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Information for Authors

The DNP Forum will accept original articles focused on clinical practice scholarship, leadership, and DNP education guided by the AACN Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice. Articles submitted should not be published elsewhere or under simultaneous review by another publication. Preference will be given to authors who are students, graduates and faculty in Doctor of Nursing Practice programs and those health care professionals who collaborate with DNP students, graduates and faculty to facilitate positive change in the delivery of health care.

For copyright policies, please visit our page on Copyright.

Submission Process

The DNP Forum utilizes an online submission management system. After reviewing the submission guidelines below and insuring that your submission conforms to the requirements, please click the Submit Article link to the left. You will first need to create an account, and will then be able to proceed through the submission process.

NOTE: When creating your account, please use your primary email address. All editorial correspondence will be sent to the primary e-mail address that you register in your account.

Style Guidelines

Submissions to The DNP Forum should adhere to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th Edition).

Submission Checklist

Submissions to The DNP Forum must comply with ALL items on the following checklist. Non-compliant submissions will be returned to authors for revision before any further consideration.

  • The submission has not been previously published and is not currently under consideration for publication by another journal.
  • All authors listed on the submission meet the requirements for authorship outlined in the journal’s policy: students, graduates and faculty in Doctor of Nursing Practice programs and those health care professionals who collaborate with DNP students, graduates and faculty to facilitate positive change in the delivery of health care.
  • The submission has been properly prepared for blind review, with no individually identifiable information/references to the authors included in the manuscript. Acknowledgments should not be included in the manuscript; they may be listed separately during the submission process.
  • Written consent has been obtained from all individuals or institutions named in the acknowledgments.
  • The submission adheres to the conventions of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th Edition).
  • The submission includes an abstract of no more than 250 words.
  • The submission is no more than 10 pages in length including the Reference Page(s).
  • The submission file is in Microsoft Word file format (.doc or .docx).
  • The text is double-spaced and uses a 12-point Times New Roman font.
  • Illustrations, figures, and tables are not included in the manuscript itself, but are available as separate files to be uploaded as supplementary content during the submission process. See guidelines for formatting these files below.
  • Any video or audio/podcast files should be hosted externally, with links to the streaming video provided in the submission. See file format guidelines below.
  • All requirements specific to a certain type of submission (e.g. Clinical Practice Algorithm) have been satisfied. See guidelines by submission type below.
  • Spelling and grammar checks have been performed.
  • A cover letter has been prepared that addresses the appropriateness of the submission for publication in THE DNP Forum that lists all co-authors (as applicable). The cover letter should be a separate Word document (.doc or .docx), and will be uploaded separately from the manuscript to preserve the blind review process.

File Format Guidelines

Authors should adhere to the following guidelines when submitting supplementary materials (anything not included in the manuscript Word document).

  1. Figures and Tables

    All figures (charts/graphs) should be submitted as Microsoft Excel (.xls or .xlsx) files. Multiple charts/graphs may be submitted as separate Excel files, or may be submitted as separate worksheets in one Excel workbook file. All tables should be submitted as a separate Word (.doc or .docx) file (multiple tables may be included in the same Word file).

    Figures and tables should be clearly labeled, with appropriate captions listed directly under each figure or table. There should be clear markers within the manuscript to identify the placement of each figure/table.

  2. Illustrations/Photographs

    Images should be submitted as separate, high quality, uncompressed image files in either .GIF, .TIFF or .JPG format. Image file names should be as precise as possible, and a corresponding marker should be placed within the manuscript to identify placement of each image. Image captions, as appropriate, should be included in square brackets in the manuscript immediately following the marker.

  3. Multimedia (Audio or Video)

    Multimedia files such as video or audio should be hosted on an external streaming service such as Youtube, Vimeo, or a submitting author's institutional streaming server. Provide links to these media in the text of your submission.

    Please ensure that any posted media are publicly available. They should not require a user to be logged-in to view.

    Authors are responsible for informing the editorial board of DNP Forum in the event of changed or broken URLs.

Guidelines for Specific Categories of Submissions

In addition to the general guidelines outlined above, submissions must comply with outlines for the submission specific to the category of submission.

  1. Quality Improvement Project

    1. Abstract
    2. Background and Purpose
    3. Literature Review
    4. Definition of improvement with application of a quality model
    5. Discussion
    6. Alignment with specific DNP Essentials
    7. Conclusion
    8. References

  2. Tool Kits

    1. Abstract
    2. Background and Purpose of Tool Kit
    3. Literature Review
    4. Discussion of Target Audiences
    5. Description and purpose of individual tools contained in the kit
    6. Application(s) of Tool Kit
    7. Discussion
    8. Alignment with specific DNP Essentials
    9. Conclusion
    10. References

  3. Clinical Practice Algorithm

    1. Abstract
    2. Background and Purpose
    3. Literature Review
    4. Application(s) of algorithm
    5. Discussion including evaluation of outcomes
    6. Alignment with specific DNP Essentials
    7. Conclusion
    8. References

  4. White Paper

    1. Abstract
    2. Background and Purpose for Policy Review
    3. Literature Review
    4. Policy Analysis
    5. Recommendations
    6. Alignment with specific DNP Essentials
    7. Conclusion
    8. References

  5. Health Care Delivery Innovation

    1. Abstract
    2. Background and Purpose
    3. Description of innovation
    4. Application(s) of innovation
    5. Discussion including evaluation of outcomes
    6. Alignment with specific DNP Essentials
    7. Conclusion
    8. References

  6. Program Development and Evaluation

    1. Abstract
    2. Background and Purpose
    3. Literature Review
    4. Description of program
    5. Business Plan
    6. Evaluation Plan
    7. Discussion
    8. Alignment with specific DNP Essentials
    9. Conclusion
    10. References

  7. Demonstration Projects

    1. Abstract
    2. Background and Purpose
    3. Literature Review
    4. Definition of model, framework or theory
    5. Application(s) of model, framework or theory
    6. Discussion
    7. Alignment with specific DNP Essentials
    8. Conclusion
    9. References

  8. Articles on Innovation in DNP education

    Articles that provide descriptions of innovative DNP educational programs or which offer a programmatic evaluation of an DNP educational activity, but which do not qualify as original research/theory or review articles, should be submitted for this section.

    1. Abstract
    2. Background and Purpose
    3. Literature Review
    4. Description of Innovation and Expected Learning Outcomes
    5. Alignment with DNP Essentials
    6. Evaluation/Assessment Strategies
    7. Recommendations
    8. Conclusion
    9. References

  9. Commentary

    The editorial staff welcomes contributions and/or letters to the editor that comment on the challenges and opportunities of DNP practice and education, policy developments, scope of practice issues, leadership in health care, expert advanced practice nursing care or other relevant topics. Submissions should reflect the views of the author, but should also be substantiated with citations to relevant literature as appropriate.