The Author Guidelines of NERS Jurnal Keperawatan (NJK) provide comprehensive guidance for authors intending to submit manuscripts to the journal. These guidelines explain the journal's requirements throughout the publication process, including manuscript preparation, submission, editorial assessment, peer review, revision, acceptance, and post-publication responsibilities.

Authors are strongly encouraged to read these guidelines and the related journal policies carefully before submitting a manuscript. Compliance with the journal's requirements helps facilitate editorial assessment and peer review and reduces delays caused by incomplete submissions, inappropriate manuscript preparation, or non-compliance with journal policies.

The Author Guidelines cover the following areas:

1. Scope and Suitability of Manuscripts

Authors should ensure that their manuscripts are consistent with the Focus and Scope of NERS Jurnal Keperawatan (NJK). Manuscripts should contribute to nursing science, nursing practice, nursing education, nursing management, community and public health nursing, clinical nursing, or other areas relevant to nursing and healthcare.

Authors are responsible for selecting an appropriate article type and ensuring that the manuscript is suitable for the intended category before submission. The available article types in the online submission system should be followed.

2. Originality and Prior Publication

Manuscripts submitted to NERS Jurnal Keperawatan (NJK) must represent original scholarly work and must not be under simultaneous consideration by another journal. Authors should disclose any relevant previous dissemination of the work, including theses, dissertations, conference presentations, preprints, institutional reports, or related publications, where applicable.

All sources must be appropriately cited. Authors must ensure that their work does not contain plagiarism, inappropriate text recycling, duplicate publication, redundant publication, or other forms of unethical reuse of previously published material. Authors must comply with the journal's Plagiarism Policy and relevant Publication Ethics requirements.

3. Authorship and Contributorship

All individuals listed as authors must have made appropriate scholarly contributions to the work and must accept responsibility for their respective contributions. Before submission, all authors should agree on:

• Authorship eligibility;
• Author order;
• Designation of the corresponding author;
• Individual contributions; and
• Submission of the manuscript to NERS Jurnal Keperawatan (NJK).

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the journal's authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately, where applicable. Authors should consult the journal's Authorship and Contributorship Policy for detailed requirements.

4. Ethical Requirements

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research complies with applicable ethical standards. For research involving human participants, the manuscript should report the relevant ethical approval and informed-consent procedures. Authors should identify the approving ethics committee or institutional review board and provide the approval number and approval date where applicable.

Authors must protect participant privacy, confidentiality, and dignity, particularly when manuscripts contain identifiable personal information, clinical photographs, case descriptions, or sensitive data. Identifiable information must not be published without the appropriate consent and authorization.

Research involving animals, where applicable, should comply with relevant institutional and regulatory standards. Detailed requirements are provided in the journal's Ethical Oversight Policy and Publication Ethics policy.

5. Conflicts of Interest and Funding

Authors must disclose financial and non-financial interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, interpretation of the results, or publication process. A Conflict of Interest Statement must be included in the manuscript, even when the authors declare that no competing interests exist. Authors should consult the journal's Conflicts of Interest Policy.

Authors should also disclose all sources of funding and other financial support relevant to the study. Where applicable, the role of the funder in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit should be stated.

6. Data Transparency and Research Integrity

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of all data reported in the manuscript. Research data must not be fabricated, falsified, manipulated, or selectively reported in a manner that misrepresents the findings.

Where applicable, authors should provide a Data Availability Statement explaining whether the data supporting the findings are available and, if so, how they may be accessed. Any restrictions arising from participant confidentiality, ethical approval, legal obligations, or data-protection requirements should be explained. Authors should follow the journal's Data and Reproducibility Policy and Repository Policy, where applicable.

Authors may be asked to provide supporting data, documentation, or clarification if questions arise during editorial assessment, peer review, or after publication.

7. Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence

Authors remain fully responsible for all content submitted to NERS Jurnal Keperawatan (NJK). Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot accept responsibility for the submitted work.

Authors must follow the journal's Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy regarding disclosure of AI-assisted tools used in manuscript preparation, data analysis, image generation, or other relevant activities. Any required disclosure should accurately describe the tool used and its purpose.

Authors are responsible for verifying the accuracy of AI-assisted content, including factual claims, references, citations, analyses, ethical appropriateness, confidentiality, and intellectual-property implications. AI tools must not be used to fabricate data, references, research results, or other scholarly evidence.

8. Language and Writing Quality

Manuscripts must be written in clear, concise, and professional academic English. Authors are responsible for ensuring appropriate grammar, spelling, terminology, sentence structure, and overall readability before submission.

Manuscripts that require substantial language improvement may be returned to the authors for revision before proceeding to editorial assessment or peer review.

9. Required Submission Files

Authors should prepare all files required for their manuscript type before beginning the online submission process. Depending on the study and journal requirements, these files may include:

• Cover Letter;
• Separate Title Page;
• Main Manuscript;
• Tables and figures, where submitted separately;
• Supplementary materials, where applicable;
• Relevant reporting guideline checklists;
• Ethical approval documentation, where required;
• Permissions for copyrighted third-party material, where applicable; and
• Other documents requested by the journal.

