Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association
Nurses Turn to JAPNA for Cutting Edge Information on Psychiatric Nursing Practice, Education, and Research...
The Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (JAPNA) provides quality, up-to-date information to: promote psychiatric nursing, improve mental health care for culturally diverse individuals, families, groups, and communities, and shape health care policy for the delivery of mental health services.
JAPNA, a peer-reviewed journal, publishes both clinical and research articles relevant to psychiatric nursing. Authors describe critical and timely analyses of the emerging issues and trends in psychiatric nursing, and present innovative models of practice related to mental health care systems. JAPNA publishes original research, review, and practice-focused articles that include continuing education credit, as well as brief reports, quality improvement, and discussion articles, and letters to the editors. The Journal’s expert content provides psychiatric nurses with the most up-to-date evidence-based nursing practices, innovative therapeutic approaches, significant information trends, and useful, clinically focused research in psychiatric mental health nursing and its related subspecialties.
In JAPNA, the reader will find timely, peer-reviewed content aimed at a wide audience of psychiatric nurses, advancing scholarship through:
- Education, clinical, and practice-focused articles
- Original research articles
- Features on topics such as health policy and psychopharmacology
- Significant news from the American Psychiatric Nurses Association
Practice-focused articles address important topics on:
- Psychiatric disorders and mental health, including substance use and trauma
- Regulatory issues for psychiatric mental health nurses
- Staffing and other issues relevant to psychiatric mental health nurses
- Community mental health practice and emergency care
JAPNA publishes a blend of unique features and authoritative content making it one of the most respected publications in psychiatric nursing. Subscribe today or recommend this important journal to your institutional librarian! If your library subscribes, you and your colleagues will receive online access for FREE!
The Journal also occasionally complements its broad coverage with supplements (with continuing education credit) on a particular mental health condition, including current treatments and management strategies.
As a primary source of evidence-based and innovative scholarship for practice, education, administration, and research in psychiatric nursing, the editors of the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association are committed to integrating principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the journal’s editorial and review processes. We recognize that to publish scholarship that contributes to greater understanding and promotion of health equity in psychiatric-mental health care, our authors, reviewers, and editorial board members must reflect the composition of the population we serve. We are committed to outreach and professional development to support inclusion for authors, reviewers, and editorial board members and strongly encourage authors to address and recommend innovative solutions pertaining to diversity, equity, and inclusion in their submitted manuscripts.
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Submit your manuscript today at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/JAPNA.
The Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (JAPNA) is the official journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association and has the largest readership of psychiatric-mental health nurse academics and scientists, at RN and advanced practice levels, of any nursing specialty journal. A bimonthly peer-reviewed journal, JAPNA serves as a mechanism for global dissemination and dialogue among nurses and health care professionals involved in the science, education, and service delivery related to mental health and substance use conditions. The main goal of the journal is to publish scholarship (original research, review, and practice-focused articles that include continuing education credit, as well as brief reports, quality improvement, and discussion articles, and letters to the editors) that contributes both to knowledge development and continuum of care from mental health promotion and mental illness prevention to psychiatric treatment and recovery at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of prevention across the lifespan.
