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Short answer: “Nursing studies journal” almost always means the International Journal of Nursing Studies (IJNS), an English-language journal from Elsevier with print ISSN 0020-7489. This page sets out what the journal covers, who publishes it, where it is indexed according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), and how to tell it apart from the companion title and the other names people use for it. Facts below were read from the publisher’s journal page and the NLM Catalog on 2026-11-08.
What it is
The International Journal of Nursing Studies is a peer-reviewed nursing and midwifery journal published by Elsevier. The NLM Catalog (NLM ID 400675) gives its MEDLINE title abbreviation as Int J Nurs Stud, its print ISSN as 0020-7489 and its electronic ISSN as 1873-491X. It records the first issue as December 1963 (volume 1), country of publication as England, and the imprint as Oxford; New York: Pergamon Press. The language is English.
Journal of nursing studies, International Journal for Nursing Studies and other name variants
Searchers also type “journal of nursing studies”, “international journal nursing studies” and “international journal for nursing studies”. In the sources read for this page, the only journal with this name is the International Journal of Nursing Studies, so these variants resolve to the same title. The one title that is easy to confuse with it is a separate companion journal, covered in the table further down.
Who runs it and what it covers
Elsevier’s journal page (checked 2026-11-08) describes the scope as original studies, reviews and critical commentary on how health services are provided, run, staffed and governed, with a focus on nursing and midwifery. The stated aim is to inform evidence-based policy and practice, and the journal says it particularly welcomes studies that aim to evaluate and understand complex health care interventions.
Publication frequency, from the NLM Catalog record:
- Current: twelve issues a year, from 2008.
- Eight issues a year, 2002 to 2007.
- Bimonthly, up to 2001.
- Quarterly, in the earlier period, up to 1992.
The publisher’s page displayed an impact factor of 8.7 and a five-year impact factor of 10.6 on 2026-11-08. The page does not state which Journal Citation Reports year those figures belong to, so treat them as a snapshot of that page rather than a dated metric. For how such figures are produced and where to find a dated value, see how to look up a journal’s impact factor.
How to look it up and verify indexing yourself
Publisher pages and aggregator sites often repeat indexing claims without a date. The NLM Catalog is the authoritative record for whether a journal is indexed in MEDLINE and PubMed, and you can check it in a few steps:
- Open the NLM Catalog (catalog.nlm.nih.gov) and search by ISSN,
0020-7489, or by the title abbreviationInt J Nurs Stud. - Open the record titled “International journal of nursing studies” (NLM ID 400675).
- Read the indexing fields. On 2026-11-08 the record listed MEDLINE and PubMed as currently indexed with full indexing treatment, and also listed International nursing index and Index medicus as sources without a current-status flag.
- Read the frequency and title-history fields to confirm which volume run you are citing.
A quirk worth knowing: searching the NLM Catalog for 0020-7489 returns two records. The second belongs to a different journal (International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology), which lists 0020-7489 only as an invalid ISSN. That is a catalog cross-reference, not a sign the two journals are related. Use the record whose title matches and whose valid print ISSN is 0020-7489. For background on the identifier itself, see the ISSN definition and ISSN vs eISSN; for what MEDLINE indexing means, see MEDLINE.
Strengths and limits
- Clear scope: health services, staffing and governance with a nursing and midwifery focus, per the publisher.
- Long record: published since 1963, with the NLM record showing continuous publication to the present.
- Indexing is checkable: MEDLINE and PubMed are listed as currently indexed in the NLM Catalog.
- Limit of this page: it covers identity, scope and indexing only. Submission requirements, article types, open access terms and any article charges are set in the journal’s Guide for Authors and Open Access policy on the Elsevier site, which are the places to read before submitting.
- Limit of the metric: a displayed impact factor says nothing about an individual article; see journal indexing in DOAJ, Scopus and Web of Science for how different indexes are defined.
Related titles
| Title | NLM abbreviation | ISSN | Started | Frequency (NLM) | Indexing (NLM) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| International Journal of Nursing Studies | Int J Nurs Stud | 0020-7489 (print), 1873-491X (electronic) | 1963 | Twelve issues a year since 2008 | MEDLINE, PubMed (currently indexed) |
| International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances | Int J Nurs Stud Adv | 2666-142X (electronic) | Volume 1, November 2019 | Annual | PubMed, PMC |
NLM lists the two as complementary titles, published by Elsevier, and the Advances record carries the alternate titles “IJNS advances” and “Nursing studies advances”. If you are citing an article, check which of the two it appeared in; the abbreviations and ISSNs differ.
FAQ
What is the International Journal of Nursing Studies?
It is an Elsevier nursing and midwifery journal first published in December 1963, currently twelve issues a year, with a focus on how health services are provided, run, staffed and governed (publisher page and NLM Catalog, 2026-11-08).
Is “journal of nursing studies” the same journal?
Searches for “journal of nursing studies”, “international journal nursing studies” and “international journal for nursing studies” point to the same title, the International Journal of Nursing Studies. The official name is “International Journal of Nursing Studies” and the MEDLINE abbreviation is Int J Nurs Stud.
Is it indexed in MEDLINE and PubMed?
The NLM Catalog record (NLM ID 400675) listed MEDLINE and PubMed as currently indexed with full treatment when checked on 2026-11-08.
How is it different from International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances?
The Advances title is a separate journal with its own ISSN (2666-142X), beginning in November 2019 and published annually according to NLM. NLM links the two as complementary titles.
Where do I find submission rules, open access terms and charges?
In the journal’s Guide for Authors and Open Access policy on the Elsevier site. They are not reproduced here because they are the publisher’s to set and change.
Sources
- Elsevier, International Journal of Nursing Studies journal page (shop.elsevier.com/journals/international-journal-of-nursing-studies/0020-7489), read 2026-11-08.
- U.S. National Library of Medicine, NLM Catalog records 400675 (International journal of nursing studies) and 101769252 (International journal of nursing studies advances), read 2026-11-08.
