About the Journal

The journal Nursing in the 21st Century has been published regularly since 2002. It was founded by Prof. Irena Wrońska, Ph.D. Until 2010, Nursing in the 21st Century was published by Czelej Publishing House, and since 2011, the journal has been published by the Medical University of Lublin.

Since 2022, the journal has been published exclusively in electronic format. To purchase back issues in print (2017–2021), please contact us via email: journals@umlub.edu.pl

Journal Description

Nursing in the 21st Century publishes original, review, and case studies in the field of nursing theory and practice, as well as related sciences.
Nursing in the 21st Century is published quarterly. Abstracts and full-text articles are available online in electronic form on the publisher’s website: http://www.piel21w.umlub.pl/ under a Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0) license. Articles are first published as “Ahead of Print” on the journal’s website and are then assigned to a specific issue of the journal.  The journal is indexed in numerous databases, including SCOPUS, ESCI – Web of Science, ERIH Plus, CINAHL, Google Scholar, and others.

Journal metrics: Impact Factor 0.5; JCI 0.14; Cite Score 0.7; SJR 0.180; SNIP 0.218; MEiN 40; ICV 142.00.

Rejection rate: 43%.
Average number of weeks between article submission & publication: 25 (from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025).

General Information Regarding Publication in the Journal

Open Access Policy

The journal Nursing in the 21st Century is published under an open access model (Budapest Open Access Initiative - BOAI: https://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read/), providing unlimited and free access to all published content. This policy aims to support the free flow of scientific knowledge and increase the visibility of research results in the field of health sciences.

All articles are made available online in full text at no cost to readers. Users have the right to use the materials, including viewing, downloading, copying, and distributing them, provided that the rules of proper citation are followed. This is consistent with DOAJ definition of open access.

Copyright and License

Authors retain the copyright to their works while granting the publisher the right to publish and distribute them.
Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license, which allows for their use, copying, adaptation, and distribution for any purpose, provided that the authorship and source of publication are indicated.

Review procedure

Manuscripts submitted to the journal’s editorial office undergo an editorial evaluation and, following a positive preliminary screening, are sent for peer review.

The journal employs a double-blind review procedure. Each article is evaluated by at least two independent experts in the relevant field. Based on the opinions of the reviewers and the editor-in-chief and/or section editor, a decision is made regarding:

  • accepting the article,
  • the need to implement corrections suggested by the reviewers,
  • rejecting the manuscript.

The review process is conducted in accordance with the principles of integrity, impartiality, and confidentiality.
The average duration of the review process is 15.8 days.

Criteria for Selecting Reviewers

Reviewers are selected by the Editorial Board based on their academic qualifications, research expertise, publication record, and experience in the subject area of the submitted manuscript. The Editorial Office verifies potential conflicts of interest and ensures that reviewers are independent of the authors and their institutions. Whenever possible, reviewers hold a doctoral degree or higher and have recent publications related to the manuscript's topic.

How to Handle Conflicting Reviews

In cases where reviewers provide conflicting recommendations, the Editor-in-Chief may request an additional independent review or make a decision based on the evaluation of all review reports, the scientific merit of the manuscript, and the recommendation of the handling editor. The final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of the manuscript rests with the Editor-in-Chief.

Correction and Retraction Procedure

In cases of errors, inaccuracies, or breaches of publication ethics, the Editorial Board follows the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Minor errors that do not affect the scientific validity of the article may be corrected through an erratum or correction notice. In cases of serious misconduct, such as plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, redundant publication, or unethical research practices, the article may be retracted. Any correction or retraction notice is published transparently and permanently linked to the original article.

Principles of Publication Ethics

The editorial board of Nursing in the 21st Century adheres to publication ethics standards in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to:

  • scientific integrity and originality of their work,
  • proper citation of sources,
  • avoidance of plagiarism and self-plagiarism,
  • disclosure of conflicts of interest,
  • adherence to ethical principles in research.

Research involving human subjects (including quantitative and qualitative observational studies) must be conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Declaration of Helsinki, which must be noted in the description of the research methodology. To conduct such research, the authors must obtain approval from the Regional Commission for the Supervision of Research Involving Human Subjects (Ethics Committee).

Authors are required to:

  • obtain informed consent from study participants,
  • indicate the ethics committee approval number,
  • comply with personal data protection rules.

Without the approval of the relevant Ethics Committee, the manuscript will be rejected during the editorial review process

Verification of text originality

Each manuscript is checked using the Crossref Similarity Check (Turnitin) anti-plagiarism systems.

