Guide for Author

We differentiate between the requirements for new and revised submissions. Authors may initially submit their manuscript as a single Microsoft Word file for use during the refereeing process. Only when a paper reaches the revision stage will authors be requested to prepare the manuscript in the journal’s final format and provide all items required for publication.

Selection of papers for publication is based on scientific excellence, distinctive contribution to knowledge, including methodological development, and relevance to contemporary nursing, midwifery, or related professions. Submission to this journal is conducted fully online, and authors will be guided step by step through the process of file creation and upload.

Manuscripts should be prepared in Microsoft Word format. Figures, illustrations, and pictures should be included in the manuscript file. Manuscripts must be submitted directly through the journal website at https://eism.web.id/index.php/nss. Nursing Science Studies (NSS) will automatically reject manuscripts submitted by email or hardcopy.

The Editorial Board determines the feasibility of manuscripts after obtaining recommendations from peer reviewers. Revision of manuscripts is the responsibility of the author, and manuscripts that are not feasible for publication will be returned to the author.

Original Articles

Original Articles should report original clinical studies or research not previously published and not under consideration elsewhere. The text should not exceed 7,000 words, including the list of authors and affiliations, corresponding author details, acknowledgements, and figure legends, with an abstract of no more than 250 words, a minimum of 25 references primarily from international journals indexed by Scopus or Web of Science, and a maximum of 5 figures and/or tables.

Systematic Reviews

Systematic Reviews are exhaustive and critical assessments of evidence from different data sources related to a particular topic in nursing. A systematic search of relevant data sources should be undertaken, and included studies should be evaluated using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. A description and analytical graphic representation of the review process should be provided. The specific characteristics of participants or patient populations, exposure measures, outcomes, and data sources should also be described. The text must not exceed 7,000 words including acknowledgements, with no more than 4 tables and/or figures and a minimum of 40 references.

Meta-analyses

Meta-analyses should follow the same general guidelines as systematic reviews. They are expected to provide exhaustive information and statistical assessment of pooled estimates for predefined outcomes, study heterogeneity and quality, publication bias, meta-regression, and subgroup analyses when appropriate. Authors are invited to submit PRISMA flow diagrams or MOOSE checklists as applicable.

This journal follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and requests authors to familiarise themselves with these principles at http://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines. It is ethically questionable to break up or segment data from a single study into multiple papers, a practice known as salami slicing. Where authors have legitimate reasons for separately reporting different parts of the same study or dataset, they must justify this at the time of submission, and the methods section should clearly explain why the submitted paper is warranted.

Initial Editorial Assessment
All papers are initially assessed by an editorial committee consisting of members of the editorial team. The main purpose of this stage is to determine whether the manuscript should proceed to peer review or be rejected. The key considerations are the journal scope, compliance with the submission guidelines, and language quality. In some cases, the manuscript may be returned to the author for preliminary revision before a peer review decision is made. Authors may expect the result of the initial editorial assessment within 1–2 weeks of submission.

Review Process
After passing the initial editorial assessment, the manuscript will be sent to at least two peer reviewers selected according to their expertise. The journal applies a double-blind peer review process, meaning that authors and reviewers do not know each other’s identities. Reviewers are expected to complete their review within three weeks for each review round.

Decision-Making Process
The decision to accept a manuscript is based on reviewer recommendations. Two positive recommendations are generally required for acceptance. If reviewer opinions differ substantially, the editor may seek the opinion of a third reviewer. The final decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief and the editorial committee, taking into account reviewer feedback.

Review Criteria
Manuscripts submitted for review must be original works and may not be under review elsewhere. After peer review, the Editor-in-Chief will inform the corresponding author whether the paper has been accepted, rejected, or requires minor or major revision. If authors believe a manuscript has been wrongly rejected, a detailed appeal letter responding point-by-point to reviewer comments may be submitted to the Editor, who will make the final decision.

Please write your text in good English. British, American, and other standard varieties of English are accepted, provided the usage is consistent throughout the manuscript. Authors who believe their English-language manuscript may require editing for grammar, spelling, or scientific style are encouraged to use a professional English language editing service.