Cover Letter. The Cover Letter should introduce the manuscript, explain its significance and relevance to the scope of NERS Jurnal Keperawatan (NJK), confirm that the work is original and is not under consideration by another journal, disclose relevant conflicts of interest, and identify the corresponding author.

Separate Title Page. The Title Page must be uploaded as a separate file and should contain the manuscript title, full names of all authors, institutional affiliations, author email addresses, ORCID iDs where available, and the corresponding author's contact information. Author contributions and other identifying information should be included as required by the official template.

Main Manuscript. The Main Manuscript must contain the scholarly content of the submission and comply with the journal's manuscript-preparation requirements. To support double-blind peer review, it must not contain author names, affiliations, email addresses, ORCID iDs, acknowledgments that reveal author identities, or other identifying information. Document properties and file metadata should also be checked and anonymized before submission.

Authors must use the official NJK templates and follow the detailed requirements in the Manuscript Preparation Guidelines. The use of separate files does not replace the requirement to enter complete and accurate author information in the online submission system.

10. Manuscript Preparation

Authors must prepare their manuscripts using the official NERS Jurnal Keperawatan (NJK) manuscript templates and comply with the technical requirements specified by the journal. The detailed requirements are provided in the Manuscript Preparation Guidelines and the relevant official templates.

Abstract. The manuscript must include an abstract written in English, with a maximum length of 250 words. The abstract must be structured using the following headings:

• Background: Briefly describe the context and rationale for the study.
• Objective: State the main objective or research question.
• Methods: Summarize the study design, setting, participants or data sources, and main methods of data collection and analysis, as applicable.
• Results: Present the principal findings, including relevant numerical results where appropriate.
• Conclusion: State the main conclusion supported by the findings and its relevant implications.

The abstract should be accurate, self-contained, and consistent with the content of the main manuscript. It should not contain references unless specifically permitted by the journal.

Keywords. Authors must provide 3–5 keywords in English immediately after the abstract. Keywords should represent the principal concepts of the manuscript, be listed in alphabetical order, and preferably use appropriate Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms where relevant.

Authors should also follow the requirements concerning:

• Manuscript file format and layout;
• Manuscript length;
• Title and title page;
• Abstract and keywords;
• Introduction;
• Methods;
• Results;
• Discussion;
• Conclusion;
• Ethical statements;
• Acknowledgments;
• Author contributions;
• Funding;
• Conflicts of interest;
• Data availability;
• Use of generative AI, where applicable;
• Tables and figures;
• Supplementary materials;
• References; and
• Final manuscript preparation and anonymization.

Authors should consult both the Author Guidelines and the Manuscript Preparation Guidelines before submitting their manuscripts. Where a technical detail is described in greater depth in the Manuscript Preparation Guidelines, authors should follow that detailed instruction, provided it is consistent with the journal's stated policies and official templates.

11. References

Authors are expected to use relevant, accurate, and high-quality scholarly references. Manuscripts should generally include at least 25 references, unless the article type or the specific nature of the work warrants a different approach under the journal's detailed requirements.

References should primarily consist of relevant scholarly sources, particularly peer-reviewed journal articles. Current literature should be prioritized where appropriate, while older sources may be cited when they represent seminal theories, foundational methodological works, original instrument-development studies, or other essential sources.

Authors must use the APA 7th edition reference style, provided that this is the standard adopted in the official NJK manuscript template. All in-text citations must correspond to entries in the reference list, and all reference-list entries must be cited in the manuscript. Authors should verify author names, publication years, article titles, journal titles, volume and issue numbers, page ranges or article numbers, and DOI information where available.

Detailed requirements regarding reference style, source quality, recency, DOI information, and reference-management software are provided in the Manuscript Preparation Guidelines.

12. Reporting Guidelines

Authors should follow internationally recognized reporting guidelines appropriate to their study design. Examples include:

• CONSORT for randomized controlled trials;
• STROBE for observational studies;
• PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses;
• PRISMA-ScR for scoping reviews;
• COREQ or SRQR for qualitative studies;
• CARE for case reports; and
• Other relevant guidelines available through the EQUATOR Network.

Authors may be requested to submit a completed reporting checklist when applicable to the study design and manuscript type.

13. Submission Process

All manuscripts must be submitted electronically through the official NERS Jurnal Keperawatan (NJK) online submission system. Authors are responsible for:

• Registering or logging into the journal system;
• Entering complete and accurate manuscript metadata;
• Providing complete author information in the submission system;
• Uploading the required files in the appropriate file categories;
• Ensuring that the Main Manuscript is anonymized;
• Completing all required declarations; and
• Reviewing and confirming the submission.

Information entered into the online submission system must be consistent with the submitted files. Author-identifying information should be entered in the designated metadata fields and the separate Title Page, not in the anonymized Main Manuscript.

