Expanding international research

Article Outline

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In the past 2 years, we have witnessed a substantial increase in the number of manuscripts that are authored by nurses from outside the United States submitted to Applied Nursing Research (ANR). Some of these manuscripts are based on studies that were done while the nurses were graduate students in the United States; others are co-authored by faculty and graduate students from other countries. These submissions are welcomed and signal the globalization of our scholarship in nursing. Furthermore, this issue of ANR coincides with the International Council of Nurses 23rd Quadrennial Congress to be held in Taipei, Taiwan, in May 2005. Undoubtedly, there will be even more opportunities to seek manuscripts from colleagues presenting their research and scholarship at this prestigious meeting. Editors spend a great deal of time talking with potential authors and soliciting manuscripts at such events because the venue provides a unique opportunity to view the most significant worldwide developments in nursing and health-care research.

Soon we might anticipate a next phase in the development of global nursing scholarship—the extension of collaboration across cultures and countries toward international collaborative research on a wide-scale level. As PhD students graduate and return from the United States to their home countries, they often remain connected to their mentors through the initiation of collaborative cross-cultural research. Faculty based in both the United States and other countries are eager to extend their research partnerships, providing opportunities to test theories and interventions that would not otherwise be available. As these collaborative studies become more common, we anticipate that articles submitted to ANR will reflect joint authorship across countries and that global collaboration in nursing research will have reached another milestone.

We expect that the increase in international manuscripts will augment the international column of ANR, which now serves to highlight cutting-edge developments in nursing scholarship throughout the world. Currently, most of the contributions for the international column are solicited by the column editors. One of the unique features of this column has been responses to the column solicited from other scholars in the field. As globalization of nursing scholarship increases, we may discover that the original manuscripts submitted by authors present ideas for dialogue through the international column. We hope that this transition occurs and welcome your ideas now and then for inclusion in the international column. You can contact any of the column editors directly or send your ideas directly to our ANR editorial office. Just know that plans are in place well ahead of time; we often plan for submissions for a period of 6–12 months before they appear in print.

As you are in contact with colleagues throughout the world and continue your own global outreach, encourage others to consider ANR for their manuscripts. We look forward to expanding our global reach and influence.