Information For Authors

Journal Profile

Journal of Nursing in Infection Prevention and Control (JNIPC) is an international, English-language, double-blind peer-reviewed, open-access scientific journal and the official publication of the ANIPIO Scientific Society.

The Journal is dedicated to advancing nursing knowledge, research, education, clinical practice, and healthcare policy in infection prevention and control. JNIPC welcomes contributions addressing healthcare-associated infections, infectious risk management, infection surveillance, outbreak prevention and management, antimicrobial stewardship, patient and healthcare worker safety, quality improvement, professional education, and the implementation of evidence-based infection prevention practices.

Submitted manuscripts must be original, scientifically rigorous, ethically compliant, relevant to the Journal’s aims and scope, and not under consideration by another journal. Manuscripts must be written entirely in English.

JNIPC is fully open access. During the Journal’s initial launch phase, authors are not required to pay article processing charges, submission fees, or publication fees. Articles are published, as a general rule, under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0).

Article Types

JNIPC publishes the following categories of scientific contributions:

  • Research Articles
  • Reviews
  • Brief Reports
  • Commentaries

Authors must select the most appropriate article category during submission. The Editorial Office may recommend that a manuscript be considered under a different category when its structure or scientific content is more consistent with another article type.

Ethics and Editorial Policies

JNIPC is committed to recognized standards of publication ethics, research integrity, transparency, responsible authorship, and scientific reporting. Authors must ensure that their work complies with the applicable ethical, legal, professional, and institutional requirements.

Submitted manuscripts must provide complete and accurate information concerning authorship, competing interests, financial support, ethical approval, institutional authorization, informed consent, data protection, and any other matter relevant to the ethical evaluation of the work.

Studies involving patients or other human participants

When a study directly involves patients or other human participants, approval or formal authorization from the competent Institutional Review Board, Research Ethics Committee, or equivalent ethics body is mandatory.

The manuscript must report the name of the approving body, the approval or authorization reference number, where available, and the date of approval. Supporting documentation must be uploaded during submission or provided to the Editorial Office upon request.

Authors must also describe the procedures adopted for obtaining informed consent and protecting participants’ confidentiality, privacy, and personal data.

Studies involving healthcare professionals only

Under the Journal’s current operational framework, formal approval from an Institutional Review Board or Research Ethics Committee is not required when the study exclusively involves healthcare professionals, including cross-sectional surveys directed solely at professional groups.

Authors remain responsible for compliance with applicable national legislation, local regulations, institutional policies, data-protection requirements, informed-consent procedures, and any authorization required by the organization in which the study was conducted.

The manuscript must include a clear statement describing the ethical and institutional framework under which the study was performed.

Quality Improvement Reports

Quality Improvement Reports do not routinely require approval from an Institutional Review Board or Research Ethics Committee under the Journal’s current operational framework.

However, authors must obtain formal authorization from the management or institutional leadership of the healthcare organization in which the quality-improvement activity was conducted. Evidence of this authorization must be uploaded during submission or provided upon request.

Where an activity includes research procedures involving patients, identifiable personal data, experimental interventions, or activities extending beyond routine quality improvement, additional ethical review may be required.

Research integrity

Manuscripts may be screened using similarity-detection systems. Plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, inappropriate image manipulation, authorship misconduct, undisclosed competing interests, and manipulation of the peer-review process are not permitted.

Suspected misconduct may result in rejection, suspension of editorial evaluation, notification of the authors’ institutions, correction, expression of concern, or retraction, as appropriate.

Peer Review

All manuscripts submitted to JNIPC undergo an initial technical and editorial screening. The Editorial Office verifies the completeness of the submission, compliance with the Author Guidelines, anonymization, ethical documentation, reporting requirements, and suitability for the Journal.

Manuscripts that successfully complete the initial screening are assessed by the Editor-in-Chief or a designated Editor for relevance to the Journal’s aims and scope, originality, scientific quality, methodological appropriateness, and editorial priority.

Manuscripts considered suitable for external evaluation are normally reviewed by at least two independent experts. JNIPC applies a double-blind peer-review process, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from one another.

Reviewers assess the manuscript’s originality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, transparency, clarity, clinical and scientific relevance, and contribution to infection prevention and control.