14. Initial Editorial Assessment

Following submission, manuscripts undergo an initial editorial assessment. This assessment may include evaluation of:

• Relevance to the journal's scope;
• Completeness of the submission;
• Compliance with the Author Guidelines;
• Compliance with the Manuscript Preparation Guidelines;
• Compliance with the official manuscript templates;
• Language quality;
• Research and publication ethics;
• Scientific quality and methodological rigor;
• Originality; and
• Similarity screening and potential plagiarism.

Manuscripts that do not meet the journal's basic requirements may be returned to the authors for correction or declined before external peer review. Completion of the technical requirements does not guarantee acceptance or progression to peer review.

15. Peer Review

Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial assessment may proceed to peer review in accordance with the journal's Peer Review Processes policy. NERS Jurnal Keperawatan (NJK) uses a double-blind peer-review process, in which author-identifying information is withheld from reviewers and reviewer identities are withheld from authors during the review process, subject to the journal's stated procedures.

Authors must therefore ensure that the Main Manuscript, supplementary files intended for reviewers, and document metadata do not inadvertently reveal their identities. Any necessary identifying information should be placed in the separate Title Page or other designated submission fields.

Reviewers assess manuscripts according to criteria such as:

• Originality and contribution to the field;
• Relevance to the journal's scope;
• Scientific rigor;
• Methodological quality;
• Clarity of presentation;
• Validity of analysis and interpretation;
• Significance of the findings; and
• Compliance with ethical standards.

Peer-review reports provide recommendations to the editor. Final editorial decisions remain the responsibility of the journal's editors in accordance with the journal's Peer Review Processes.

16. Manuscript Revision

When revisions are requested, authors should respond carefully and systematically to all comments from editors and reviewers. A revised submission should normally include:

• A revised manuscript; and
• A detailed, point-by-point response to the editor's and reviewers' comments.

Authors should clearly explain how each comment has been addressed and identify the corresponding changes in the revised manuscript. If an author disagrees with a suggested revision, an appropriate scientific justification should be provided.

Authors should follow the editor's instructions concerning tracked changes, clean copies, and file anonymization. Revision does not automatically guarantee acceptance.

17. After Acceptance

Accepted manuscripts may undergo copyediting, formatting, language checking, reference checking, and other production processes before publication. The corresponding author may receive page proofs or other publication-ready files for final checking.

At the proof stage, authors should carefully verify:

• Author names and order;
• Institutional affiliations;
• Correspondence details;
• Title and abstract;
• Tables and figures;
• References and citations;
• Typographical errors; and
• Other production-related details.

Only minor corrections should normally be made at the proof stage. Substantial scientific changes may require editorial approval.

18. Copyright and Licensing

Authors should review the journal's Copyright and Licensing Policy before submission and publication. Authors are responsible for ensuring that third-party material included in their manuscripts is used appropriately and that all necessary permissions have been obtained.

This requirement may apply to copyrighted figures, tables, questionnaires, photographs, measurement instruments, and other published material. Sources must be acknowledged appropriately, and permissions should be provided to the journal when requested.

Authors should consult the journal's Rights and Licences page for the applicable copyright, licensing, and reuse terms.

19. Post-Publication Responsibilities

Authors remain responsible for the integrity of their work after publication. If they identify a significant error, omission, inaccurate information, undisclosed conflict of interest, or other concern that could affect the interpretation or reliability of a published article, they should promptly inform the journal.

Authors are expected to cooperate with reasonable post-publication inquiries. Where necessary, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, retraction, or other appropriate notice in accordance with its Post-publication Discussions and Corrections Policy and Allegations of Misconduct Policy.

20. Relationship with Other Journal Policies

The Author Guidelines should be read together with the journal's related pages and policies, particularly:

• Focus and Scope;
• Manuscript Preparation Guidelines;
• Publication Ethics;
• Authorship and Contributorship Policy;
• Ethical Oversight Policy;
• Conflicts of Interest Policy;
• Data and Reproducibility Policy;
• Repository Policy;
• Peer Review Processes;
• Plagiarism Policy;
• Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy;
• Copyright and Licensing Policy;
• Open Access Policy;
• Archiving Policy;
• Intellectual Property Policy;
• Journal Management;
• Complaints and Appeals Policy;
• Allegations of Misconduct Policy;
• Post-publication Discussions and Corrections Policy;
• Article Processing Charge (APC); and
• Publication Frequency.

Authors should read the policies relevant to their manuscripts before submission. The policy links above direct readers to the corresponding pages published on the NERS Jurnal Keperawatan (NJK) website.

21. Author Responsibility

Submission of a manuscript to NERS Jurnal Keperawatan (NJK) indicates that the authors have read the relevant guidelines and policies and agree to comply with the journal's editorial and ethical requirements.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that communication with the journal is accurate and timely, that all co-authors are informed throughout submission, peer review, revision, and publication, and that the information provided to the journal is complete and accurate.