Manuscripts showing a high level of similarity to previously published materials (above 30%) may be rejected or sent for revision. The editorial board reserves the right to request clarification from the authors in case of doubts regarding the originality of the text

Civil Liability

The editorial board strives to ensure the substantive quality of the journal; however, the author is responsible for the content of the article. Neither the publisher nor the Editorial Board is liable for the consequences of any inaccuracies.

Conflict of Interest

Authors are required to disclose any financial or personal ties that could influence the interpretation of research results.

If there is no conflict of interest, a statement to that effect must be included in the manuscript.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

Authors are required to disclose the use of artificial intelligence-based tools in the manuscript preparation process.

These tools may be used only as an aid (e.g., for language editing). The authors bear sole responsibility for the content of the article.

Appeal Procedure

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the overall editorial process and publishing policy of the journal. The Managing Editor oversees the day-to-day operation of the editorial workflow. Manuscripts are assigned to Section Editors according to their areas of expertise; they coordinate the peer-review process, supervise the scientific evaluation of submissions, and provide recommendations regarding editorial decisions. The final decision on the acceptance, rejection, or publication of a manuscript rests with the Editor-in-Chief.

Appeals & Complaints

The Editorial Office accepts complaints and concerns regarding the editorial, peer-review, and publication processes. All submissions are considered on a case-by-case basis by the Editor-in-Chief or a designated member of the Editorial Board. The journal does not maintain a separate formal appeals procedure; however, in justified cases, authors may request reconsideration of an editorial decision. The final decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief.

Digital Preservation Policy

The Nursing in the 21st Century is committed is committed to the long-term preservation of its digital content. To ensure that the published scientific research remains accessible to future generations of scholars, researchers, and the public, the journal employs a comprehensive multi-layered archiving strategy.

Current Preservation Systems

The journal currently utilizes the following platforms to ensure the permanent availability of its content:

  • PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN): PJPH utilizes the PKP PN plugin within our Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform. This network provides a decentralized preservation system using LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) technology, ensuring that the journal’s archives are distributed across multiple global nodes.
  • National Library of Poland (Digital Repository): In accordance with Polish legal deposit regulations, full-text versions of all published articles are deposited and permanently archived in the Digital Repository of the National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa).
  • Library of Science (Biblioteka Nauki): All articles are archived in the Polish national platform Biblioteka Nauki (run by ICM University of Warsaw), which provides long-term storage and open accessibility for Polish scientific resources.

Historical Archives

Content published in previous years has been successfully archived and remains preserved in the following international repositories:

  • Portico: Digital archives for the period 2016–2024.
  • Scholars Portal: Digital archives for the period 2016–2024.
  • Library of Congress: Digital archives for the period 2016–2024.
  • Public Knowledge Project PLN: archiwizacja numerów z lat 2011–2025.

In the event that the journal ceases publication, the archives stored in these repositories will ensure that the scholarly record of Nursing in the 21st Century remains permanently discoverable and accessible.

Long-Term Research Data Preservation Policy

The editorial board of the Nursing in the 21st Century does not maintain its own research data repository. Authors are encouraged to preserve research data in trusted institutional or subject-specific repositories in accordance with Open Science principles and the requirements of their institutions or research funders.

Research Data Policy

The journal does not currently require mandatory sharing of research data. However, authors are encouraged to retain the underlying research data and make them available upon reasonable request from editors, reviewers, or readers, subject to applicable legal, ethical, and privacy requirements.

Indexing

Nursing in the 21st Century is covered by the following services:

  • Arianta
  • Baidu Scholar
  • EBSCO
  • ERIH PLUS (European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences)
  • Google Scholar
  • Index Copernicus - ICI Journals Master List
  • MOST Wiedzy
  • Naver Academic
  • Polish Medical Bibliography/Polish Medical Library
  • SCILIT
  • Scite_
  • SCOPUS
  • Web of Science - Emerging Sources Citaiton Index

Additionally, the journal is registered and indexed in the Crossref database.

The journal is co-financed by the Ministry of Education and Science under the “Development of scientific journals” program under contract no. RCN/SP/0296/2021/1 of December 22, 2022. Project implementation period: December 1, 2022 - November 30, 2024. Funding value PLN 40,000. The main objective of the project is to increase the recognition of the journal Pielęgniarstwo XXI wieku/Nursing in the 21st Century in international circulation by maintaining the journal's indexing in international databases, publishing works of an international nature and scope, and increasing the citation index of works published in the journal.