Please read the guidelines below then visit Journal of Transcultural Nursing (TCN)’s submission site to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned. Remember you can log in to the submission site at any time to check on the progress of your paper through the peer review process.

Sage Publishing disseminates high-quality research and engaged scholarship globally, and we are committed to diversity and inclusion in publishing. We encourage submissions from a diverse range of authors from across all countries and backgrounds.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of TCN will be reviewed.

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that TCN may accept submissions of papers that have been posted on pre-print servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the journal's author archiving policy. If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.

1. What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Article types
1.3 Writing your paper

2. Editorial policies
2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Funding
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
2.6 Research ethics and patient consent
2.7 Clinical trials
2.8 Reporting guidelines
2.9 Research Data

3. Publishing policies
3.1 Publication ethics
3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving

4. Preparing your manuscript
4.1 Formatting
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
4.3 Supplemental material
4.4 Reference style
4.5 English language editing services

5. Submitting your manuscript
5.1 ORCID
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
5.3 Permissions

6. On acceptance and publication
6.1 Sage Production
6.2 Online First publication
6.3 Access to your published article
6.4 Promoting your article

7. Further information
7.1 Appealing the publication decision

1. What do we publish?

1.1 Aims & Scope
Before submitting your manuscript to TCN, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

1.2 Article types
All submissions should be double-spaced, 12 pt font, and have a 15-page limit, not including title page, abstract, references or tables/figures.

Departments
Manuscripts must be original, unpublished works submitted for the exclusive use of TCN in accordance with these guidelines. Manuscripts must be submitted via SageTrack, an online submission system. Guidelines must be followed exactly. TCN encourages submission of original research reports that contribute to expanding the body of knowledge of transcultural nursing and health care. Systematic and analytic reviews of the literature, theoretical articles, clinical applications, and analytical case studies are also desired. International submissions are highly encouraged. Submission of manuscripts to one of the following departments are encouraged:

Theory
Manuscripts concerning theory design, construction, development, utilization, application and critique will be presented in this department. Of interest are theories related to transcultural nursing, relationships between culture and health care, including ethnopharmacology or ethnonutrition, anthropological or cross-cultural patterning of health care beliefs and practices, inter- and intra- cultural communication, or transcultural ethics. In addition, manuscripts discussing organizational, technological, political or economic theories that influence health care delivery to specific cultural groups are encouraged. Articles discussing the application of nursing theories to transcultural nursing are also suitable for submission.

Research
Research studies that expand the body of knowledge of transcultural nursing and health care as a human science will be included in this department. Studies will be considered that utilize such qualitative methodologies as: ethnography, ethnonursing, grounded theory, phenomenology, oral/life histories, critical theory, focus group methods, hermeneutics, participant observation, case study analysis, pattern recognition, or other innovative methods that relate the dynamics of culture to health care. Additionally, studies that utilize a variety of quantitative methodologies to investigate transcultural nursing and health care phenomena are also welcomed. Discussion and/or analytical articles on such topics as instrument development or themes related to the conduction of research on these phenomena are likewise encouraged. Publication of research studies requires a letter of approval from a Human Subjects Committee (IRB) at the time of manuscript submission. Processing of the manuscript will not begin until the IRB approval letter is received. A statement on the approval of IRB by approving agency should be included in the manuscript.

It is highly recommended to follow publishing guidelines recommended by the National Institute of Health, National Library of Medicine (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/research_report_guide.html) to "specify a minimum set of items required for a clear and transparent account of what was done and what was found in a research study, reflecting, in particular, issues that might introduce bias into the research" (adapted from the EQUATOR Network Resource Centre). This may include (but not limited to) the following:

1. CONSORT: Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials
2. TREND: Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Nonrandomized Designs
3. STROBE: STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology
4. PRISMA: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
5. COREQ: COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research

Education
Manuscripts included in this department aim to promote the understanding of the sociocultural context of the nursing educational structure, processes and outcomes. Topics may focus on the organizational culture of schools, teacher/student /client relationships, teaching methods, learning and cognitive styles, curricular designs, evaluation strategies and academic outcomes. Additionally, content focusing on extra-curricular strategies such as recruitment, advisement, peer support, financial aid and mentoring are invited. Topics relevant to teacher training and development are also solicited. Subject content may pertain to any aspect of the educational experience in the undergraduate or graduate levels, or in any setting, including clinical practice, which emphasizes the linkage between culture and education.

Clinical Practice
The focus of this department is to explicate the sociocultural context and universal and variant patterns influencing the delivery of nursing and health care. Examples of topics suitable for this department include culturally defined health beliefs and values, folk and professional models of health care delivery practitioner/client interactions, family and community roles, or health care outcomes. Specific content areas may include cultural variations in symptom management, birth or death rituals, use of home remedies, dietary considerations, cultural assessment tools, cultural conflict resolution, use of interpreters in the clinical setting, organizational culture of health care settings, ethical-legal conflicts, or other practice-related subjects. Case studies must include the following: statement and significance of the problem, a brief review of the literature, presentation of the case study, discussion and analysis of the case study within the cultural context, conclusions, recommendations for practice and references.

International
This department will highlight themes and examples of international collaborative practice, education, research and consultation. This department will serve as an international forum for nurses and other health care disciplines to share expertise, knowledge, opinions and experience with nurses and health care professionals throughout the world.

Informational Resources
Methods of accessing information concerning transcultural nursing or health care will be the major emphasis of this department. Articles regarding library searches, web page listings, internet resources, computer software packages and topics on informatics related to the journal’s subject matter are encouraged. In addition, book reviews, critiques of videotapes or educational materials, annotated bibliographies and similar brief reports are welcomed.

