An examination of the factors that influence the publication or non-publication of mental health nursing research presented at national or international nursing conferences

Abstract

Mental health nurses are required to be able to identify and access the current evidence surrounding a particular topic and evaluate and decide upon the best care approach to people with mental health problems. This is aided by specific guidance on how to facilitate access to and deliver the best quality evidence-based care. This is most commonly acquired by accessing evidence through hand searching publications or through electronic sources (databases, web search engines or internet publications).

However, evidence indicates that only a small proportion of mental health nursing research is published and that many nurses carry out research that is not published. Although, it is difficult to judge the quality of unpublished research the likelihood is that a number of high quality mental health nursing research projects are not published and are therefore not available to be evaluated as part of the evidence base of care. There has been relatively little examination of the reasons underpinning publication of nursing research.

This project examined the factors that influence the publication or non-publication of mental health nursing research presented at national or international nursing conferences in the UK.