Writing guidelines

Guidelines for writing articles for Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand

We welcome articles on subjects relevant to nurses and nursing, midwives and midwifery and the wider health workforce. These guidelines are designed to help you write an article which is accurate, clear, easily read and interesting.

The main reason you want an article published in Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand is so other nurses/midwives will read it and hopefully learn something valuable. Therefore the subject must interest nurses/midwives and be written in a way that will appeal to them.

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The essence of good writing is simple, effective communication – a good story well told. Even the most complicated nursing/midwifery care scenario, theory of nursing/midwifery practice or research study can presented in a straightforward, logical fashion.

This list should help you construct an article that will be read, understood and appreciated.

  • We welcome a variety of written submissions. These can include letters to the editor, viewpoints, reports on events, clinical articles and summaries of research (although Kaitiaki is not a formal research journal). Most clinical and research-based articles will undergo peer review. All submissions will be edited by one of the Kaitiaki staff, who will discuss any points that need clarifying with the author/s.
  • Always remember who your reader is. Your readers are nurses/midwives, so what you write must be relevant to and understood by nurses/midwives. The focus of your article must be what the nurse/midwife does, how the nurse/midwife behaves, what affects the nurse/midwife. If you are writing about a new technique in your practice area, explain how it changes nursing/midwifery practice and its advantages and disadvantages to the nurse/midwife and patient/client. If you are discussing a theory of nursing/midwifery practice, link this to concrete examples of working nurses/midwives.
  • Bicultural input: If your article relates mainly or wholly to Māori issues, involving for example, tikanga, mātauranga, demographics, experiences, systemic impacts on Māori etc, at least one of the co-authors should be Māori or there should be evidence of appropriate consultation with relevant Māori. If it deals with a specific iwi, or location in Aotearoa/New Zealand then one of the co-authors should be of that iwi, or of the mana whenua from that location, or there should be evidence of appropriate consultation with those relevant people.
  • Avoid using big words, complicated sentences and technical jargon. They don’t make you smarter or your article better. Writing clearly and plainly is your goal. Widely used nursing/midwifery terms are acceptable, but avoid overly technical jargon. American writer, editor and teacher William Zinsser stresses the need for simplicity in writing: “We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon.”1
  • These questions will help you pull together all the relevant information needed for your article: Who? What? Why? When? Where? How?
    Don’t assume all other nurses/midwives know the ins and outs of your particular area of practice. If you are unsure about how to express a particular idea or technique, think how you would explain it to a student nurse/midwife.
  • Word length: A longer article is not necessarily a better one – a succinct piece of writing can be more effective. Base your judgment of the right length for your article on what points you wish to make and what you need to say.
  • References should be presented in the APA style. The reference should consist of: author, date, title, source. Include a URL link to the referenced material, if it is available online.
    This web page has a useful APA-style reference generator: https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/reference-entry/
  • Submit your article via email (to [email protected]).
    Type with double-spacing and wide margins and include your name, email address, phone number/s, current position and nursing qualifications.
  • Photographs and illustrations are welcome. They should be in the form of a jpg, and preferably 1000-2000 px wide. Send them as attachments to an email rather than in the email itself.
  • Contributors assign copyright to NZNO. If an article is accepted for publication, copyright is automatically assigned to NZNO. Permission to republish material elsewhere is usually given to authors on request, but manuscripts must not be submitted simultaneously to other journals.

    • Reference

    1. Zinsser, W. (2001). On Writing Well. The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction (25th anniversary edition). New York: Harper Collins.
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