RNJ Corner – December 2019
Pamala D. Larsen, PhD, MS, RN, Editor-in-Chief
Linda Pierce, PhD RN CRRN FAAN, Associate Editor
As an ARN member, you likely know that Rehabilitation Nursing Journal (RNJ) is the official journal of ARN and is published by Lippincott Wolters Kluwer. RNJ publishes research studies, quality improvement projects and clinical articles. One measure of RNJ’s excellence is our Impact Factor of 1.367 for 2018 and the 5-year journal impact factor of 1.823. Though the impact factor is important, the strength of our journal comes from you, our readers! And speaking of our readers, the RNJ readership survey results were overwhelmingly positive; however readers want more clinically-based articles. As editors, we are trying hard to make that happen, but we can’t publish clinical articles if we don’t receive the submissions.
RNJ has rebranded what we call our Feature articles. Clinical articles, evidence-based practice projects and quality improvement/assurance manuscripts will be called a Clinical Feature. These articles will appear first in the journal. A research article will be titled as a Research Feature. These new categories go into effect with the January/February 2020 issue.
The byline of the journal states that RNJ is “advancing the care of persons with chronic illness and disability.” As such, a focused issue on family caregivers was published in November/December 2019. This issue illustrates family caregiving from different perspectives. The Editor’s Choice award-winning article, “Stroke Survivor and Family Caregiver Reports of Caregiver Engagement in Stroke Care,” by Haley and colleagues, is an excellent example of interdisciplinary work with caregivers. We have also planned a focused issue on traumatic brain injury, which will be published in fall 2020, and an issue on care transitions to follow in 2021.
RNJ is currently soliciting rehabilitation related manuscripts of all types, research, quality improvement and evidence-based practice projects, and clinical practice for 2020 and beyond. All submitted manuscripts go through an anonymous peer review process. If you have questions about the submission process or have questions about the appropriateness of an article, please email the editorial office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can find submission guidelines here. Although RNJ does not require query letters, such inquiries are often helpful in the submission process. We welcome your manuscript!
