WRITING FOR INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION IN NURSING JOURNALS: A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE (PART 2)

The number of printed and electronic (Internet) academic nursing publications in Brazil and around the world highlight the importance attached to publishing in the field of nursing. Internationally, journals are ranked according to their professional merits and peer review orientations. Financial institutions increasingly value publications in renowned journals as one criterion for granting funds for research. One important reason why many scientific articles do not meet the requirements from international journal reviewers, especially those submitted English, is the result of poor and literal translation of the text. The challenge we are facing in Latin America is to encourage the development of articles for publication in internationally reviewed journals. Coauthorship is a potentially stimulating model for researchers and postgraduate students to publish. This task can be undertaken through the help of international supervisors and researchers, supervisors or postgraduate students with good command of the English language. This article aims to demystify the publication process and present some guidelines on how to publish in international journals.


PART 2: WRITING FOR INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION IN NURSING JOURNALS: A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE
In the first part of the paper, we examined the writing and publishing process, where to publish, impact factors, literature review, creating an outline of a paper and writing style. In this paper, the purpose is to provide some guidelines on journals' styles and referencing, a framework for writing, the publishing process and some commentaries, in the context of publications in this region, with implications for nursing.

JOURNALS' STYLE & REFERENCING
A refereed journal will be explicit about the proper style: American Psychological Association (APA) (1) , Chicago Style (2) , and Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to Biomedical journals (3) .
Each journal will list important information relating to editorial policy, format and style, how to submit your articles by printed and electronic modes and the process of publication (reviewing process, accepted for publication and editing proofs) on a page typically called "Guidelines for Authors". A value now added to publications in high impact journals is the requirement of the inclusion of statements such as 'What is already known about the topic?' and 'What this paper or study adds?' Authors need to be brief, specific, and accurate in writing two or three clear and statements as bullet points for each question.
Most authors and readers of journals in this region are familiar with the "Vancouver Style"* or the APA (1) style of referencing . Check how to paraphrase and use quotations from publications manuals in the journal style. Basically, the quotations or sources in the text must match the reference list and credits must be given to the sources (references) whenever you either quote an author directly or paraphrase an author. To present authors' works and ideas without giving credits to them is unethical and is called plagiarism. What sections or sub-headings you start to write about is a matter of personal preference. Below is a brief guideline for writing. avoided. Next, it will be the discussion section to complete.

DISCUSSION SECTION
There are many variations in how the Discussion section can be written but the first paragraph can serve as a summary for the study in

THE PUBLISHING PROCESS
Editing the paper Editing can be quite enjoyable when the final draft of the paper is complicated. It is recommended to have someone else read your paper, looking for basic organisational, grammatical and spelling errors.
Do not expect the spell and grammar check programmes on your computer to address all your spelling mistakes, especially when dealing with a number of languages. At the same time, examine some of the sections of the article for readability and accuracy. Remove any irrelevant or "unfinished business" statements, literature and quotations from your paper. This is a continuing process.
The problems are faced by many of us at this stage of having a research report about 5-6 thousand words, when we need to submit a paper for 3,000 words maximum. The dilemma is whether to send the paper to another journal (maximum of 5000 words) or reduce the number of words. This is a personal choice and the decisions should be based upon the nature of the research or paper, the quality of the journal and the audience to be targeted. This is the "pruning" stage in the editing process in the conversion of the valuable and relevant 5-6 thousandword paper into the final stage of the publication process. In this example, the literature review, result and discussion section should be examined and edited.
Whilst editing, some of the quotations or statements or analyses may become redundant. It is stated that the failure to proofread is like preparing a magnificent dinner and forgetting to set the table, so that the wretched guests have to scramble for food as best they can (3) . Do not send your first (or even second) draft to the publisher! There is also consideration to be given to having the paper translated into English or any other international language. This is dealt elsewhere in the paper.

Finalising part of the process of publication
It is courteous to write a polite cover letter to the editor, stating that the article is not being simultaneously submitted to another journal and that the text has not been previously published. Some journals require, as part of the submission process, a statement of financial or other relationships that might lead to a conflict of interest and the extent and nature of the authors' involvement in the study and paper.
The name, address, and telephone number of the corresponding author should also be included. Some international journals also request the provision of additional information such as indicating where your paper fits in their journal sections, to match their categories or types of articles (Short research paper, reviews, updates, innovations in practice, commentaries).
The paper is ready and complete according to guidelines for authors. Your paper can be sent by electronic means or in printed forms. The number of printed copies to be sent to the editors of journals varies from 3 to 4 copies and with the same information saved on a diskette, usually in Word for Windows 95 or an updated version. Some international journals use a web-based submission and peer review system, which is fast and convenient for both authors and reviewers. You will need to go to the website of the journal and follow their instructions and it is usually free to register. You submit a copy of your paper by e-mail or other electronic means to the journal. This     The guidelines for authors should be regarded as a blueprint for writing papers. A number of papers are rejected by editors because of their failure to comply with the authors' guidelines. The abstract presented is inadequate or poorly translated. There is a common assumption that if an abstract is poor, the article is likely to be of the same quality. However, there is some evidence to suggest that there is another explanation for non-publication of papers, that is, publication bias, but this is rare in nursing publications when compared to other medical and other journals.

DISCUSSION OF ISSUES & CHALLENGES IN THE PUBLICATION PROCESS
Publication bias may occur because of a tendency for journals to accept only papers that have statistically significant results and not to report non-significant effects (3) . However, getting a paper published may depend not only on the intrinsic quality of the paper, but also whether it is submitted to the 'right' academic journal (4) . Moreover, if journals do not take certain papers (for example, ones with negative findings or those reporting multi-disciplinary studies), then this can lead to publication bias (4) .
The process of publication and the delay caused before a manuscript gets into print is a major concern in this region. The implications of such delays increase the time it takes to get papers published or leaves important research findings unavailable to inform clinical practices. The findings may even be out of date by the time they are published (5) . In this region, there is room for expansion in our process of submitted papers, reviewing process and publication in print. We need to learn the lessons from publishing houses for enabling topical or important practice- There is concern about the lack of published papers in English from Latin America. It seemed that, although many nurses in Latin America have worked on research for years, there is little evidence of this effort in English language publication (6) . Our challenge here in Latin America is to enhance our development of publishing papers and other non-printed materials in international nursing journals, but with the same efforts to promote quality studies in our respective published languages. In addition, our journals need to increase the promotion of commissioned papers written in English or any other language. There are lost opportunities in international networking and collaborations in the potential publications from national and international nursing experts in a particular field. We need to explore this avenue. Social marketing of the journals is needed and visibility of our journals to international audiences needs to be promoted, to make them more attractive and accessible, not only to the subscribers but to the majority of researchers, academics and clinicians.
Journals should be transparent with publications of literary criticism, analysis of limitations of research designs and findings or the examination of alternative perspectives.
New generations of nurses need to be primed at an early stage of their professional development in publications' skills. Co-authoring offers a potentially supportive model of postgraduate writing for publication (7) . Co-authoring may be undertaken with Educational development and co-authorship are the steps in the right direction.
For most of us, there is a long journey to travel to develop our potential capacity for selfawareness and the mastery to publish in English in high quality nursing journals. Writing for publication in international journals is also about being acculturated in the language of the journal and the process of publication. Learning about publications is a life long process. However, we must listen to our hearts, learning from the omens strewn along life's path and above all follow our dream (8) .