View the journal's various indexing metrics here: https://journals.sagepub.com/metrics/jap
| Michelle DeCoux Hampton, RN, PhD, MS | Stanford Health Care, Menlo Park, CA, USA |
| Gretchen Wilson, MA | KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd, Aurora, CO, USA |
| Angel Johann Solorzano Martinez, PhD, DNP, MSN, MBA, RN, CNS, PMHNP-BC | Samuel Merritt University, San Mateo, CA, USA |
| Linda Beeber, PhD, RN, CS | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA |
| Genevieve E. Chandler, PhD, RN | University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA |
| Jeanne Clement, EdD, APRN, PMHCNS- BC, FAAN | The Ohio University, Columbus, OH, USA |
| Claire Draucker, PhD, RN, FAAN | Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA |
| Karen Foli, PhD, RN, FAAN | Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA |
| Carla Groh, PhD, PMHNP-BC, FAAN | University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, MI, USA |
| Sara Jones, PhD, APRN, PMHNP-BC, FAANP | McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA, USA |
| Laura G. Leahy, DrNP, APRN, PMH-CNS/FNP, CARN-AP, FAANP, FAAN | APN Solutions, LLC, Sewell, NJ, USA |
| Vanndy Loth, DNP, MPH, PMHNP-BC | AACI, San Jose, CA, USA |
| Karen Jennings Mathis, PhD, APRN, PMHNP-BC, FAED | University of Rhode Island College of Nursing, Providence, RI, USA |
| Mary Moller, DNP, ARNP, APRN, PMHCNS-BC, CPRP, FAAN | Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA, USA |
| Dorothy Moore, DNP, FNP-C, PMHNP-BC | San Jose State University, San Jose, CA, USA |
| Kathryn Phillips, PhD, APRN | Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT, USA |
| Barbara Warren, PhD, RN, APRN-CNS, PMH-BC, FNAP, FAAN | The Ohio State University, College of Nursing, Columbus, OH, USA |
| Kathleen Wheeler, PhD, PMHCNS, PMHNP, FAAN | Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT, USA |
| Barbara Wolfe, PhD, APRN, BC, FAAN | University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA |
| Joyce M. Shea, DNSc, APRN, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN | Professor Emerita, Fairfield University, Prospect, CT, USA |
| Eugenia Flores Millender, PhD, RN, PMHNP-BC, FAAN, FAANP | Marie Cowart Endowed Professor, Florida State University, West Palm Beach, FL, USA |
| Lora Peppard, PhD, DNP, PMHNP-BC | Director of ADAPT and Deputy Director for Treatment & Prevention, Washington/Baltimore High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA); Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (part-time), Marymount University, Ashburn, VA, USA |
| Constance Ann Noll, DNP, MA, PMHNP-BC, CRNP | Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health System, Manchester, MD, USA |
| Beth C. Smith, DNP, CRNP, PMHNP-BC | PMHNP, Department of Medicine, Psychiatry Division, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple University Health System Philadelphia, PA, USA |
| Carol Essenmacher, DNP, RN, PMHCNS-BC, NCTTP | Assistant Professor of Nursing, Saginaw Valley State University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA |
| Brittany Evans, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC, NEA-BC | Assistant Vice President, Patient Services, Psychiatry, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Lakeside Park, KY, USA |
| Erica Joseph, PhD, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC, FNP-C | Adult Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner – Co-Team Lead, Mental Health Intensive Case Management, Southeast Louisiana Veterans Healthcare System (SLVHCS) Plaquemine, LA, USA |
| Cornelius Metili, BSN, RN, PMH-BC | Senior Specialty RN, Psychiatric Consult Service Department Parkland Memorial Hospital Irving, TX, USA |
| Lisa Deffenbaugh Nguyen, MS, CAE | Executive Director, American Psychiatric Nurses Association, Falls Church, VA, USA |
| Geraldine S. Pearson, PhD, PMH-CNS, APRN, FAAN | (2015-2025) |
| Karen Farchaus Stein, PhD, RN, FAAN | (2005-2015) |
| Nikki S. Polis, RN, PhD | (1995–2005) |
| Grayce M. Sills, RN, PhD, FAAN | (1995-2005) |
EDITORIAL POLICIES
The Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association is a professional, double-blind peer-reviewed journal that welcomes original articles in English. The Journal is designed to inform psychiatric nurses about important clinical and useful psychiatric care developments. Articles are encouraged that describe critical and timely analysis of the emerging issues and trends and discuss innovative models of practice as they relate to changing systems of health care. Clinical and research articles that deal with care issues at the level of individual, family, group, or community, as well as the relationship of these care issues to institutional, organizational, or public policy are desired.
The Editor assumes that articles from a particular institution are submitted with the approval of the requisite authorities, including all matters pertaining to human subjects.
