I soon learned after assuming this post that it is “business as usual” for a journal to undergo a re-design process about every 5 years or so. Initially, I was not sure I wanted to move down this path, as I was fairly well satisfied with the Journal as it was, and appreciative of the efforts of all of those involved in the previous re-design process. Nevertheless, our team began to feel that perhaps some alterations would be timely, given the many changes that have occurred in the publishing industry during the past few years.
Our goal with the current re-design process was to create formats and layouts that are clean, easily readable, environmentally friendly, and reflective of the high level of scholarship for which the Journal has become known. We also wanted to create pages that would easily lend themselves to online viewing. While what you might first notice about this issue are the colors and fonts, I think the change we are most pleased with is also one of the more subtle ones: the move from a three-column to a two-column format on most pages. We hope that this change will make the content a bit more readable in print as well as online. It also allows us a few more words per page!
Along with changes in Journal format, we are now using the sixth edition of the
American Psychological Association, 2010 - 2nd printing
as our style guide. This new edition addresses several current and important issues in scholarly publishing such as the avoidance of biased and gender-based language, the use of electronic resources, and the need to report statistical effect sizes and confidence intervals when possible. Information on ethical issues such as authorship, peer review, data sharing, piecemeal publication, and self-plagiarism also are addressed. For further information, a helpful online tutorial is available at http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basics/index.htm or at http://www.apastyle.org/manual/whats-new.aspx.We are pleased to announce the creation of a department entitled “On the Web” that will be found only on our e-pages.Finally, the biggest change to the Journal this year is yet to come, and it is not one that you will necessarily find in these pages, but rather online. We are pleased to announce the creation of a department entitled “On the Web” that will be found only on our e-pages. This department will be edited by Jennifer D'Auria and will debut in a couple of months in association with the March/April issue. The topics of this department will focus on educational materials and information on Web sites for pediatric health care providers, patients, and families.
We appreciate all of the input we received during this re-design process, particularly from the department editors and the editorial advisory board. We especially thank the publishers and graphic design team at Elsevier for their involvement. Now, we are now anxious to move forward with our focus on the substantive content of the Journal so that we may continue to be a leading resource for pediatric nurse practitioners and health care providers, not only as a source of information but also as a site for coordination. Thank you for being a part of this process. Happy New Year!
Reference
American Psychological Association. (2010 - 2nd printing). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
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© 2010 National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
