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About Us

Write for Us

The Canadian Nurse online journal invites submissions that inform and inspire nurses. Our content includes articles about successes and best practices in the workplace as well as in-depth analyses, opinion pieces, profiles, research summaries, and advice and insights from experts. We welcome manuscripts related to any of the five domains of nursing: clinical practice, education, policy, research and administration.

Style

Submissions that have a distinct point of view work best for our broad-based audience. Overall, your work should seek to inform, inspire and support nurses in their practice, particularly those working at point of care. With these goals in mind, we ask that you:

  • focus on what nurses need to know
  • organize your ideas around a central premise
  • use plain, clear, concise language
  • emphasize the active voice
  • avoid nursing jargon and lengthy quotations.

Having an idea that is well expressed is more important than perfect grammar or precise word count. If your manuscript is accepted for publication, it will be edited for clarity and consistency with Canadian Nurse style while keeping your original voice.

We do not accept any of the following: previously published material (print or online); manuscripts under consideration by other publications; school assignments and papers; literature reviews; book reviews; poems; obituaries; sponsored/promotional content; guest posts; and research papers for peer review. Submissions from authors who are not nurses or nursing students are normally not accepted.

What we’re looking for

We invite submissions from Canadian nurses, nursing students and retired nurses in the six categories listed below. If you’re not sure which category is right for you, email us at editor@canadian-nurse.com. We’ll be happy to help.

Practice articles focus on point-of-care solutions that nurses and managers can use in their day-to-day work. Practice articles can, for example, describe the development and implementation of a new program, project, or technology. Articles in this category can examine how research led to better patient outcomes, brought economic value to your organization or influenced your practice. Practice articles can also be a forum where you can share your story of successful change management by describing the problem you faced and how you overcame it.

Submissions in this category should include background information, a detailed description of how the innovation affected nursing practice, and a summary of results that were achieved.

Criteria

  • up to three authors or contributors
  • 1,500 words maximum (not including references)
  • identify three takeaway messages for readers, using bullet points (optional)
  • references: if used, include no more than three

Analysis articles keep readers up-to-date on current and emerging issues critical to Canadian nursing practice. They can be used to help readers further their understanding of key policy, practice, education or workplace issues. For example, articles in this category could examine a project, program or procedure in depth (e.g., a clinical how-to, a case study or a way to apply guidelines) or focus on current events or nursing history.

Criteria

  • up to three authors or contributors
  • 1,000-2,000 words maximum (not including references)
  • identify three takeaway messages for readers, using bullet points (optional)
  • references: if used, include no more than 10

Career articles offer advice on career planning and development. They can focus on a wide range of topics, including educational preparation, career planning and mentoring.

Criteria

  • single contributor
  • first-person perspective
  • conversational style
  • 500-1,500 words maximum
  • no references

Articles in this category support nurses by offering reports on recent research and how they can be applied in practice. Articles can also describe the basics of how to interpret research terminology and methods.

Criteria

  • single contributor
  • first-person perspective
  • conversational style
  • 500-1,500 words maximum

Profile articles focus on the stories of Canadian nurses who are making important contributions to their communities and to the profession.

You can nominate Canadian nurses that you think we should profile. We’re looking for those who have advanced the profession, made a difference in patients’ lives or in the community, inspired other nurses or faced challenges that helped them grow. Send us the nurse’s name and contact information, along with a brief explanation of why you think this person deserves to be a nurse to know.

Profile articles are typically written by freelance reporters hired by Canadian Nurse, but are occasionally written by nurses or other writers.

Opinion articles offer perspectives and insights into critical nursing issues. Articles in this category can range from 500-1,500 words, depending on your objective. Shorter lengths work best for authors who want to sound off on an important issue and stimulate discussion among their colleagues. Longer opinion articles are ideal for those who want to share a personal or professional experience, with a focus on the insights you gained.

Criteria

  • single contributor
  • first-person perspective
  • conversational style
  • 500-1,500 words maximum
  • no references

If you are interested in writing for us, but don’t want to submit a formal article, please email us at editor@canadian-nurse.com to see if a Q-and-A format would be right for you. We’re seeking experts from all backgrounds to answer our questions on important nursing issues.

When you email us, please describe your area of expertise and provide a brief description of your accomplishments. Tell us what type of perspective you’d like to share with readers. For example, you might want to raise awareness about a practice area, provide advice on career progression, promote something that is innovative, share a policy perspective on a specific issue, or describe a particular experience as a nurse, student or patient.

Q-and-A articles, which are typically 500-1,500 words, will be categorized into one of our six regular article categories, depending on the content you provide. References are optional.

References

References must be complete and include links, if available. Follow APA style: an author-date system for in-text citations, an alphabetical reference list at the end and no endnotes or footnotes.

Photos and supplementary materials

We encourage you to submit high-resolution digital photos to accompany your manuscript. Acceptable file formats: PDF, GIF, PNG, TIFF and JPG.

What to include:

  • caption information (name(s) and context)
  • photo credits (name of photographer or company)
  • releases obtained from all identifiable persons in your photos

Canadian Nurse reserves the right to make the final decision on all images and caption information.

For other materials (e.g., graphics, audio, video), please email us at editor@canadian-nurse.com.

Figures

When including figures, provide the source files so we can edit the language and make other modifications to ensure Canadian Nurse brand consistency.

A source file is the original, editable document in which a figure was created. It’s also known as vector-based artwork. Graphs, charts, plots, diagrams, etc., should be submitted as EPS, PDF or PowerPoint files.

When figures are used within a manuscript, a preview should be inserted and properly labelled within the submitted Word document.

Sending your manuscript

Submit your manuscript as a Word attachment to editor@canadian-nurse.com. Send any photos as attachments, i.e., not embedded in the manuscript.

Include the following in the body of your email:

  • author first and last names, credential(s), job title(s) and place(s) of employment; this information will be used to create a short bio for each author (maximum 30 words, hyperlinks permitted)
  • daytime phone number
  • intended article category

After you submit

We will acknowledge receipt of your submission within a week. After an assessment by a member of the editorial advisory board, we will accept or reject the manuscript, request revisions or send it for external review. We do our best to let authors know that decision within eight weeks.

If accepted, your manuscript will go through editing, during which you’ll get the chance to review and respond, and translation. Canadian Nurse reserves the right to make final decisions on text changes. Before we publish, we’ll ask you to complete a declaration of authorship form and agree to transfer copyright to the Canadian Nurses Association.

Other ways for you to contribute

Suggest a story idea

If you’re dealing with a workplace challenge or know of a practice problem or success story your colleagues should be made aware of, let us know. We may be able to assign a writer to pursue the topic. We’re also interested in hearing about nursing roles and practice settings that are unique in some way.

Provide feedback

If you have feedback for the editorial team, email us at editor@canadian-nurse.com.