Statements and opinions expressed in the articles and communications herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Editor, the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, or publisher, and the Editor, Association, and publisher disclaim any responsibility or liability for such material. The Editor, Association, and publisher do not guarantee, warrant, or endorse any product or service advertised in this publication; neither do they guarantee any claim made by the manufacturer of such product or service.
Authors who have received financial support from a manufacturer or been given product free of charge to use in a study should acknowledge this support on a separate sheet. All manuscripts published in the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association are the sole property of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. Permission to reproduce material that has been published in the journal must be obtained from the publisher. Authors will be consulted, when possible, regarding republication of their material.
MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION
Manuscripts can be submitted online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/japna. Preparation inquiries can be sent to the editor at gpearson@uchc.edu, but please send all manuscripts through Manuscript Central only.
Directions for Submission: Go to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/japna. You do not need to mail paper copies of your manuscript. Click on the "Check for Existing Account" button at the bottom of the opening page. If you do not already have an account, then create one by clicking on the "Create an Account" button. You then will be able to submit your manuscript. Click on “Author Center.” Follow the on-screen instructions carefully.
You will be asked to upload at least 2 documents when you submit a manuscript: a title page and a main document, in addition to uploading separate documents for each figure.
The title page should include:
- title
- author names, degrees, affiliations, and contact information (name, address, e-mail address, and phone number)
- author disclosure or conflict of interest information
- author roles in research/writing of manuscript
- Grant and other acknowledgments
The main document should not include the author’s name anywhere on the manuscript as this will be used for double-blind peer review. The main document should include:
- title
- abstract
- key words
- text
- references
- tables and table captions
- figure captions (figure files should be uploaded as separate files and not be included in the manuscript main document)
Please do not include author names on any pages of the manuscript, as the manuscript will be sent out for blind peer review.
Written permission to use non-original material (quotations exceeding 100 words, any table or illustration) from both author and publisher of the original is included, and the source is credited in the manuscript. No article will be accepted as a submission without all required permissions.
An exclusive license form is a condition of publication (authors will receive an exclusive license form once the article is accepted for publication. Upon acceptance of manuscript, exclusive license forms must be submitted in order for the article to be published.
At the end of a successful submission, you will see a confirmation screen with your manuscript number, and you will receive a separate E-mail confirmation of manuscript reception by the journal. If these two messages do not appear, then go into your Author Center and make sure that you have clicked on the “Submit” button or contact technical support at support@scholarone.com. Manuscripts submitted online are quickly assigned to reviewers. Through individual Author Centers on this website, authors can view the status of their manuscripts as they progress through the review process.
REVIEW PROCESS
All manuscripts are subject to blind review by two experts in fields related to the topic or methods of the manuscript. The corresponding author will receive an email regarding the outcome of the review process and also receive electronic copies of the editorial and reviews. Revised and resubmitted manuscripts will be reviewed by the same reviewers that evaluated the original submission. All manuscripts will be edited to conform to the standards and style of the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association.
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION
Prepare manuscripts using the style and standards outlined in the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (APA), 6th edition. Number pages consecutively beginning with the title page. There is no word limit on manuscript submissions.
The journal encourages authors and reviewers to use the Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE) as guidelines for manuscript preparation and evaluation of agency-specific clinical implementation projects. All DNP authors and clinical experts reporting implement projects should utilize the SQUIRE Guidelines format when submitting reports. Similarly, reviewers of clinical project reports for the journal are encouraged to base their evaluations on nature and depth of reporting recommended in the guidelines. Authors and reviews can find the SQUIRE Guidelines at http://squire-statement.org/guidelines/.