1.3 Writing your paper
The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
For information and guidance on how to make your article more discoverable, visit our Gateway page on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online

2. Editorial policies

2.1 Peer review policy
TCN adheres to a rigorous double-blind reviewing policy in which the identity of both the reviewer and author are always concealed from both parties.

As part of the submission process you will be asked to provide the names of two peers who could be called upon to review your manuscript. Recommended reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Please be aware of any conflicts of interest when recommending reviewers. Examples of conflicts of interest include (but are not limited to) the below: 

• The reviewer should have no prior knowledge of your submission
• The reviewer should not have recently collaborated with any of the authors
• Reviewer nominees from the same institution as any of the authors are not permitted

You will also be asked to nominate peers who you do not wish to review your manuscript (opposed reviewers).

Please note that the Editors are not obliged to invite/reject any recommended/opposed reviewers to assess your manuscript.

TCN is committed to delivering high quality, fast peer-review for your paper, and as such has partnered with Publons. Publons is a third party service that seeks to track, verify and give credit for peer review. Reviewers for the journal can opt in to Publons in order to claim their reviews or have them automatically verified and added to their reviewer profile. Reviewers claiming credit for their review will be associated with the relevant journal, but the article name, reviewer’s decision and the content of their review is not published on the site. For more information visit the Publons website.

The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in the journal. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor/Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.

2.2 Authorship
Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.

The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:

1. Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data,
2. Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,
3. Approved the version to be published,
4. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. When a large, multicentre group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship.

Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

2.3 Acknowledgements
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

Please supply any personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.

2.3.1 Third party submissions

Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

• Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
• Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
• Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

2.3.2 Writing assistance
Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance. It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

2.4 Funding
TCN requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading.  Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
It is the policy of TCN to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.

Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included at the end of your manuscript, after any acknowledgements and prior to the references. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’. For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations here

2.6 Research ethics and patient consent
Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki

Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.

For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.

Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required regarding whether written informed consent for patient information and images to be published was provided by the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative. Please do not submit the patient’s actual written informed consent with your article, as this in itself breaches the patient’s confidentiality. The Journal requests that you confirm to us, in writing, that you have obtained written informed consent but the written consent itself should be held by the authors/investigators themselves, for example in a patient’s hospital record. The confirmatory letter may be uploaded with your submission as a separate file.

Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants

2.7 Clinical trials
TCN conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first patient enrolment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

2.8 Reporting guidelines
The relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines should be followed depending on the type of study. For example, all randomized controlled trials submitted for publication should include a completed CONSORT flow chart as a cited figure and the completed CONSORT checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should include the completed PRISMA flow chart as a cited figure and the completed PRISMA checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. The EQUATOR wizard can help you identify the appropriate guideline.

Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives

2.9. Research Data

The journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.

Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:

• share your research data in a relevant public data repository
• include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, we encourage you to consider using the statement to explain why it cannot be shared.
• cite this data in your research

3. Publishing policies

3.1 Publication ethics
Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway

3.1.1 Plagiarism
TCN and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

3.1.2 Prior publication
If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement      
Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway

3.3 Open access and author archiving

Journal of Transcultural Nursing offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.

4. Preparing your manuscript for submission

4.1 Formatting
The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

Cover letter
A cover letter must accompany all manuscripts and should state that the material has not been published elsewhere and that it is not under consideration at any other journal.

Title page
A title page must accompany all manuscripts. Include the following for all authors: title, names of authors in the order to be listed, complete credentials, position titles, affiliations, and contact information (address, phone, fax, email). Indicate the corresponding author with an asterisk (*). Author names should appear only on title page, not on any other page headings. A secondary title page listing only the title must also be included. The title page must be submitted as a separate electronic file, not on the same file as the manuscript.

Abstracts
All manuscripts, except Letters to the Editor or Commentaries, should be accompanied by an abstract of no more than 150 words. The Journal of Transcultural Nursing uses the IMRAD format for abstracts and publications, which includes Introduction, Methodology, Results, and Discussion. The Introduction includes a brief background of the topic and the study purpose(s). Methodology comprises the design, setting, sample description, intervention, and outcome measures. Results include the primary findings. Finally, the Discussion provides conclusions and implications for culturally congruent health care.

Video Abstracts
Read our guidelines on how to produce a video abstract.

Tables
Format tables using the APA guidelines.

4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines  

Figures supplied in color will appear in color online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. For specifically requested color reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.

4.3 Supplemental material
This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc.) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplemental files

4.4 Reference style
TCN adheres to the APA reference style. View the APA guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

4.5 English language editing services
Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

5. Submitting your manuscript

TCN is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tcn to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created.  For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

5.1 ORCID
As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID ID you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID ID will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

5.2 Information required for completing your submission
You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

5.3 Permissions
Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway

6. On acceptance and publication

6.1 Sage Production
Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.

6.2 Online First publication
Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

6.3 Access to your published article
Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.

6.4 Promoting your article
Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.

7. Further information
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the TCN editorial office as follows:

Elizabeth Marshall, Managing Editor

elizabeth.marshall@kwglobal.com 

Please provide your manuscript number so that we may better assist you.

7.1 Appealing the publication decision
Editors have very broad discretion in determining whether an article is an appropriate fit for their journal. Many manuscripts are declined with a very general statement of the rejection decision. These decisions are not eligible for formal appeal unless the author believes the decision to reject the manuscript was based on an error in the review of the article, in which case the author may appeal the decision by providing the Editor with a detailed written description of the error they believe occurred.

If an author believes the decision regarding their manuscript was affected by a publication ethics breach, the author may contact the publisher with a detailed written description of their concern, and information supporting the concern, at publication_ethics@sagepub.com