Writing Rules

Author Guidelines

1. Before You Submit

Pediatrics & Nursology publishes research on the nursing care of newborns, children, adolescents and their families. This is the journal's primary focus. Alongside it, the journal considers research from all other branches of nursing, and research on children and adolescents conducted in allied disciplines. Please read the Focus and Scope statement before submitting: manuscripts outside our scope are declined without external review, normally within 10 days.

Editorial priority is given to original research, which accounts for the majority of published content. Reviews, brief reports, protocols and quality improvement reports are also welcome.

Manuscripts from outside paediatric nursing are assessed by the same methodological standards but are accepted in smaller numbers, so that the journal's paediatric identity is preserved. Manuscripts from outside nursing are expected to carry findings of clear relevance to those who care for children.

Manuscripts must not be under consideration elsewhere and must not have been published previously, except as a preprint or a conference abstract. Posting to a recognised preprint server is permitted; disclose the preprint DOI at submission.

2. Article Types

* Excluding title page, abstract, references, tables and figure captions.

The journal does not publish single case reports.

3. Files to Upload

Submissions are made through the online system. Upload the following as separate files:

1. Title page — full title, running title, all authors with affiliations, ORCID identifiers, corresponding author's contact details, acknowledgements, funding statement, and all declarations listed in Section 6.
2. Anonymised manuscript — prepared using the Manuscript Template File
3. Tables — as editable text (Word or Excel), one file, numbered consecutively.
4. Figures — one file per figure, minimum 300 dpi, in TIFF, EPS, PNG or high-resolution JPEG.
5. Ethics committee approval document — the original decision letter, where the study required approval.
6. Ethical Consideration Form— journal template, completed and signed.
7. Copyright Transfer Form
8. Reporting checklist — CONSORT, PRISMA, STROBE, COREQ, SQUIRE or other, as appropriate.
9. Highlights — three to five bullet points, as a separate file.
10. Cover letter — see Section 4.
11. Supplementary material (optional) — instruments, extended tables, protocols, datasets.

4. Cover Letter

The cover letter should state, briefly: what the study adds to existing knowledge; that the manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere; that all authors have approved the submission; any preprint DOI; and any competing interest the editors should be aware of. You may suggest up to three potential reviewers with their institutional email addresses, and may request that named individuals be excluded, with a reason. The editors are not bound by either request.

5. Manuscript Preparation

General format

Follow the Manuscript Template File Manuscripts must be submitted in Microsoft Word (.docx)

Title

Concise and specific. State the design in the title for trials, reviews and qualitative studies (for example, "…: a randomised controlled trial"). Avoid declarative titles asserting a conclusion.

Abstract

Structured under the headings appropriate to the article type (see Section 2), ≤250 words unless otherwise stated, written so that it stands alone without reference to the main text. Trial and review registration numbers must appear at the end of the abstract. Do not cite references in the abstract.

Keywords

Up to six keywords immediately after the abstract. Use MeSH terms where available. Prefer specific singular terms; avoid broad or compound expressions.

Highlights

Mandatory. Submit three to five bullet points, each a maximum of 140 characters including spaces, describing the study's essential findings and their significance for practice. Provide them as a separate file.

Implications for Practice

Mandatory for all research articles. State plainly what a nurse, educator or manager should do differently in light of the findings, or what remains unresolved. Avoid generic calls for further research.

Language

Manuscripts must be written in clear, grammatically correct English and spell-checked before submission. Language quality alone is not grounds for rejection where the science is sound, but manuscripts that cannot be read reliably will be returned without review. Use person-first, non-stigmatising language; avoid sexist, racist and otherwise discriminatory terms.

Tables

• Editable text only, never images.
• Numbered consecutively; each with a brief descriptive title above and notes below the body.
• Use a single horizontal-rule grid. Avoid vertical rules and cell shading.
• Do not duplicate in a table material already given in the text.

Figures

• One figure per file, numbered in order of citation.
• Captions supplied in the manuscript, not embedded in the image.
• Ensure legibility at final print size; avoid colour as the sole carrier of meaning.
• Images of identifiable individuals require written consent for publication. For children, this means consent from the parent or legal guardian and, where developmentally appropriate, assent from the child. Eye bars are not sufficient anonymisation.
• Reproduced material requires written permission from the copyright holder, uploaded with the submission.

6. Required Declarations

The following must appear on the title page and, after acceptance, in the published article:

• Ethics approval — name of the approving committee, approval number and date, and a statement of conformity with the Declaration of Helsinki. Studies not requiring approval must state why.
• Informed consent and assent — confirmation that written informed consent was obtained from participants or, for children, from parents or legal guardians, together with assent from the child where developmentally appropriate.
• Trial or review registration — registry name and identifier, with the date of registration. Clinical trials must be registered prospectively.
• Author contributions — using the CRediT taxonomy, naming each author's role.
• Conflicts of interest — financial and non-financial. If none: "The authors declare no competing interests."
• Funding — funder name, grant number and the role of the funder in the study. If none: "This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors."
• Data availability — where the underlying data are held and on what terms, or a reasoned explanation of why they cannot be shared.
• Acknowledgements — individuals who contributed but do not meet authorship criteria, with their permission obtained.
• Use of AI tools — see Section 7.