Manuscripts submitted to JAPNA are required to adhere to the following published guidelines:
- Literature reviews must adhere to the PRISMA Guidelines (hyperlink to http://www.prisma-statement.org/)
- Quality improvement projects must adhere to SQUIRE Guidelines (hyperlink to http://squire-statement.org/guidelines)
- Reports of randomized control trials must adhere to the CONSORT Guidelines (hyperlink to http://www.consort-statement.org/)
Figures
All images should be submitted in an electronic image file format (TIF, JPG or EPS) along with the manuscript. Figures should be uploaded to the online manuscript submission system. Figures should be presented in separate electronic files and not incorporated into the Word document unless the figures were created in Word originally. Grayscale images should be at least 300 DPI. Combinations of grayscale and line art should be at least 1200 DPI. Line art (black and white or color) should be at least 1200 DPI. Color figures that will enhance the article may be accepted for publication. However, the author must be prepared to pay a charge of $800 for the first illustration and $200 for each additional illustration.
Title Page
On the title of the manuscript, author(s) name(s) with full credentials, and institutional affiliation(s) with city and state. Provide the complete mailing address, business and home telephone numbers, e-mail address, and fax number of the corresponding author. The title page should state any conflicts of interest or state that no conflict exists. Acknowledgments may be included. A list of each author's role in the writing of the manuscript should also be submitted on the title page.
Abstract
A structured abstract, limited to 150 words, must be included with the submission. All abstracts are to include five sections with the following headings: Background, Objective(s), Design, Results, and Conclusions.
Keywords
Include 3-5 keywords with the manuscript placed directly underneath the abstract.
Legends
A legend for each table and each figure must be included in the manuscript main document. Credit for any previously published illustration must be given in the corresponding legend. All symbols should be explained in the legend. If permission is needed for a table, figure, or quote, it is the responsibility of the author to obtain permission and pay for any expenses incurred. For Sage Publication permission guidelines, please refer to the following URL: http://www.sagepub.com/sage/Permissions%20Guidelines.PDF.
Reprints
Reprints may be ordered by using the special reprint order form that will accompany author proofs. If you need another copy of this order form, please contact Barbara Eisenberg at 805-499-0721 X 7763 (telephone) or at reprint@sagepub.com.
ETHICAL GUIDELINES
JAPNA adheres to a rigorous double-blind reviewing policy in which the identity of both the reviewer and author are always concealed from both parties.
As part of the submission process you will be asked to provide the names of peers who could be called upon to review your manuscript. Recommended reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Please be aware of any conflicts of interest when recommending reviewers. Examples of conflicts of interest include (but are not limited to) the below:
- The reviewer should have no prior knowledge of your submission
- The reviewer should not have recently collaborated with any of the authors
- Reviewer nominees from the same institution as any of the authors are not permitted
Please note that the Editors are not obliged to invite any recommended/opposed reviewers to assess your manuscript.
Authorship
Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.
The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:
(i) made a substantial contribution to the concept and design, acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data,
(ii) drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,
(iii) approved the version to be published.
Please refer to the ICMJE Authorship guidelines at http://www.icmje.org/ethical_1author.html
Acknowledgements
Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes and your References.
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an ‘Acknowledgements’ section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, writing assistance, or a department chair who provided only general support. Authors should disclose whether they had any writing assistance and identify the entity that paid for this assistance.
Funding
To comply with the guidance for Research Funders, Authors and Publishers issued by the Research Information Network (RIN), JAPNA additionally requires all Authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit Funding Acknowledgements on the SAGE Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding or state in your acknowledgments that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Declaration of conflicting interests
It is the policy of JAPNA to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.
Please include any declaration at the end of your manuscript after any acknowledgements and prior to the references, under a heading ‘Conflict of interests’. If no declaration is made the following will be printed under this heading in your article: ‘None declared’. Alternatively, you may wish to state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’.
When making a declaration the disclosure information must be specific and include any financial relationship that all authors of the article has with any sponsoring organization and the for-profit interests the organization represents, and with any for-profit product discussed or implied in the text of the article.
Any commercial or financial involvements that might represent an appearance of a conflict of interest need to be additionally disclosed in the covering letter accompanying your article to assist the Editor in evaluating whether sufficient disclosure has been made within the Declaration of Conflicting Interests provided in the article.
