Direct Links to Author Guidelines

Abstract

Can you write down the complete pathname to the Web page for author guidelines of the journal you write, review, or edit for? This pathname would take you directly to the author guidelines page without having to route through home pages, publisher descriptions, advertisements of other journals by that publisher, past journal content, and current topics. This article describes how to find and use the full URL (Uniform Resource Locator) pathname for your publication's author guidelines page. The same steps can be used by authors to ensure accuracy of the URL in references to Web pages. The Web locations for many journals' and books' author guidelines are several links “under” the home page on the publishers' or associations' Web sites. A typical journal's Web site starts with the publisher's home page, which has multiple links to the publisher's journals. In turn, each journal's Web page usually has links to current content, past content, and the editorial page with the journal's purpose and list of editorial board members. Finally, there is a link to the author guidelines. This circuitous route to the correct link to the author guidelines when starting with the home page is frustrating to authors who want to get on with writing their papers or finishing their manuscripts. Although some home page sites have a search engine, I can rarely find the author guidelines page that way. Searching for “author guidelines” misses a page called “Instructions for Authors,” while it finds many other general pages with the words “author” or “guidelines” in them. Because of this, some editors and reviewers would like to refer authors directly to their author guidelines, but many are unsure of the complete URL for their guidelines pages. When I ask for the Web locations for author guidelines, most editors provide me with only the home page URL. When a few editors did provide me with full pathnames to their author guidelines, a letter or character was missing and I received a “cannot find the page” sign when I tried to link to the guidelines. It is not easy to type in a full pathname for your journal's author guidelines without making a mistake. The full pathname for some author guidelines is more than 90 characters long and can include random characters such as GB7G1G%1D7235%36%. Remembering them is difficult; typing them perfectly is even harder. No wonder most editors, reviewers, and authors make a “favorite places” or “bookmark” link to guideline pages on their own computers. But authors who search for the page the first time are still left to hunt for a link to the correct page. When Web locations change, even authors with bookmarks usually have to search through multiple links again to find the URL to the new location. It is not easy to type in a full pathname for your journal's author guidelines. When I started editing the ONLINE Nursing Editors™ Web page, I wanted direct links to author guidelines for many nursing journals. When an author is wondering about what reference format to use for her or his article and what address to send it to, she or he does not want to click from link to link to find the author guidelines. At that time, the author does not want to search past content or subscribe, she or he wants to know specifically how to write and format the manuscript and where to send or e-mail it. I found one quick solution to the problem for both editors and authors. The best way to refer someone to a Web page that is deeply embedded from the home page is to copy and paste the URL, not retype it. An editor who puts this specific URL to the journal's author guidelines page in all e-mail responses and letters to authors will assist authors in getting this information quickly and decrease frustration for both parties. Authors who can find the journal's guidelines are more likely to develop a manuscript in the journal's format. There is one exception to this process. Some publishers “shield” the URL from appearing when a Web page beyond the home page is viewed. Although this is rare, it is nevertheless frustrating when you are searching for author guidelines and the direct URL is not available. In these instances, I have e-mailed the Web designer who is listed on most Web pages and asked for the specific URL that leads directly to the author guidelines page. They are usually happy to supply it. If this happens often enough, Web designers might realize how important it is for authors to go directly to author guideline pages without routing around on other unrelated pages to reach their goal. Some publishers “shield” the URL from appearing. There is one “work around” I sometimes have to use to get the full pathname of a Web page when the URL has been hidden by the Web designers. First, go through the usual steps from the home page until you find the link that brings up the author guidelines. If you right click on the link to the guidelines on the page preceding the guidelines page, there is an option to “Copy Shortcut” in both Microsoft® Internet Explorer® and America Online® and “Copy Link Location” in Netscape®. That copies the full pathname of the guidelines to the clipboard, where you can later paste it into e-mail or documents. Editors, board members, and reviewers can also paste this URL for their journals' author guidelines in the automatic address line of their e-mail program, so that it is included along with their phone or address lines. The steps above are also valuable to nurse authors who use Web pages for references in their manuscripts. Because most style manuals request the specific URL for the page be included in the reference (not just the home page location), the nurse author can use the copy and paste system to provide this full URL while ensuring accuracy of the Web references. Next time you are viewing the author guidelines for your publication, try this quick copy and paste of the full URL for your journal's author guidelines. Editors and reviewers who want nurse authors to use their guidelines can assist them to view these pages directly by placing the complete URLs in e-mails and letters and encouraging Web designers to avoid making a circuitous route for authors to find author guidelines. Suzanne Hall Johnson, RN, MN, CNS, Editor Emeritus, Nurse Author & Editor and Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing, Lakewood, CO, NurseAuthorMail.@aol.com.