Editorial Policies

Editorial principles

  • Independence: Editorial decisions are made without influence from advertisers, sponsors, or institutional interests.
  • Clinical relevance: We prioritize research that improves patient outcomes and supports nurses’ decision-making.
  • Equity & inclusion: We welcome global submissions and expect authors to address representativeness, accessibility, and cultural safety.
  • Transparency: We require clear methods, data availability statements, competing-interest disclosures, and funding acknowledgments.

Peer review policy (summary)

CJNCP uses double-blind peer review. Submissions that pass initial screening for scope, ethics, and methodological soundness are sent to two or more expert reviewers. Editors synthesize recommendations and communicate decisions with concrete guidance for improvement. See the dedicated Peer Review Policy for full details.

Reviewer expectations

  • Rigor & clarity: Assess methodological appropriateness, reporting transparency, and clinical implications.
  • Constructive feedback: Provide specific, respectful comments that help authors improve.
  • Confidentiality: Treat all manuscripts as confidential; do not use or share unpublished information.
  • Conflicts: Decline reviews where conflicts of interest could bias assessment.
  • Timeliness: Submit reviews within the agreed timeframe or notify the editor if delay is unavoidable.

CJNCP may invite statistical or methodological reviewers for complex designs and will consider additional reviews when rebuttals raise specific technical points.

Authorship and contributions

Authorship is reserved for individuals who have made substantial contributions to the work and are able to take public responsibility for its content. Authors should agree on order and contributions before submission and describe their roles in a Contributor Statement (e.g., conceptualization, methodology, data curation, analysis, writing, supervision).

  • Minimum criteria: Contributions to conception/design; acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data; drafting/revision; and final approval.
  • Accountability: All authors share responsibility for the integrity of the work and must address questions that arise.
  • Acknowledgments: Individuals who contributed materially but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged with permission.
  • Group authorship: Clearly identify group members and roles; specify corresponding author responsibilities.
  • Changes after acceptance: Authorship changes require written agreement from all original and proposed authors plus editor approval.

Competing interests and funding

All authors, editors, and reviewers must declare any relationships or activities that could influence, or be perceived to influence, the work (e.g., employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, patents, equipment donations). Funding sources and the role of the funder should be disclosed. Editors recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where conflicts exist.

Research ethics, consent, and privacy

Submissions must comply with applicable regulations and ethical standards for human participants, animals, and data protection.

Human participants

  • Include IRB/ethics approval details or a justified exemption, named committee, approval number/date where available.
  • Describe informed consent procedures and cultural/linguistic accommodations; for vulnerable populations, state additional safeguards.
  • Protect privacy: de-identify case material; obtain consent for images; follow local and international privacy rules.

Clinical trials and registrations

  • Prospective registration in a public registry is expected for interventional trials; include registration ID in the manuscript.
  • Follow design-appropriate reporting (e.g., CONSORT, SPIRIT) and provide protocol access where feasible.

Quality improvement (QI) and service evaluations

  • Clarify whether activities were routine care, evaluation, or research; provide governance approvals and risk mitigation steps.
  • Use SQUIRE or analogous guidance; discuss fidelity and adaptation to context.

For data involving children, indigenous communities, or other groups with special protections, describe community engagement, data sovereignty considerations, and tailored consent processes.

Data, materials, and transparency

Every submission should include a Data Availability Statement. When policies and ethics allow, authors are encouraged to share de-identified data, instruments, and analytic code in trusted repositories with persistent identifiers. At minimum, provide detailed methods and materials sufficient for replication or practical adoption in clinical settings.

  • Repositories: Use discipline-appropriate, long-lived repositories; include DOIs or stable links.
  • Reuse: Respect participant privacy and license terms for datasets, instruments, and third-party content.
  • Image and figure integrity: Do not selectively enhance, remove, obscure, or introduce features; any adjustments must be applied to the whole image and described.

Originality, plagiarism, and text recycling

Submissions must be original and not under consideration elsewhere. We use similarity checking to identify plagiarism, redundant publication, and inappropriate text recycling. Overlap is evaluated in context; authors should cite and clearly label reused methods text or preprint material. See the Plagiarism Policy for thresholds and procedures.

Preprints and prior dissemination

CJNCP welcomes submissions previously shared as preprints or thesis chapters, provided authors disclose the preprint server/identifier and update the record upon publication with a link to the Version of Record. News media coverage, conference abstracts, and posters do not constitute prior publication; include citations where relevant.

Use of generative AI and automated tools

Authors must disclose any use of AI tools in study design, data collection, analysis, writing, or image generation. AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of all content and must check for undisclosed training-data copyright, hallucinations, and biased outputs.

  • Text assistance: If used, state the tool and version; verify citations and remove fabricated references.
  • Image/data generation: Provide provenance details; disclose synthetic elements; avoid misleading visuals.
  • Patient privacy: Never upload identifiable or sensitive data to third-party tools without explicit approvals and compliant agreements.

Editorial decisions, appeals, and complaints

Decision categories include: reject (with or without review), major/minor revision, and accept. Editors provide clear rationales and action-oriented guidance. Authors may appeal with a reasoned response to specific points; appeals may trigger additional review at the editor’s discretion. Complaints about editorial process or publication ethics follow the vetted steps to ensure prompt, fair resolution.

Post-publication updates and corrections

The journal corrects the record when necessary via corrections, clarifications, expressions of concern, or retractions. Updates are linked from the article page. When feasible, metadata is refreshed so that indexers propagate status changes. See also Withdrawal Policy for retraction and removal circumstances.

Open access, licensing, and reuse

CJNCP is an open access journal. Each article displays a license that governs reuse; authors must ensure that third-party materials are compatible with the license or obtain permissions. See Open Access Policy and Copyright and Licensing Policy for details.

Reporting standards and checklists

Use design-appropriate reporting guidelines and upload completed checklists at submission:

  • Randomized trials: CONSORT (with extensions as appropriate)
  • Observational studies: STROBE (and extensions)
  • Qualitative research: COREQ or SRQR
  • Systematic reviews: PRISMA and extensions (e.g., Scoping, Equity, Diagnostic Test Accuracy)
  • Quality improvement: SQUIRE
  • Practice guidelines: RIGHT

Where a formal checklist does not exist, authors should provide sufficient detail for replication and practical adoption, including context, resources, training, and monitoring plans.

Allegations of misconduct

We investigate concerns about data fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, peer-review manipulation, duplicate submissions, authorship disputes, and undisclosed conflicts. Where appropriate, we may contact institutions or funders and follow documented procedures to correct the literature. Authors are expected to preserve primary data and analysis records for an appropriate period after publication.

Accessibility and inclusive communication

Articles should use semantic headings, descriptive figure captions, table headers, and alternative text for images; avoid color-alone encoding. Plain-language summaries and visual abstracts are encouraged to support diverse audiences and improve clinical uptake.

Contact

Queries about these policies, appeals, or complaints can be sent via the contact options listed on the journal website. Please include the manuscript ID, title, and a concise summary of your request.

Author Guidelines • Submission Guidelines • Peer Review Policy • Plagiarism Policy • Open Access Policy • Copyright and Licensing• Withdrawal Policy • Privacy Statement