Based on the reviewers’ reports, the authors’ responses, and the Editor’s assessment, the final decision may be:

  • Accept
  • Minor revision
  • Major revision
  • Resubmission for further review
  • Reject

The Editor-in-Chief or designated Editor is responsible for the final scientific and editorial decision. Submission of a manuscript does not guarantee acceptance or publication.

Manuscript Preparation

Writing and Formatting

Manuscripts must be written in clear, accurate, and professional academic English. Authors are responsible for ensuring that the language is suitable for international scientific publication.

  • File format: Microsoft Word, .docx
  • Font: Times New Roman, 12 point
  • Line spacing: double
  • Margins: 2.5 cm on all sides
  • Page numbers: consecutive throughout the manuscript
  • Continuous line numbering is recommended
  • Use SI units consistently
  • Define abbreviations at first use
  • Avoid unnecessary abbreviations

Manuscripts must use respectful, inclusive, non-stigmatizing, and person-centred language. Authors should avoid terminology that may discriminate against or inappropriately label individuals, populations, professions, or communities.

Title Page

The title page must be uploaded as a separate file and must not be included in the anonymized manuscript.

The title page must contain:

  • Full manuscript title
  • Full names of all authors
  • Institutional affiliations for each author, including Department, Institution, City, and Country
  • ORCID iD for each author, where available
  • Name, institutional address, and email address of the corresponding author
  • Funding statement
  • Conflict of Interest statement
  • Acknowledgements, where applicable
  • Preprint server and DOI or persistent identifier, where applicable
  • Word count for the main manuscript
  • Number of tables, figures, and supplementary files

Anonymized Manuscript

The main manuscript must be fully anonymized to preserve the integrity of the double-blind peer-review process.

The anonymized manuscript must not contain:

  • Authors’ names
  • Authors’ affiliations
  • Corresponding author details
  • Acknowledgements identifying individuals or institutions
  • Self-identifying statements
  • Author names in document properties or file metadata

When reference to an institution is essential to understanding the methods, authors should use a neutral expression such as “the participating university hospital” during peer review.

Identifying information will be restored after acceptance. Authors remain responsible for ensuring that the anonymized manuscript does not reveal their identity.

Abstract and Keywords

Abstracts must follow the requirements established for the selected article type. They must accurately represent the manuscript and must not contain citations, unexplained abbreviations, tables, or figures.

Authors must provide between four and six keywords. Keywords should, whenever appropriate, be selected from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) .

Keywords must be separated by commas and written with the first letter of each main term capitalized.

Units, Terminology, and Nomenclature

Authors must use International System of Units standards consistently. Microorganisms, antimicrobial agents, laboratory methods, infection-control procedures, and clinical terminology must be reported accurately and consistently.

Generic names should normally be used for medicines, disinfectants, medical devices, and commercial products. When a proprietary product is relevant to reproducibility, the manufacturer and country should be reported.

Research Data

Authors are encouraged, where ethically and legally possible, to deposit de-identified research data, analytic code, protocols, instruments, and supplementary materials in appropriate repositories that support the FAIR principles.

Each research manuscript must include a Data Availability Statement.

The statement should indicate:

  • Whether the data are publicly available
  • The repository name and persistent identifier, where applicable
  • Whether data are available upon reasonable request
  • Any ethical, legal, contractual, or privacy restrictions
  • Whether data sharing is not applicable to the submitted article

Authors must not upload identifiable patient information or confidential institutional data as supplementary material.

Submitting Your Manuscript

All manuscripts must be submitted through the JNIPC online submission system. Submissions sent exclusively by email will not normally be considered.

During submission, authors must select the appropriate article type and provide all requested metadata, declarations, and supporting documentation.

