Digital equity in nursing research: A methodological review of nursing studies requiring internet connection

Shifting external factors, including public health emergencies and changes in funding, can prompt nurse scientists to modify study protocols, adopting internet-required methods for recruitment or data collection. Reliance on these methods could exclude populations, with significant implications for nursing, its science, practice, and policy. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic provides a temporal dividing point to assess the impact on these methodological decisions.

This methodological review aimed to (a) quantify the prevalence of internet-required methods in nursing research before and after March 2020, and (b) evaluate their impact on participant inclusivity among digitally disconnected populations.

We analyzed the participant recruitment and data collection methods of a random sample of 232 peer-reviewed nursing studies published in 2021. We assessed whether the methods required internet access or not, then calculated the proportional difference between studies before and after March 2020.

Studies requiring internet access increased from 18.0% pre pandemic to 52.5% post pandemic onset. Internet-required methods also increased for nurses (54.4%), the general population (18.9%), and students (36.3%).

The percentage of internet-required studies in nursing research increased significantly after March 2020. In a shifting research environment, nurse scientists and leaders must proactively address the impact of methodological changes on participant inclusion, ensuring that bridging the digital divide remains a focus of policy and practice.