Academic Journal Genre Study of Nurse Practitioners

Briana Pierre
Nursing major student, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida

18 February 2015

Abstract: The genre used to discuss professional research, major objectives, and ideas in the
nursing profession as in many science-based line of work, is the academic/scholarly peerreviewed journal. Academic journals obtained its importance due to the credibility and
relevance it has to offer. The section/grouping setup of academic journals grants nurses the
ability to transmit factual knowledge into distinguishing categories beyond the normality of the
standard essay writing structure. The separation of facts with clear distinctions between major
viewpoints, as well as visual evidence to guide readers, most certainly had an effect on the way
nursing journals are formatted and presented.
Keywords
Genre, nursing, academic article

Correspondence
Briana Pierre, Nursing major, University of Central Florida,
Orlando, FL, 32816
Email: BPierre@Knights.ucf.edu

Introduction
The use of academic journals play an
important role for those in the field of
nursing seeking to access knowledge and
information. It may seem as if these articles
only consist of commonplace scientific
lingo and numbers on table charts when
first seen, but rest assure, this presentation is

absently accurate and is set-in stone for a

purpose. This genre has been implemented
by the nursing community for many decades
used mainly to transmit and dissect researchbased studies. In the subsequent text, I seek
to analyze three academic journals and
conclude why this particular genre is
adopted by the nursing profession and the
effectiveness it possess.

Background
In order to fully grasp the classification of
an academic journal as a genre, one must be
able to comprehend the meaning of the term
genre as a whole. Amy Devitt, a director and
teacher at the University of Kansas states,
In sum, Genre is a dynamic response to and
construction of recurring situation, one that
changes historically and in different social
groups, that adapts and grows as the social
contexts changes (Devitt 580). In other
words, a genre is an ever-changing
phenomenon that produces a response to
real-life situations amongst various groups
of people that evolves as the language of the
group changes.
Academic journals serve as a way for nurses
to present new information or provide a
fresh insight to different perspectives for a
particular academic or scientific debate,
research, or problem going on in the nursing
community. Specifically, an academic
journal is an argumentative tool. In other
words, it provides a claim and supports that
claim with reasoning by proper referencing
or collective data.
The dynamics of an academic journal
changes to accommodate the new research
that is being presented. It provides research
methods and elaborates on them thoroughly
by an explanation.
Setting
All three academic journals which are The
Doctor of Nursing Practice: Looking back,
Moving Forward, The Development of

Nurse Practitioner Preparation beyond the

Masters Level: What is the Debate About?
and Toward Clarication of the Doctor of
Nursing Practice Degree were each found
on UCF academics database. The cost of
academic journals vary, furthermore, UCF
pays millions a year to allow students access
to these scholarly articles at home or in
school. These academic journals came from
peer-reviewed, which means that the article
is reviewed by nurses who specialize in this
particular field of nurse partitioning.
The purpose of peer-reviewers reviewing
these academic articles is to ensure that the
journal is accurate and that the research is
validated to fit its methods and procedures.
If a journal fails to meet these guidelines, it
will not be published on any academic
databases. Those that are accepted into
academic databases meet the guidelines and
is a representation as the best practice of
research in this particular field of study.
Academic journals stand faithfully behind
the concept of credibility because scholars
are upheld to a certain standard in which
they exemplify a sense of knowledge in this
field.

Structure
Each article is presented with the article title
at the top of the page in bold black letters with
the name of the author(s) who contributed to
writing the journal article following
immediately after. Although most academic
journals list the credentials after the authors
name, one of the articles I chose did not do
but instead had the credentials at the end of
the article. The abstract, which serves a
purpose of providing a summary for the
journal is usually found underneath the name
of the contributing author(s).
Academic journals are divided into a 2
column format, with bolded sub-headers
above each topic to provide a quick and easy
classification of what is being discussed. This
useful form of journal writing ensures nurses
to further structure the content in a neat and
organized manner instead of clumping an
abundance amount of information into a
standard well-written essay. The 2 column
format in academic journals are not only
found useful to nurses, it serves as a
beneficial factor to readers as well. Subheading sections assist the readers in

Authors and audience

Nurse practitioners who write academic
journals gravitate to being experts in their
field of study. Most are likely to have
obtained the proper credentials and have the
educational background to collaborate their
expertise. In this nursing community, those

deciding whether to read that paragraph or

skim to another. Academic journals are
proven to be effective in the nursing
community because it categorizes important
ideas, which is then used to communicate to
the audience, enabling them to grasp the
content quickly.
Academic journals are further formatted with
size 12 Times New Roman font, singlespaced, and properly margined to ensure a
sense of professionally within the article.
Being that academic journals are seen by
other scholars, the format of the journal play
a vital role in your credibility and
competence to present research knowledge to
others in an academic or scientific manner.
Multiple table diagrams are demonstrated in
one of the articles for the purpose of clarity to
rather difficult concepts that are unfamiliar to
those not involved in the field of nursing.
Every academic journal concludes with a
conclusion to summarize the main point of
the journal and ends with a references
section to demonstrate the credibility of the
author(s) and of the journal itself.

who have a masters, PhD, or a doctorate

degree are those who write academic
journals, but specifically, these are the
people who are credible to nurse
practitioners and others in this field. The
target audience is other scholars. Scholars
are target as the major audience due to the

fact that nurses seek the necessary

knowledge needed from others who may
have had more knowledge than them. Since
academic articles can be based off of
research or scientific methodology, scholars
make references to old and new profound
information to further enhance the
credibility of their claims. Most research and
scientific ideas are considered jargon to
those who dont have a clear understanding
of the profession, but to those who are
directly involved, the terms used appeal to

their knowledge. Thus, making scholars a

target audience in the field of nursing. The
ability for scholars to cite their sources and
compare old evidence to new ones makes
the scholar more professional and viewed as
competent in this field study. Those who
are not involved in the nursing field or not
able to gain access to academic databases
are left out because they are deemed not to
be credible and or lack the necessary
knowledge needed in this field.

Conclusion
The academic journal is a genre in which the
nursing community adopted to aid in the
communicative process between its
members. This form of allows for nursing
scholars to effectively organize their ideas
and thoughts in way that is informative but
seeks to respond to specific claims within an
article in the same sense. Academic journals
provide an insight on old discoveries and
provide scholars with the credibility to stand
behind new information. The ability for the
audience to grasp the content quickly and

with ease proves the effectiveness of the

usage and intended use of academic
journals.
Peer-reviewed ensures that the research
being presented is the best in the field of
nursing, allowing the credibility of scholars
to be recognized and interpreted into more
knowledge. The genre of academic journals
provides nurses with a means for publishing
their findings or results and being able to
identify that with other in the same field.

References
1. Devitt, Amy J. Generalizing About
Genre: New Conceptions of an Old
Concept.College Composition and
Communication. 4th ed. Vol. 44. N.p.:
National Council of Teachers of English,
1993. 573-86. Print.

Chism, LA. "Toward Clarification Of The

Doctor Of Nursing Practice Degree."
Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal 31.4
(2009): 287-297. CINAHL Plus with Full
Text. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
2.

Apold, S. "The Doctor Of Nursing

Practice: Looking Back, Moving Forward."
3.

Journal For Nurse Practitioners 4.2 (2008):

101-108. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web.
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Brar, K, G Boschma, and F McCuaig.
"The Development Of Nurse Practitioner
4.

Preparation Beyond The Master's Level:

What Is The Debate About?." International
Journal Of Nursing Education Scholarship
7.1 (2010): 15P. CINAHL Plus with Full
Text. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.