The Manuscript of the Capstone Project

Introduction

Scholarly journals in nursing have different target audiences as well as various publication criteria. In most cases, publication criteria for articles and studies in peer-reviewed journals are similar, and they require focusing on the rigorous methodology, originality of the research, and high-quality writing. More specific criteria are developed with references to the type of journal, and these rules need to be discussed in detail with the focus on the probability of publishing the Capstone project results in a peer-reviewed journal.

Criteria for publication

Traditional criteria determined by journals for the publication of manuscripts, including Capstone project results, are associated with the choice of methods, presentation of original findings, and the quality of a discussion section. Specifically, manuscript publication criteria are the following ones: (1) the article represents original results of the primary study that were not published previously; (2) the selected methodology is rigorous and appropriate for the research purpose; (3) the results, discussion, and conclusion sections are related to each other and written in a high-quality manner; (4) the article addresses the journal requirements to the publication of manuscripts; (5) and the article approval after the peer-review procedure (Nelson, Cook, & Raterink, 2013).

Publication of literature reviews

From this point, it is expected in the field of nursing that the manuscript proposed for publication is quantitative and has practical significance. In case of publishing literature reviews, peer-reviewed journals focus on the following requirements:

1. the choice of a systematic review or a selective review;
2. the presence of comprehensive methods;
3. the unbiased sampling for used articles; and
4. the uniqueness of conclusions (Northam, Yarbrough, Haas, & Duke, 2010, p. 30).

It is important to demonstrate how the results of the provided literature review can be applied to the nursing practice. While focusing on publishing the manuscripts of Capstone projects, it is also important to prepare manuscripts with faculty members as coauthors. In addition, practical researches require clinicians as coauthors.

Strengths in the manuscript development process

Developing a manuscript, it is important to strengthen it to increase chances for publication. Such strengths include the focus on particular publication requirements listed by the concrete journal; the accentuation of the practical significance of the study for nurses; the revision of the Capstone project according to the format and organization requirements of the concrete journal; and the focus on the recommendations for editing provided by peers who have reviewed the article (Holzmueller & Pronovost, 2013, p. 778). If a student refers to these listed aspects, the chances for publication of the article in the peer-reviewed journal can increase significantly even if the selected format is a literature review.

Weaknesses in the manuscript development process

However, the manuscript can also be rejected for publication because of having such weaknesses as the focus on the topic that is inappropriate for the selected journal; the failure in revising the project according to the article standards provided by the journal; the failure in following the structure and format requirements like the word count and the paper organization; and the failure in asking a supervisor for assisting in writing the high-quality article (Northam et al., 2010, p. 30). As a result of ignoring the mentioned details, the submitted manuscript can be rejected by editors and peers because of its low quality.

Conclusion

In this context, the process of preparing the manuscript of the Capstone Project for further publication is a complex task. Thus, a student requires the assistance of the supervisor to address all the requirements for publishing articles in scholarly journals that are proposed by editors. Much attention should be paid to revising the project according to the criteria for scholarly articles.

References

Holzmueller, C. G., & Pronovost, P. J. (2013). Organising a manuscript reporting quality improvement or patient safety research. BMJ Quality & Safety, 22(9), 777-785.

Nelson, J. M., Cook, P. F., & Raterink, G. (2013). The evolution of a doctor of nursing practice capstone process: Programmatic revisions to improve the quality of student projects. Journal of Professional Nursing, 29(6), 370-380.

Northam, S., Yarbrough, S., Haas, B., & Duke, G. (2010). Journal editor survey: Information to help authors publish. Nurse Educator, 35(1), 29-36.