7. Research Integrity

Authorship

Authorship requires all four ICMJE criteria. Contributors who do not meet them should be acknowledged rather than listed as authors. Changes to the author list after submission require written agreement from every author, including the person being added or removed. Guest, gift and ghost authorship are grounds for rejection or, after publication, retraction.

Similarity screening

All manuscripts are screened before review and again before publication. As a working threshold, overall similarity should remain below 20%, excluding the reference list and correctly attributed quotations, with no single source exceeding 5%. These figures guide editorial judgement rather than replace it: a low overall score does not excuse an unattributed passage, and a high score arising from standard methods terminology is not in itself misconduct. Duplicated text from the authors' own earlier work must be cited and, where substantial, disclosed at submission.

Use of AI tools

Authors may use AI-assisted tools for language editing, formatting or readability. They may not be used to generate scientific content, interpret data, draw conclusions or produce clinical recommendations. AI tools cannot be listed as authors and cannot be cited as a source, since they cannot take responsibility for the accuracy or integrity of the work. Any use must be disclosed in a short statement on the title page naming the tool, its version and the purpose. Authors remain fully accountable for the entire manuscript, including any text or image produced with such assistance, and for ensuring it is free of plagiarism and fabricated references. Undisclosed use may be treated as misconduct.

Misconduct

Allegations of plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, image manipulation, duplicate submission or undisclosed conflicts are investigated in accordance with COPE flowcharts, and the corresponding author's institution may be contacted.

8. References

APA 7th edition. Every reference cited in the text must appear in the list and vice versa. Include a DOI for every source that has one. Verify each reference against the original record before submission; references generated by reference managers or AI tools are frequently inaccurate and remain the authors' responsibility.

Journal article: Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J. A. J., & Lupton, R. A. (2010). The art of writing a scientific article. Journal of Scientific Communications, 163(1), 51–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sc.2010.00372

Article with article number: Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J. A. J., & Lupton, R. A. (2018). The art of writing a scientific article. Heliyon, 19, Article e00205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00205

Book: Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (2000). The elements of style (4th ed.). Longman.

Chapter in an edited book: Mettam, G. R., & Adams, L. B. (2009). How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In B. S. Jones & R. Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the electronic age (pp. 281–304). E-Publishing Inc.

Webpage: Powertech Systems. (2015, October 12). Lithium-ion vs lead-acid cost analysis. https://www.powertechsystems.eu/home/tech-corner/lithium-ion-vs-lead-acid-cost-analysis/

Dataset: Oguro, M., Imahiro, S., Saito, S., & Nakashizuka, T. (2015). Mortality data for Japanese oak wilt disease and surrounding forest compositions [Data set]. Mendeley Data. https://doi.org/10.17632/xwj98nb39r.1

Conference presentation: Engle, E. K., Cash, T. F., & Jarry, J. L. (2009, November 19–22). The Body Image Behaviours Inventory-3: Development and validation [Poster presentation]. Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies Annual Convention, New York, NY, United States.

Software: Coon, E., Berndt, M., Jan, A., & Svyatsky, D. (2020). Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS) (Version 0.88) [Computer software]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3727209

9. Peer Review and Timelines

All submissions undergo double-anonymous peer review. Manuscripts are first assessed by the editors for scope, ethical compliance and methodological adequacy. Those passing this stage are sent to at least two independent reviewers. The handling editor recommends a decision; the Editor-in-Chief decides.

Indicative timelines: initial editorial assessment and decision, normally within 10 days of submission. From submission to publication takes 2 to 3 months on average, sometimes less and occasionally longer, depending on the number of review rounds required.

Revisions must be accompanied by a point-by-point response to every reviewer comment and a version with changes marked. Revisions are normally due within 30 days; later submissions may be treated as new. Authors may appeal a decision by writing to the Editor-in-Chief with a substantive response to the points raised; appeals are considered by an editor not involved in the original decision.

After acceptance, proofs are sent to the corresponding author for final correction. Only typesetting errors may be corrected at this stage.

10. Copyright, Licensing and Fees

Authors retain copyright in their work. On acceptance, authors sign the journal's Copyright Form, granting Pediatrics & Nursology the right of first publication; articles are then published open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0).

The journal charges no submission fee, article processing charge or publication fee of any kind. Authors are not asked for payment at any stage, and no payment is accepted in exchange for publication.

11. Submission Checklist

• Manuscript falls within the journal's Focus and Scope
• Anonymised manuscript contains no identifying information
• Title page includes all declarations listed in Section 6
• Word limit, abstract structure and reporting guideline match the article type
• Highlights (3–5 bullets, ≤140 characters each) supplied as a separate file
• Ethics approval document and Ethical Consideration Form uploaded
• Reporting checklist completed and uploaded
• Trial or review registration number stated in the abstract
• Tables editable; figures ≥300 dpi and uploaded separately
• Every in-text citation appears in the reference list and vice versa, with DOIs
• Permission obtained for all copyrighted and identifiable material
• Manuscript spell-checked and grammar-checked
• Licence to Publish form signed by all authors
• Copyright Form signed by all authors

Questions about any of the above may be sent to the editorial office at editor@pediatricsnursology.com before submission.