The 25-Year Evolution of Nursing Science Quarterly : Keeping the Dream Alive (Reprinted with permission)

“The future enters into us in order to transform itself in us long before it happens.”

(Rilke, 1903-1908/1993, p. 65)

For me, the journal Nursing Science Quarterly is the “stuff as dreams are made on” (The Tempest, Act IV). The dream began long before publication of the first issue in February 1988. Sometime in the late 1970s the idea to launch a journal focusing on extant nursing theories and opening a door for qualitative research studies to be published sparked my imagination. This was in the context of the paucity of publications on nursing theories and qualitative nursing research. Nursing Science Quarterly was conceptualized with precise assumptions that are still embedded in the mission. One assumption is that nursing is a basic science discipline, the practice of which is a performing art. Another is that there is a difference between the discipline and the profession; the discipline encompasses the unique frameworks and theories created by nurse theorists based on beliefs about the human, the universe, and health; and the profession comprises those persons educated in nursing programs who live the frameworks and theories with recipients of healthcare. Another major assumption is that studies using either quantitative or qualitative research methods are necessary to enhance understanding of health and quality of life. Quantitative research methods for nurs- ing studies have long been preferred, and reports of these studies have been published since the early 1950s. The entrance of Nursing Science Quarterly onto the publication scene forged a new path, shifting the landscape by explicitly opening doors for publication of qualitative research studies. Now, 25 years later, qualitative methods are the gold standard for conducting research to enhance understanding of the meaning of humanly lived experiences. What is more, Nursing Science Quarterly provided the impetus for the rapid increase of publications about nursing theory–guided research and practice.

In launching the journal there were many challenges. The original proposal, outlining the assumptions and introducing the idea of columns for theoretical, research, and practice issues and book reviews was unique when compared with other existing nursing journals. While it was favorably reviewed by a variety of publishers, W. B. Saunders of Philadelphia was the most interested. In the early 1980s, I worked with an artist to design the logo (the one that continues in use today), and with Saunders’ publishing team to create brochures to announce the launching of the journal. (I still have some of these brochures.) Saunders, however, experienced some internal personnel challenges and the project was cancelled. Keeping the dream alive, I contacted several other publishers and a year or so later I met an interested acquisition editor from Williams and Wilkins, and we planned the journey. Williams and Wilkins in Baltimore published the journal from the first issue in 1988 until 1990, when their publishing goals changed. In 1990, my husband and I purchased Nursing Science Quarterly from Williams and Wilkins and created Chestnut House Publications connected with Discovery International, Inc.—still keeping the dream alive. Nursing Science Quarterly was published by Chestnut House Publications until SAGE purchased it in 1999.

New columns were added over the years (scholarly dia- logue, ethical issues, teaching-learning, global perspectives, leading-following, health and public policy, and occasionally special features). The substance and depth in the columns and articles were enhanced as the theoretical perspectives in the discipline of nursing grew and as discipline-specific knowledge became required in leading master’s and doctoral programs. Journal subscriptions grew, and, with the online version, readership expanded exponentially; nurses and other health professionals at all levels of education now have easy access to the journal.

The presence of Nursing Science Quarterly with its history of promoting discipline-specific knowledge by publishing enhancements of the extant frameworks and theories, nursing theory–guided quantitative and qualitative research studies, and nursing theory–guided practice situations has cocreated a palpable change in the contour of nursing publications. Nursing Science Quarterly now has over 5000 subscribers and is ranked among the top nursing journals. “The passage of time doesn’t just turn life into history; it also changes the contours of history itself” (Kirsch, 2011, p. 10).

Special thanks are due the editorial board, the contributing editors, the referee panel, the authors, readers, and all persons associated with cocreation of the journal over time. Twenty- five years and counting—keeping the dream alive!

Reprinted with permission from Rosemarie Rizzo Parse, RN; PhD; FAAN