Finding and refining an article topic
Article Outline
- Finding a Topic
- Focus Your Topic
- Write and Test a Summary Statement
- Create an Outline
- Ready, Set, Write
- Notes
- Copyright
The first, and most important, step in writing an article is selecting a topic. The topic you choose should fit you as smoothly as a surgical glove. For some, this will be easy. Perhaps you have conducted a research study that you want to share with other nurses, or you recently cared for a patient with an unusual condition in your OR. Many nurses struggle as they attempt to choose a topic, however, and the struggle intensifies as they try to narrow a broad topic down to one they can manage and cover well in an article for publication. Fortunately, some simple strategies will make the process easier.
Finding a Topic
Nurses often say, “I'd like to try my hand at writing, but I'm not sure what to write about.” Ideas are all around you—in your OR, in your hospital, in your home, on your children's playground, and even in your car. One technique that can help you open your eyes to potential topics is to ask seven “W” questions.
What interests me? A topic should pique your interest. That interest will sustain you through planning, researching, writing, and revising. Expert authors say, “Write about what you know,” but this does not always apply—journalists write about unfamiliar topics all the time. It is often easier to start with a topic you know well, but if an unfamiliar topic interests you, do not be afraid to challenge yourself by writing about it.
What can't I find in the literature? Think about the articles you have read in the past year. What information were you looking for that you were unable to find? Were there other topics of interest to perioperative nurses missing from the journals?
If you have a general idea about a topic, conduct a literature search online at PubMed (ie, http://www.ncbi.nih.gov) to see what has been published recently. If your hospital has a library, talk with a research librarian who can help you access nursing databases such as CINAHL (ie, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), which is free to most medical libraries, and print resources that are not available online. Other good options are a local college library or the library at AORN. If you do not live near a library, you still may be able to call and talk with a librarian for consultation and to request copies of articles, if you are willing to pay a retrieval fee. Some articles also can be purchased online. Look for gaps in the literature and ask yourself how you can contribute to the body of nursing knowledge.
What does the literature contain that could be adapted to my specialty? Do not despair if your search turns up several articles on what you thought was a unique topic. You may be able to redirect the topic to apply to the highly specialized field of perioperative nursing. For example, many general nursing journals have published articles related to the effective use of complementary care in the practice setting. You could focus on how these methods can be adapted in the OR.
What is new or improved in my specialty area? Nurses are always interested in new techniques and concepts. For example, a recent issue of AORN Journal featured an article on photoselective vaporization of the prostate, a relatively new treatment for benign prostatic hypertrophy.1 Examine your own practice. Your facility may be performing procedures that no one has written about.
Online searching can be helpful here, too. Check associations’ web sites to access the schedules for upcoming national meetings since these tend to feature the latest developments in a field. Many national associations also post abstracts from national meetings online. A lag time exists between a new innovation and publication in journals, so these research techniques can give you the edge in identifying a topic that has not yet made it into print.
What could others learn from what I am doing? Like everyone else, nurses seek out ways to improve what they are already doing. Perhaps your specialty is orthopedics, and you have developed a detailed protocol for establishing a team for computerassisted total knee arthroplasty. Maybe you have fine tuned a procedure for writing a business plan for managing room turnover and staffing. You may take your innovations for granted, but publishing an article about them can help others avoid “reinventing the wheel.”
What do non-nursing sources offer? Expand your horizons. A recent article on balloon sinuplasty appeared not in a medical journal but in The Tennessean, a Nashville newspaper.2 Newspapers, magazines, and radio and television programs can be excellent sources of information for new procedures just waiting to be written about from a perioperative nurse's point of view. Business Week, Discover, and The Wall Street Journal are particularly good sources of clinical and management ideas. Use these types of sources to find ideas, but rely on standard medical and nursing references when you write the article.
What are my colleagues saying? What problems, issues, or challenges are people talking about in your OR? If you are an AORN member, access Membertalk or the specialty assembly web pages at AORN Online. What types of comments or questions have repeated postings? This can direct you to a topic. You may also want to join online discussion forums in your area of interest and attend AORN chapter meetings to exchange ideas.
