around a shared scholarly concern, or explain significant journal or editorial matters.

Editorial notes are not an ordinary category for unsolicited research submissions. They should make clear distinctions between evidence, expert interpretation, and editorial opinion, and should include sources wherever factual or scientific claims require support.

Assessment if authorised: Editorial assessment and approval by an editor who has no relevant conflict of interest. Editorial notes should not be represented as externally peer-reviewed unless they have completed external peer review. An editor who writes an editorial note must not be its sole approving editor.

Editorial notes should be labelled separately from original research and scholarly review articles in the published issue.

5. Submission and Review Summary

The existing public Section Policies and Author Guidelines should be updated consistently if the Editorial Board decides to activate the two proposed categories.

6. General Submission Requirements

Authors must identify the correct manuscript category and prepare submissions in accordance with SJNR's current Author Guidelines, Focus and Scope, and Peer Review Process. These existing policies govern manuscript language, length, formatting, references, submission files, and review arrangements.

• The manuscript must be original, must not have been published elsewhere, and must not be under concurrent consideration by another journal, except where a relevant editorial policy permits disclosure and assessment of specific prior material.
• Manuscript structure, scholarly depth, and reporting standards must be appropriate to the selected category.
• All listed authors must have made qualifying intellectual contributions, have approved the submitted version, and must accept responsibility for its integrity. An accurate author-contributions statement should be included when required by the journal.
• Funding sources and relevant conflicts of interest must be declared, and substantive use of AI must be disclosed in accordance with SJNR's Artificial Intelligence Usage Policy.
• Research involving human participants, patient data, or other sensitive information must comply with applicable ethical review, consent, privacy, and data-protection requirements.
• Files intended for double-blind peer review must be anonymised. Author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, and other identifying information should be supplied through separate non-review materials where the submission system permits.
• Tables, figures, citations, supplementary files, and references must be accurate, appropriately attributed, and consistent with the journal's preparation requirements.

Descriptive reports of routine healthcare activities, promotional materials, teaching summaries, or accounts of community services do not qualify as original research unless they present a rigorous study with a clear question, suitable methods, analysis, and a meaningful scholarly contribution. Submission, invitation, or successful initial screening does not guarantee publication.

For questions about manuscript suitability or a category that is not yet available in the submission system, please contact the SJNR Editorial Office before submitting.