Required submission files

  • Cover letter
  • Separate title page
  • Fully anonymized manuscript
  • Abstract and keywords
  • Tables and figures, where applicable
  • Figure files in the required resolution
  • Supplementary materials, where applicable
  • Relevant EQUATOR reporting checklist, where applicable
  • Ethics approval documentation, where required
  • Institutional authorization for Quality Improvement Reports
  • Permissions for previously published material, where applicable

Cover Letter

The cover letter should:

  • State the manuscript title and selected article type
  • Explain briefly why the manuscript is relevant to JNIPC
  • Confirm that the manuscript is original and is not under consideration by another journal
  • Confirm that all authors have approved the submitted version
  • Disclose any previous dissemination as a preprint, conference abstract, presentation, report, or thesis
  • Identify any ethical or institutional documentation included with the submission

Submission Checklist

  • The manuscript is relevant to the aims and scope of JNIPC
  • The manuscript is written entirely in English
  • The manuscript is submitted in Microsoft Word format
  • The title page has been uploaded separately
  • The main manuscript has been fully anonymized
  • The abstract and keywords meet the requirements for the article type
  • References follow APA 7th edition
  • Tables and figures are cited in numerical order
  • Funding and Conflict of Interest statements are included on the title page
  • A Data Availability Statement is included, where applicable
  • The relevant EQUATOR checklist has been uploaded, where applicable
  • Ethical approval or authorization documents have been uploaded, where required
  • Formal institutional authorization has been uploaded for Quality Improvement Reports
  • Permissions have been obtained for reused material
  • All authors have reviewed and approved the submitted manuscript

Article Requirements

JNIPC endorses the EQUATOR Network initiative for transparent and accurate health-research reporting.

Authors must identify and follow the reporting guideline appropriate to their study design. A completed checklist and, where required, a flow diagram must be submitted with the manuscript.

Research Articles

Research Articles report original quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, epidemiological, implementation, surveillance, or health-services research relevant to infection prevention and control.

  • Length: 3,000–5,000 words
  • Structured abstract: 250–300 words
  • Abstract headings: Background, Aim, Methods, Results, Conclusions
  • Main structure: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions
  • Tables and figures: up to six in total
  • Ethical approval, institutional authorization, and informed consent must be reported when applicable
  • A Data Availability Statement is required

Authors must follow the relevant EQUATOR reporting guideline, such as CONSORT for randomized trials, STROBE for observational studies, or COREQ for qualitative research.

Reviews

JNIPC considers systematic reviews, scoping reviews, integrative reviews, and other methodologically rigorous evidence syntheses relevant to infection prevention and control.

  • Length: 3,500–6,500 words
  • Structured abstract: 250–300 words
  • Abstract headings: Background, Aim, Methods, Results, Conclusions
  • Tables and figures: up to five in total
  • A complete and reproducible search strategy must be provided
  • The review method, eligibility criteria, study-selection process, data extraction, and synthesis methods must be reported transparently
  • The protocol registration number must be reported when applicable
  • A Data Availability Statement is required

Systematic reviews must follow PRISMA or another reporting guideline appropriate to the review design. Scoping reviews should follow the relevant PRISMA extension.

Brief Reports

Brief Reports present concise original findings, preliminary studies, surveillance results, practice evaluations, outbreak-related observations, implementation experiences, or Quality Improvement activities that make a focused contribution to infection prevention and control.

  • Length: 1,500–2,500 words
  • Structured abstract: 150–200 words
  • Abstract headings: Background, Aim, Methods, Results, Conclusions
  • Main structure: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions
  • Tables and figures: up to three in total
  • Ethical approval or institutional authorization must be reported and documented as applicable
  • Quality Improvement Reports must include formal authorization from the healthcare organization in which the activity was conducted
  • A Data Availability Statement is required when original data are reported

Authors must follow the reporting guideline most appropriate to the design and purpose of the report.

Commentaries

Commentaries provide focused, critical, interpretive, or forward-looking discussion of issues relevant to infection prevention and control, nursing practice, education, professional development, healthcare organization, or policy.

  • Length: 1,000–1,800 words
  • Unstructured abstract: 120–150 words
  • A concise and clearly organized narrative structure
  • Arguments must be supported by appropriate and current scientific references
  • Tables and figures should be used only when essential

Commentaries should not present substantial original datasets. The Editors may commission commentaries on topics of strategic scientific or professional relevance. Unsolicited commentaries are also considered.

References

References must follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition.

Authors are strongly encouraged to use reference-management software such as EndNote, Zotero, or Mendeley to improve accuracy and consistency.

References must be complete, accurate, and limited to sources directly relevant to the manuscript. Digital Object Identifiers should be included as active URL links whenever available.

