Online Journal of Knowledge Synthesis for Nursing

Nursing Online Journal and Knowledge Synthesis

Online Journal of Knowledge,Purposes of Journal Publishing,Online Access,Components of Article,Statement of the Practice Problem Issue,Advantages of Online Journals,Disadvantages of Online Journals,Subscription and Access.

Online Journal of Knowledge

    The Online Journal of Knowledge Synthesis for Nursing (OJKSN) is a full-text peer reviewed electronic journal published by Sigma Theta Tau International. The journal began publication in January 1994 and was the first peer reviewed electronic journal in nursing. There is no paper version; it is completely electronic.

Purposes of Journal Publishing

    The purpose of the journal is to publish timely, synthesized knowledge to guide nursing practice and research. Knowledge synthesis is the gathering of research studies on a topic, assessing the validity of the findings, and asserting implications for practice from the valid findings. 

    The process includes identifying gaps in the knowledge base that would provide direction for future research on the topic. OJKSN provides critical reviews of research pertinent to clinical practice and research situations that nurses can access and use immediately. 

    The journal does not have articles that are reports of a single study, such as you would find in other nursing research journals.

Online Access 

    An online electronic journal delivers articles across commercial telecommunications to a computer terminal at a workstation or a personal computer. Transmission is through the Internet. 

    The OJKSN is accessible on the World Wide Web through Sigma Theta Tau International's web site. It is available through subscription, which may be either individual or institutional. A combined subscription with the Registry of Nursing Research is also available.

Components of Article

    All articles include a statement of the practice problem, a summary of the research, annotated critical references, practice implications, directions for future research, search strategies used, and references. 

    Features of the journal include full text searches, access to graphical displays such as tables and charts, links to referencing in external bible graphical databases such as Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and MEDLINE.

Statement of the Practice Problem Issue

    “Statement of the Practice Problem Issue” is a brief statement explaining the scope of the article. “Summary of the Research” contains the review, analysis and synthesis of the research on the topic. The review is a state of the science for the topic. The extensiveness of the review depends on the depth and breadth of the research on the topic. 

    The summaries differ from a literature review in that there is an assessment of the validity of the information contained in the research reports. It may include a meta analysis, the statistical manipulation of findings from multiple research studies. 

    The narrative is used to make summary statements about the research as a whole, and tables are used to describe the individual review of studies and the significant variables and findings. “Annotated Critical References” contains an abstract of the most significant research publications on the topic. 

    A maximum of seven are annotated. In “Practice Implications,” the specific implications for practice based on the research are presented and discussed. This section outlines what practitioners can or should do as a result of the research on the topic. 

    The research references are cited for all practice directives so that the clinician can refer to them if desired. “Research Needed” discusses the various directions for future research and the questions that remain unanswered. Knowing about the knowledge that does not exist is often as important as knowing what exists. 

    This section is a good guide for directing master's theses and doctoral dissertations, as well as for clinical research studies. “Search Strategies” describes how the cited research was identified, the citation bases searched, the search terms that were used, and the years that were searched. 

    References cited are listed in the American Psychological Association format. Each reference listed in MEDLINE or CINAHL has a hypertext link so that the entire citation, including abstract, can be accessed.

Advantages of Online Journals 

    There are many advantages to an online journal. These include faster publication, immediate access, continuous publication, hypertext links, and instant access. Once a manuscript for a paper journal is accepted and revised, it may be anywhere from 6 to 24 months before it is out in print. 

    With the electronic journal, articles are brought online generally within weeks after final acceptance and editing. The journal is available online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Although it may take weeks or months for an international journal to come through the mail, with a computer journal there is instant access.

Disadvantages of Online Journals 

    Unlike a traditional print journal, where there are numerous issues a year with a varying number of articles per issues, an electronic journal has continuous publication. As an article is finalized, it is brought online. Articles are identified by the year and the article number for that year (eg, 1997, No 11). 

    Uniform standards are being developed for citing electronic publications. Hypertext links allow direct access to the database of a reference (eg, MEDLINE) for scanning the abstract of the reference. Once the abstract is read and perhaps printed, the reader is able to click back into the article at the same spot. 

    There is instant access to all previously published articles in the journal; keeping paper copies of back issues is unnecessary.

Subscription and Access

    Subscription information is accessed through the Sigma Theta Tau International web site or by requesting subscription information through the international headquarters. Once a subscription is processed, the user is sent a user guide, authorization, and password.

    There is a tremendous amount of knowledge available for use in nursing practice. The key is accessing, synthesizing, and having it organized to readily make clinical decisions. The OJKSN greatly increases nursing's opportunities for knowledge based practice, education, and research.