Following acceptance of a manuscript, the corresponding author will receive an acknowledgement. The manuscript will then be edited to comply with journal style and typeset. The Publisher will send a proof to the corresponding author for final checking before publication. The corresponding author is responsible for carefully reviewing the proofs, and approval of the proofs indicates acceptance of editorial changes.

Printed issues may also be made available by the journal. Further information regarding printed copies may be provided by the editorial office where applicable.

All manuscripts, correspondence, and editorial material for publication must be submitted online at https://eism.web.id/index.php/nss/user/register. Authors need to create a new account by following the online instructions, using their own email address and a chosen password.

Authors can submit manuscripts online and may expect an initial editorial decision on whether the manuscript will proceed to peer review.

Authors are requested to submit revised manuscripts within one month for all review processes, whether after a rapid editorial decision or following peer review. If a revision is not submitted within this period, the submission may be removed from the editorial system and must be submitted again as a new manuscript.

The title should concisely and informatively describe the study, should not contain abbreviations, and should not exceed 12 words.

Authorship should be limited to those who have contributed sufficiently to take public responsibility for the content. The manuscript should provide the full names of all authors without academic titles, author affiliations including department and institution names, and the corresponding author’s name, ORCID ID, mailing address, telephone number where applicable, and email address. The corresponding author is responsible for all communication during the publication process and after publication.

Abstracts should not exceed 250 words and should not include references or abbreviations. They should be concise, accurate, and clearly highlight the main points and significance of the article.

• Introduction: One or two sentences on the background and purpose of the study.
• Method: Description of research design, setting, participants, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and relevant clinical and demographic characteristics.
• Results: Main findings including statistical significance and confidence intervals where relevant.
• Conclusions: Conclusions should relate clearly to the study aims and hypotheses.
• Keywords: Provide three to five keywords in alphabetical order.

The manuscript text should be structured as follows: introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. Footnotes are not recommended; their content should be incorporated into the main text. Only standard abbreviations should be used, and abbreviations should be avoided in the title. The full term followed by the abbreviation in parentheses should be used at first mention unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement. If a sentence begins with a number, the number should be written in words.

Acknowledgments should be limited to individuals or institutions that contributed meaningfully to the study, including technical support, financial assistance, material support, or general institutional support.

Tables should be numbered in Arabic numerals and accompanied by brief captions clearly indicating their purpose or content. If the manuscript contains more than five tables in total, or includes very large tables, these may be submitted as Supplementary Data and included in the online version of the article.

The reporting guidelines endorsed by the journal include:

• Observational cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies — STROBE.
• Qualitative studies — COREQ.
• Quasi-experimental and non-randomised evaluations — TREND.
• Randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials — CONSORT.
• Diagnostic accuracy studies or assessment scales — STARD.
• Systematic reviews of controlled trials — PRISMA.
• Systematic reviews of observational studies — MOOSE.

• Submissions must comply with all journal requirements; otherwise they may be returned to the authors.
• Authors must ensure that no personal information capable of identifying patients is disclosed in descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees without explicit written consent.
• For research involving humans or animals, authors must confirm that all ethical principles and relevant national or international standards have been followed.
• Authors must obtain permission for any reproduced figures or tables from other journals or books.
• The manuscript must not have been previously published, submitted elsewhere, or be under review by another journal.
• Authors must disclose potential conflicts of interest, including work, research expenses, consultant fees, and intellectual property interests, in accordance with ICMJE recommendations.
• The work will be published under the journal’s applicable open access licence policy.

• Authors who publish with Nursing Science Studies (NSS) agree to grant the journal the right of first publication.
• Published work will be licensed under the journal’s open access licence, allowing dissemination with proper acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in the journal.
• Authors are permitted to copy and redistribute the published version of their work, for example in institutional repositories or books, provided the original publication in the journal is acknowledged.

Publication fee information should follow the official Article Processing Charge policy of Nursing Science Studies (NSS). Authors are advised to consult the current APC page of the journal for the most up-to-date fee, waiver, and payment information.

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Nursing Science Studies (NSS) is licensed under the applicable Creative Commons licence stated on the journal website.

This journal follows COPE guidelines and requests authors to familiarise themselves with these principles. Plagiarism is not acceptable in submissions to Nursing Science Studies (NSS). All submitted manuscripts are checked for plagiarism before the peer review process begins.