For more information please visit the SAGE Journal Author Gateway.
Research ethics
All papers reporting animal and human studies must include whether written consent was obtained from the local Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee and an Ethics Committee reference number.
We accept manuscripts that report human and/or animal studies for publication only if it is made clear that investigations were carried out to a high ethical standard. Studies in humans which might be interpreted as experimental (e.g. controlled trials) should conform to the Declaration of Helsinki http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/index.html and typescripts must include a statement that the research protocol was approved by the appropriate ethical committee. In line with the Declaration of Helsinki 1975, revised Hong Kong 1989, we encourage authors to register their clinical trials (at http://clinicaltrials.gov or other suitable databases identified by the ICMJE, http://www.icmje.org/publishing_10register.html). If your trial has been registered, please state this on the Title Page. When reporting experiments on animals, indicate on the Title Page which guideline/law on the care and use of laboratory animals was followed.
Patient consent
Authors are required to ensure the following guidelines are followed, as recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. Patients have a right to privacy that should not be infringed without informed consent. Identifying information, including patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that a patient who is identifiable be shown the manuscript to be published.
Identifying details should be omitted if they are not essential. Complete anonymity is difficult to achieve, however, and informed consent should be obtained if there is any doubt. For example, masking the eye region in photographs of patients is inadequate protection of anonymity. If identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic pedigrees, authors should provide assurance that alterations do not distort scientific meaning and editors should so note. When informed consent has been obtained it should be indicated in the submitted article.
Contributor’s publishing agreement
Before publication, SAGE requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. SAGE’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive license agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants SAGE the sole and exclusive right and license to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than SAGE. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit our Frequently Asked Questions on the SAGE Journal Author Gateway.
JAPNA and SAGE take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of articles published in the journal. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked using duplication-checking software. Where an article is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article (removing it from the journal); taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author’s institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; banning the author from publication in the journal or all SAGE journals, or appropriate legal action.
Permissions
Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions on the SAGE Journal Author Gateway.
English Language Services
Authors who would like to refine the use of English in their manuscripts might consider using the services of a professional English-language editing company. Visit http://languageservices.sagepub.com/en/ for more information. An author's use of these services in no way guarantees that his or her submission will ultimately be accepted. Any arrangement an author enters into will be exclusively between the author and the particular company, and any costs incurred are the sole responsibility of the author.
PUBLISH AHEAD OF PRINT WITH ONLINE FIRST
Online First is a feature in which completed articles are published online prior to their inclusion in a print issue, offering authors the advantage of making their research accessible to the public in a more timely manner. Only online subscribers can view these PDFs, but abstracts are available to the public to view for free. Online First articles are fed to search engines and citation and content repositories, such as PubMed, MEDLINE, CrossRef, and Google Scholar, and therefore are available to be accessed and cited. Each Online First manuscript is citable by the publication date of the manuscript’s first online posting and the Digital Object Identifier (DOI), providing a persistent, permanent way to identify manuscripts published in the online environment. You can cite OnlineFirst articles as follows:
Author’s last name, first initials. Article title. Journal title. Prepublished month day, year; DOI: 10.1177/0123456789123456
Once your article has completed the production process and before it is published in a print issue, it will be posted online. You can access JAPNA OnlineFirst articles on the Web at http://japna.sagepub.com/pap.dtl. Once posted online, articles may not be retracted or edited. If your article is not completed prior to its publication date, it will not go on OnlineFirst but will be posted online with the issue in which it will be published.
CHECKLIST FOR AUTHORS
- Letter of submission
- Conflict of interest statement, if applicable
- Electronic version of manuscript
- Title page with author contact information, credentials, affiliations, conflicts of interest, acknowledgments, and a list of each author's role in the writing of the manuscript
- Main document with Abstract, Keywords, Text, References, Tables and table captions, and Figure captions
- Figures uploaded as separate figure files (tif, jpeg, eps, pdf)
- Letters of permission to reproduce previously published material or for subjects in photographs