Journal article – illustrative example

Smith, J. A., & Lee, K. (2023). Nursing-led strategies for infection prevention in acute care. Journal of Nursing Science, 45(2), 115–128. https://doi.org/10.1234/jns.2023.4567

Book – illustrative example

Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2021). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (11th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.

Website – illustrative example

World Health Organization. (2023). Infection prevention and control. https://www.who.int/health-topics/infection-prevention-and-control

Technical Requirements for Tables, Figures, and Supplementary Files

Tables

  • Tables must be inserted in the anonymized manuscript close to their first citation in the text
  • Tables must be fully editable in Microsoft Word
  • Do not submit tables as images, screenshots, or pasted spreadsheet screenshots
  • Use Microsoft Word’s built-in table function
  • Avoid manual spacing and tabulation
  • Each table must have a concise title placed above the table
  • Explanatory notes, abbreviations, and statistical definitions must appear below the table
  • Units of measurement must be clearly reported
  • Avoid unnecessary merged cells and decorative formatting
  • Do not use background shading or color unless scientifically necessary
  • Tables must be numbered consecutively according to their first citation: Table 1, Table 2, and so forth

Figures and Images

  • Figures must be placed in the manuscript close to their first citation and uploaded separately as high-resolution files
  • Accepted formats: JPEG, PNG, or PDF
  • Minimum resolution: 300 dpi for photographs
  • Minimum resolution: 600 dpi for charts, diagrams, and line drawings
  • Figure legends must be included in the manuscript and not embedded within the figure file
  • Figures must be numbered consecutively: Figure 1, Figure 2, and so forth
  • Text appearing within figures must be in English
  • Fonts must remain legible when the figure is reproduced at publication size
  • Authors must ensure that figures do not contain identifiable patient information unless publication consent has been obtained
  • Copyrighted material must not be reproduced without written permission

Graphical Quality and Accessibility

  • Use fonts of at least 8 point at final publication size
  • Ensure adequate contrast and readability
  • Avoid unnecessary 3D effects, gradients, shadows, and decorative elements
  • Do not rely exclusively on color to communicate scientific information
  • Use symbols, labels, patterns, or annotations where needed to improve accessibility

File Naming

  • Title page: TitlePage.docx
  • Anonymized manuscript: MainManuscript.docx
  • Figures: Fig1.jpg, Fig2.png
  • Supplementary files: SuppFile1.pdf, Dataset1.csv
  • Reporting checklist: ReportingChecklist.pdf

Supplementary Material

Supplementary material may include questionnaires, extended methods, reporting checklists, datasets, analytic code, additional tables, additional figures, protocols, appendices, audio files, or video files.

  • Each supplementary file must be clearly identified and cited in the manuscript
  • Supplementary files may be published online alongside the article
  • Files must not contain identifiable or confidential information unless publication is ethically and legally authorized
  • Multimedia files are subject to the technical upload limits of the Journal’s submission platform

Copyright and Permissions

  • Authors must obtain written permission to reproduce or adapt previously published tables, figures, scales, questionnaires, or other copyrighted material
  • Permissions must be uploaded during submission
  • Reproduced or adapted material must include a complete citation and the required copyright acknowledgement
  • Authors are responsible for any fees or conditions associated with third-party permissions

After Acceptance

Accepted manuscripts undergo editorial production, language and technical checks, formatting, metadata preparation, DOI registration, and proof preparation.

The corresponding author will receive page proofs for final verification. Proofs must be checked carefully and returned within the deadline communicated by the Editorial Office.

At proof stage, authors may correct typographical, formatting, factual, or production errors. Substantial changes to the scientific content, authorship, results, or conclusions are not normally permitted unless approved by the Editor.

Authors are responsible for verifying names, affiliations, tables, figures, references, funding information, ethical statements, and all article metadata before publication.

Published articles will be made openly accessible through the JNIPC website and will receive a Digital Object Identifier registered through the infrastructure managed by iEditore.

Editorial Contact

For submission enquiries and additional information, please contact:

Dr Monica Ronco
Journal Manager
Journal of Nursing in Infection Prevention and Control
Email: direttoreorientamenti@anipio.it