Media Keperawatan Indonesia (MKI)

Author Guidelines

Manuscript preparation • Scientific integrity • Double-blind review • Clear editorial decisions

About the journal. Media Keperawatan Indonesia (MKI) is a peer-reviewed, open-access nursing and health sciences journal that publishes rigorous research and evidence synthesis relevant to nursing education, practice, management, leadership, community health, patient safety, and health service improvement.

MKI accepts manuscripts written in English or Indonesian. Every manuscript must include an English title, abstract, and keywords. English-language manuscripts are encouraged for broader international readership; quality and relevance are evaluated independently of the language chosen.

Essential submission files: anonymous manuscript, separate title page, and cover letter. Core format: A4; Cambria 12 pt; 1.5-line spacing; Elsevier-Vancouver references.

Peer review history: single-blind before 2026; double-blind since 2026. The current policies apply to manuscripts processed under the updated review procedure.

Contents

1. Manuscript Categories
2. Submission Requirements
3. Anonymous Manuscript Preparation
4. Title Page Requirements
5. Manuscript Format
6. Manuscript Structure
7. Title
8. Abstract
9. Keywords
10. Introduction
11. Methods
12. Reporting Guidelines
13. Results
14. Discussion
15. Conclusion
16. Tables and Figures
17. Ethical Approval and Informed Consent
18. Clinical Trial Registration
19. Authorship and Author Contributions
20. Conflict of Interest
21. Funding Statement
22. Data Availability Statement
23. Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence
24. Plagiarism, Duplicate Publication, and Research Misconduct
25. References
26. Peer Review Process and Editorial Decisions
27. Revision Policy
28. Copyright and License
29. Article Processing Charge
30. Submission Preparation Checklist
31. Manuscript Templates

1. Manuscript Categories

Media Keperawatan Indonesia (MKI) considers original and scholarly manuscripts within the journal’s aims and scope. Authors must select an appropriate active article section in OJS. The recommended word counts exclude the abstract, references, tables, and figures unless a manuscript template specifies otherwise.

1.1 Original Research Article

Reports original quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, experimental, quasi-experimental, observational, methodological, or implementation research. Recommended length: 4,000–6,000 words.

1.2 Review Article

Synthesizes relevant scientific evidence using a transparent and suitable approach, including systematic, scoping, integrative, or other substantive reviews. Authors should describe the review question, sources, searching, selection, appraisal when applicable, and synthesis. Recommended length: 5,000–8,000 words.

1.3 Case Study or Case Report

Presents a clinically meaningful, educational, or distinctive case relevant to nursing. Confidentiality and applicable patient consent requirements must be met. Recommended length: 2,000–3,500 words.

1.4 Short Communication

Presents concise findings, methodological innovations, or focused observations supported by adequate evidence. Recommended length: 1,500–2,500 words.

1.5 Editorial or Letter to the Editor

Editorials are ordinarily commissioned. Relevant, scholarly letters may be considered at the editor’s discretion. Availability of article categories depends on the active sections and editorial policy of MKI.

2. Submission Requirements

Submissions must be made through the MKI OJS platform. Each manuscript must include the following three separate files:

2.1 Anonymous Manuscript

The main article file for reviewers, prepared using the official anonymous manuscript template. It must not contain identifying author information.

2.2 Title Page

A separate administrative document containing the complete author information and mandatory declarations. This file must not be made available to external reviewers during double-blind review.

2.3 Cover Letter

A letter confirming originality, exclusive submission, relevance to MKI, significance of the research, and any information requiring editorial attention.

The three official templates are available from the MKI Manuscript Template page. Additional materials, such as reporting checklists, study protocols, ethics documents, supplementary data, or permission letters, should be supplied where required. The editorial office may return incomplete submissions for correction.

3. Anonymous Manuscript Preparation

Since 2026, MKI has used double-blind peer review. The journal previously used single-blind peer review. For manuscripts processed under the current policy, authors must remove identifying information from every file intended for reviewers.

• Do not include author names, affiliations, postal addresses, email addresses, author biographies, ORCID identifiers, or acknowledgements in the anonymous manuscript.
• Remove direct identifying references to research grants, internal project codes, or institution-specific approvals when these could disclose authorship; provide full particulars in the separate title page and to the editor.
• Cite the authors’ earlier work in neutral third-person language; do not use self-identifying expressions such as “our previous research”.
• Remove author names from file names, Microsoft Word document properties, tracked-change attribution, comments, and review-visible supplementary materials.
• Do not identify the research institution merely to mask an otherwise essential methodological detail; anonymize judiciously without making the methods scientifically misleading.

If relevant ethics or setting information is temporarily anonymized for review, full accurate details must be disclosed to the editor and restored when appropriate for the final accepted article. Noncompliant files may be returned before review.

4. Title Page Requirements

The title page must be a separate Word document and should include all author-identifying material and declarations:

1. Complete manuscript title and short running title.
2. Full names of all authors, without academic titles; department, institution, city, and country.
3. Email address for each author and ORCID identifiers where available; Scopus Author IDs may be included where available.
4. Corresponding author’s name, institutional postal address, and active email address.
5. Statement of contributions by each author.
6. Funding source(s) and grant number(s), or an explicit no-funding declaration.
7. Conflicts of interest declaration.
8. Ethics committee details, approval number and date when applicable; informed consent information.
9. Clinical trial registration identifier where required.
10. Data availability statement and acknowledgements.
11. Declaration on use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools, where applicable.

5. Manuscript Format

Prepare the manuscript according to the latest official MKI template. These baseline requirements apply unless a designated template states a more specific rule:

Use concise, grammatically accurate scientific language. The author is responsible for checking the submitted file for readability, terminology consistency, correct tables and figures, and complete references. A reference manager such as Mendeley, Zotero, or EndNote is recommended.

6. