Nurturing Novice Authors Marty LewisHunstiger BSN RN MA

Nurturing Novice Authors Marty Lewis-Hunstiger, BSN, RN, MA Editor, Creative Nursing: A Journal of Values, Issues, Experience, and Collaboration Copy Editor, Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies © 2015 Creative Health Care Management

Financial Disclosure: Creative Health Care Management Editor, Creative Nursing: A Journal of Issues, Values, Experience, and Collaboration Developmental and copy editing, other publications by CHCM No personal gain from sales © 2015 Creative Health Care Management

Attendee Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: �Identify two potential novice authors from among their colleagues or acquaintances. �List two strategies for setting novice authors up for success. �List three issues prevalent in editing articles by novice authors. © 2015 Creative Health Care Management

My Objective: Many nurses with ideas and information that are of great value to the profession have never written for publication and do not see themselves as potential authors of scholarly articles. Identifying and encouraging these novice authors and helping them to create clear, compelling, elegant articles that can pass a robust peer review process is a challenge that nurse editors must understand if the body of nursing knowledge is to remain vital and relevant. © 2015 Creative Health Care Management

Brief History of Creative Nursing � 1981: Primarily Nursing. Marie Manthey. � 1994: Creative Nursing. � 2008: Springer Publishing Co. purchased. On-line archive. � 2009: Themed journal, guest editors. � 2014: Official peer-review status. No affiliation.

�At Creative Nursing Today least half of content unsolicited. �Ones that are not: From the Editor, From the Guest Editor, Media Review, Voice of Patients and Families, plus ideas generated by editorial board and by guest editor. �Raising the bar: Articles formerly accepted, now not necessarily. �Remain committed to publishing material by novice authors.

Who are Novice Authors? Where do We Find Them? © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Who are Novice Authors? Where do We Find Them? Nursing students � All levels of programs but especially post-baccalaureate. � Some advanced degree programs require publication. Many of these students have written papers, but for their instructors, not for publication. � Concept of audience. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Who are Novice Authors? Where do We Find Them? Nurses in practice � Providing direct care in health care organizations or solo. � Encouraged to publish by their nurse leaders. � Outcomes that their organization is particularly proud of. � Be careful of these outcomes, esp. multiple independent variables. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Who are Novice Authors? Where do We Find Them? Nurses in specialties � Have content appropriate for journals focusing on their specialties, and/or � Can make their esoteric knowledge understandable and usable for a wider audience. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Who are Novice Authors? Where do We Find Them? Inspired nurses � � � Inspired to write but have not written for publication before. Personal contacts are best way to find these authors if they don’t find you. Be careful of tunnel vision. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Soliciting articles from identified novice authors – Set them up for success. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Set them up for success � Be selective. How is this person’s correspondence? Spoken communication? © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Set them up for success � Be selective: How is this person’s correspondence? Spoken communication? � Frame the request: Be very clear about topic, length, what to include and exclude. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Set them up for success � Be selective: How is this person’s correspondence? Spoken communication? � Frame the request: Be very clear about topic, length, what to include and exclude. � Suggestions on how to start: “Tell a friend or colleague what you know about the topic, then write down what you said. ” � “How do I know what I think til I see what I say? ” (EM Forster). © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Set them up for success � Be selective: How is this person’s correspondence? Spoken communication? � Frame the request: Be very clear about topic, length, what to include and exclude. � Suggestions on how to start: Tell a friend or colleague what you know about the topic, then write it down. “How do I know what I think til I see what I say? ” (EM Forster). � Encouragement: May have been told that they are not good writers. Not lately. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Set them up for success: one more step Review process: your best friend. Even if you are not a formally peer reviewed publication, review (blinded if possible) will facilitate quality in product and process. Sample wording: “Changes that would need to be made before I can submit your article for editorial review. ” © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Managing unsolicited submissions from novice authors – Encouragement is the key. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Encouragement is the Key � Recognize ones that just won’t work: email with misspellings, major grammar problems, unintelligible. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Encouragement is the Key � Recognize ones that just won’t work: email with misspellings, major grammar problems, unintelligible. � Rejection without personalizing. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Encouragement is the Key � Recognizing ones that just won’t work: email with misspellings, major grammar problems, unintelligible. � Rejection without discouragement. � Kernel of an idea you want your readers to know about – this article is worth the effort. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Encouragement is the Key � Recognizing ones that just won’t work: email with misspellings, major grammar problems, unintelligible. � Rejection without discouragement. � Kernel of an idea you want your readers to know about – this article is worth the effort. � Articles needing mild to moderate copy editing - generate initial suggested edits and send to reviewer. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Encouragement is the Key � Recognizing ones that just won’t work: email with misspellings, major grammar problems, unintelligible. � Rejection without discouragement. � Kernel of an idea you want your readers to know about – this article is worth the effort. � Articles needing mild to moderate copy editing. � Articles needing extensive editing (even rearranging) – case by case basis. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Issues encountered when nurturing novice authors (as well as veteran authors): Research, Style, and Tunnel Vision © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Research articles © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Issues with research articles by novice authors ØAssociation vs Causation: Every time the rooster crows, the sun comes up. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Issues with research articles by novice authors ØAssociation vs Causation: Every time the rooster crows, the sun comes up. ØUse of the word significant. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Issues with research articles by novice authors ØAssociation vs Causation: Every time the rooster crows, the sun comes up. ØUse of the word significant. ØN=? (How many is enough? ) © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Issues with research articles by novice authors ØAssociation vs Causation: Every time the rooster crows, the sun comes up. ØUse of the word significant. ØN=? (How many is enough? ) ØMore than one independent variable. Esp. in organizations with overlapping initiatives. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Issues with research articles by novice authors ØAssociation vs Causation: Every time the rooster crows, the sun comes up. ØUse of the word significant. ØN=? (How many is enough? ) ØMore than one independent variable. Esp. in organizations, overlapping initiatives. ØQualitative data: Are themes clear? © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Issues with research articles by novice authors ØAssociation vs Causation: Every time the rooster crows, the sun comes up. ØUse of the word significant. ØN=? (How many is enough? ) ØMore than one independent variable. Esp. in organizations, overlapping initiatives. ØQualitative data: Are themes clear? ØVerbatim quotes, esp. survey results. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Issues with research articles by novice authors ØAssociation vs Causation: Every time the rooster crows, the sun comes up. ØUse of the word significant. ØN=? (How many is enough? ) ØMore than one independent variable. Esp. in organizations, overlapping initiatives. ØQualitative data: Are themes clear? ØVerbatim quotes, esp. survey results. ØNot a research article at all. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Research articles: Examples Ø Potential Therapeutic Effects of Babywearing. Ø Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: The Experience of Infant Massage Ø Improving Physical Assessment Observational Skills in the Community Setting: An Experiential Exercise. Ø Simulation Pedagogy with Nurse Practitioner Students: Impact of Receiving Immediate Individualized Faculty Feedback Ø Nursing Students and Chocolate. Ø Reiki © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Issues of Style © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Issues of Style – Passive voice In the process of condensing, I find that a lot of nursing literature makes extensive use of the passive voice. I think it's because we were socialized to be indirect, and it's also a female trait. One example is the sentence, "A decision was made to do XYZ. " Changing to active voice in the first person, "We decided to do XYZ, " is shorter (our journal allows and encourages first-person statements). But actually, if you did it, you probably decided to do it. So all you need to say is, "We did XYZ. " In my experience, simply changing from passive to active voice can reduce the length of an article by as much as 25%. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Issues of Style – Third person ØNot written anywhere. ØAlong with passive voice, weasel words. ØThe Pirates’ Code. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Issues of Style– First language other than English Ø Different levels of effort Ø Easiest: idioms, vocabulary. Doesn’t have to match American usage, but needs to be clear. Ø More labor-intensive: Word order, subject/verb agreement, conclusions drawn. Ø Most labor-intensive: limits of intelligibility. Ø For latter two, can require that the author(s) work with a colleague who is fluent in English. Have had good success with this recommendation in other countries. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Tunnel Vision © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Tunnel Vision Clarity: You understand it, I understand it, but our readers won’t understand it. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Tunnel Vision Clarity: You understand it, I understand it, but our readers won’t understand it. Confidentiality: De-identify. Change or omit names, situations. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Tunnel Vision Ø Clarity: You understand it, I understand it, but our readers won’t understand it. Ø Confidentiality: De-identify. Change or omit names, situations. Ø Narrative data: Esp. survey results. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Tunnel Vision: What to do Ø Encourage author(s) to find an uninvolved colleague (fostering professional growth) or Ø Be the uninvolved colleague (if working against a deadline, or if article won’t happen otherwise) © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Broadening Vision: Examples Ø Clinic clientele Ø Paraphrasing narrative responses Ø The Story of Human Caring: Intertwined Narratives of Intimacy, Authenticity, and Presence © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Additional issues for students: Faculty co-authors Ø Some professors have obviously not participated in creating the article at all. Ø Or, professor may lack the objectivity to hold students to high standard of writing/reporting. Ø Red flags: methodological flaws, lack of clarity, major style issues. Ø Your publication needs clear definition of what constitutes authorship. © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Additional issues for students: Clinical practice degrees Requirements for papers/theses for clinical practice degrees are different than those for academic degrees, but standards of writing are not different. � Literature review – relevant, current, complete � Causation vs association � Conclusions drawn from small/non-random n � Awareness of multiple or confounding variables � De-identification © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Measures of Success �Unsolicited feedback �Repeat business �Others: © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Where can you find novice authors? © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Where can you find novice authors? �Conferences �Nursing Salons �Book clubs �Church �Travel �Other © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

Audience experience with novice authors �Identifying �Soliciting articles �Managing submissions �Editing/publishing process © 2014 Creative Health Care Management

THANK YOU! mlewishunstiger@chcm. com © 2014 Creative Health Care Management