International content of high-ranking nursing journals in the year 2000

To evaluate the extent of an international perspective in publication in nursing journals.

Characteristics of 2,581 articles, authors of articles, and journals (editorial purpose and editorial team) of 42 high-ranking nursing journals for the year 2000 were analyzed.

The characteristics were assessed using seven operational definitions of "international."

Major findings were: (a) 747 (28.9%) articles were identified as international, of which (b) 705 (94.3%) were placed in the scholarly or empirical categories; (c) more articles were categorized as empirical in the international articles; more articles were categorized as scholarly among the noninternational articles; (d) 763 (79.3%) articles met an international definition based on author characteristics; and (e) 20 (47.6%) journals had international editorial teams.

Nearly 30% of articles had international content. Articles with international content were more frequently databased than were noninternational articles. The study provides a baseline indication of the extent of international perspectives in published articles in nursing journals. The extent to which these international articles make substantial contributions to knowledge has yet to be discovered.