As you answer these seven questions, keep an “idea file.” This can be as simple as tossing articles of interest into a file folder for later review or starting a computer file called “ideas.” Add to your file on a regular basis. You will be surprised at the long list you will quickly generate.
Focus Your Topic
The most common pitfall for novice writers is choosing an overly broad topic. A surgeon takes time to focus a laser beam on the precise target. Similarly, an author needs to focus his or her topic. Writing about the patient with diabetes undergoing surgery could fill a book. On the other hand, strategies for managing hypoglycemia in the patient about to undergo ambulatory surgery would be a topic that could reasonably fit into a standard journal article.
Use mind mapping to narrow your topic. Take a large sheet of paper and write your broad topic in the middle, then start branching ideas off the main topic. At this point you are brainstorming, so do not take time to evaluate your thoughts—just put everything down on paper. Use a question mark to identify ideas that require more information.
When you finish, look for similar topics and draw arrows or circles to join those together as shown in Figure 1. Have fun with this step. You might want to use colored pencils or markers to stimulate your creativity.
Figure 1.
Sample Mind Map for the Topic Intraoperative Pressure Ulcers
In this example, the broad topic is intraoperative pressure ulcers, one too large for a standard journal article. Several possible ideas, including prevention techniques and risk factors, developed from the brainstorming exercise. You could narrow the topic even further and simply discuss the use of mattress pads to prevent pressure ulcers.
If you are having difficulty at this stage, consider working with a writing group or a colleague to narrow the topic. In fact, a colleague may become a coauthor if you share a common interest.
Write and Test a Summary Statement
After you have chosen a topic, write one sentence that summarizes the article you want to write. This is similar to writing the goal statement in a patient care plan. The statement should include the purpose and target audience for the article. The summary statement for the article you are reading is: This article explains how a perioperative nurse can find and refine a topic for publication.
Next, test your statement by asking three questions.
Why would readers want to read the article? What do you want the reader to think, do, or feel? For example, you may want the reader to use a preoperative checklist to evaluate a patient's risk for perioperative pressure ulcers, or you may want readers to feel motivated enough to write a letter to a politician about a perioperative legislative issue.
Does it pass the “so what?” test? This is a corollary to the previous question. Although you may know what you want to accomplish, you must be sure that nurse readers will be able to answer the question “so what” with a response that has meaning to them in their professional or personal lives.
Is an editor interested? If you are interested in writing for a specific publication, such as the AORN Journal, study the author guidelines and the journal itself to determine the types of articles the editor publishes. Also check for any “calls for manuscripts” (ie, announcements that a journal is looking for articles on one or more specific topics) or announcements for upcoming issues with a special focus. It is best to query the editor before you start writing. Many editors prefer that you contact them via e-mail. Telephone calls or letters are acceptable but are not as practical and speedy as e-mail.
It is important that you explain your answers to the first two questions to the editor. In essence, you need to “sell” the article to the editor. The editor is the gatekeeper for the reader and wants to publish the best journal possible. Keep in mind that editors are always looking for timely and relevant material and often are willing to work with you to refine your idea further if it does not quite meet their needs.
Create an Outline
If your summary statement passes these tests, create an outline to guide you through the writing phase. You use care pathways and plans for patients. Similarly, an outline is a plan for the article. Outlining may conjure up unpleasant memories of high school English class, but you do not need to strictly adhere to all the rules, such as “every Roman numeral one must have a two.” Instead, organize your thoughts into broad categories, expanding on what you developed in the mind mapping exercise. Put your summary statement at the top as a focus for your outline and keep your outline handy as you write.
Ready, Set, Write
After you choose your topic, write a summary statement, and outline your article, congratulate yourself on a job well done. These instruments will set you up to begin the writing procedure. Get ready to write!
Notes
Editor's note: This is the second in a series of articles on writing for publication. The first article was printed in the March 2006 issue of the Journal.
Editor's notes: PubMed is a registered trademark of the US National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Md. CINAHL is a registered trademark of EBSCO Industries, Birmingham, Ala.
PII: S0001-2092(06)60003-3
doi:10.1016/S0001-2092(06)60003-3
© 2006 AORN, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc All rights reserved.
