About the Journal

Aim and Scope

The Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health Care aims to provide unrestricted access to timely research and other manuscripts applicable to rural health, nursing, education, practice, and policy.

The scope includes concerns and interventions related to rural populations involving nurses and other health care professionals. Articles include research, methods, program evaluations, practice, theoretical, opinion, and evidence-based reviews. Letters to the editor should be submitted under columns. Authors from all disciplines may submit relevant manuscripts. At least one author on each manuscript must be a member of the Rural Nurse Organization (RNO).

Peer Review Process

The OJRNHC operates on a double-blind peer review policy. Authors should blind their manuscripts prior to submission. Two reviewers are initially assigned to each manuscript. Reviewers score each article and make recommendations about declination, minor revisions, substantial revisions, or acceptance. Articles that receive conflicting reviewer opinions may be sent to a third reviewer who then provides a score and recommendation. All reviewer scores and comments are provided to the authors.

Publication Frequency

The Journal is published twice yearly in winter and late spring.

Policies

In-House Submission Policy

In-house submissions (manuscripts authored by editors or members of the editorial board) may be submitted for consideration but are not given priority over other manuscripts. To preserve impartiality, editors and editorial board members must exclude themselves as an editor for any manuscript authored by themselves or members of their own institution. Otherwise, they follow the same editorial process as all other manuscripts. The editorial decision is based on the reviewers' recommendations and alignment with the scope and standards of the journal. 

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.