Information for institutional customers about RCNi's move to a continuous publication model and changes to journal print issue publication frequencies

RCNi's move to continuous publication

1)    Why is RCNi introducing continuous publication?

RCNi is responding to reader feedback that nurses want quicker access to information and the ability to find content relevant to their particular scope of practice more easily. Our readers have told us that they want a better online experience.



2)    What's different to how you did things in the past?

Our peer-reviewed articles will be published online first, as soon as they are ready after review and editing. These will be shown in a new ‘Latest clinical articles’ section on the institutional journal homepages. The version of record of our peer-reviewed content will change from print to online, where it will be easier to ensure that readers can see any corrections, clarifications or extra content. We are reducing the print frequency of Nursing Standard to monthly, and the print frequency of all of our other journals to six times a year (except for Nurse Researcher, which will continue to be published quarterly. Learning Disability Practice is already published six times a year).



3)    Which journals are switching to continuous publication?

All our journals will publish peer-reviewed content online as it becomes available.



4)    When will continuous publication be introduced?

We plan to introduce this model from the end of March 2018.



5)    What does the introduction of continuous publication mean for institutional subscribers?

As soon as an article is ready, it will be released online rather than waiting for other articles in the issue to be published. This will result in faster access to the final version of the article for you and your users. To ensure the latest clinical and research articles are easily discoverable, we will also be adding a new ‘Latest clinical articles' section to our journal website. Some of this content will be used in future print editions. If an article appears in print, a PDF of the print article will be subsequently attached to the article’s file.



6)    How does this change affect citations?

We would encourage users to cite the online version of the article, which will be the version of record. All peer-reviewed articles will have a unique doi (Digital Object Identifier) number and information about how to cite will be included in the article. A PDF will be made of all peer-reviewed articles that appear in print, and this will be available attached to the online version of the article. Traditional volume, issue and page number citation information of the print version can be used, however it should be noted that the print version is not the version of record.



7)    How will users know what content is new on the journal websites?

There will be a new ‘Latest clinical articles’ section on the institutional journal homepages showing new content that has been published online. Users can also sign up for Table of Contents e-alerts and be notified when a new issue goes up.



8)    Will there still be a print version of the journals?

Yes. Nursing Standard will be published in print monthly and all our other journals will be published in print every two months, with the exception of Nurse Researcher, which will continue to be published quarterly.



9)    Will all articles published online be included in the print issue of the journal?

No, not all content published online will be included in print – some articles will be online only. Institutional subscribers will have online access to all content published in print plus all peer-reviewed articles published online, even where these do not appear in print.



10)    What will happen to the table of contents?

The table of contents will show all the content that appears in the print journals as it does currently. It will be updated when the print issue is published as is the case now. However, there will be a special ‘Latest clinical articles’ section above the table of contents showing the latest peer-reviewed content that's been published online.



11)    Who should I contact if I need more information about this?

Please contact customer services.

Changes to the print issue publication frequencies of RCNi Journals

12)    What changes are you making to the journal print issue publication frequencies? Which journals are affected?

Nursing Standard will be published monthly from April 2018 instead of weekly. There will be no change to Learning Disability Practice, which will continue to be published six times a year, and Nurse Researcher, which will continue to be published quarterly. All our other journals will be published six times a year instead of ten times a year.



13)    Why are you reducing the frequency at which RCNi journals are published in print?

We are reducing the print frequency of many of our journals to allow us to invest more in improving our websites and online content. We have feedback that nurses want quicker access to information online and the ability to find content relevant to their particular scope of practice more easily. Our readers have also told us that while they still value print journals, they do not require them to be as frequent.



14)    Will my institution have access to less content as a result of these changes?

Your institution will have access to a similar number of peer-reviewed articles over the course of the year as it does now. Institutions will continue to have access to every article published in our print journals, as well as additional online only clinical articles. However, there will be fewer news, opinion and feature articles.



15)    When are these changes taking place?

Nursing Standard will begin publishing monthly from April 2018. Cancer Nursing Practice, Emergency Nurse, Mental Health Practice and Nursing Children and Young People will be published in print in March and then every two months (May, July, September, November etc). Nursing Management, Nursing Older People and Primary Health Care will be published in March and April and then every two months (June, August, October, December etc). The print schedules of Learning Disability Practice and Nurse Researcher will be unaffected.



16)    What are the publication dates of RCNi journals this year?

Nursing Standard will be published weekly until 21 March 2018 and then every month from April 2018. Cancer Nursing Practice, Emergency Nurse, Mental Health Practice and Nursing Children and Young People will be published in print in February and March and then every two months (May, July, September, November). Nursing Management, Nursing Older People and Primary Health Care will be published in February, March and April and then every two months (June, August, October, December). Learning Disability Practice will be published in print in February, April, June, August, October and December. Nurse Researcher will be published in print in March, June, September and December.

17)    Will the new print issues be different? Will the types of content included in the print issues change?

Nursing Standard is moving to a larger A4 format in print. It will continue to feature a mix of articles authored by nurses and other health professionals along with articles written by our team of in-house and freelance specialist health writers and journalists. We are re-focusing our attention on clinical priority areas for nursing and the print issue will be organised differently to reflect this. For example, the first monthly issue will feature special sections on end of life care, critical care and medicines management. Future issues will look at areas such as pain, diabetes, continence, skin care, nutrition, blood, neurology and diagnostic procedures. This will be in addition to our coverage of professional issues and our wide-ranging opinion and news analysis on current issues of importance to nurses and nursing. Our other journals will continue to be published in A4 format, although some will have more pages than currently. They will publish similar types of content, but the emphasis, as always, will be on our robustly peer-reviewed clinical, educational and continuing professional development articles.



18)    Is the volume format of the print journals changing?

Yes. Nursing Standard will close Volume 32 with its last weekly issue, number 32 on 21 March. The April print issue of Nursing Standard will be Volume 33, number 1 and we will close Volume 33 in December with issue number 9. The January 2019 issue will be Volume 34 number 1 and from then on volumes will be based on calendar years with numbers 1-12 corresponding with months from January to December. So, the January 2020 issue will be Volume 35 number 1.  Future volumes of our other journals will feature six issues instead of 10, except for Nurse Researcher, which will have four issues for each volume.



19)    Who should I contact if I need more information about this?

Please contact customer services.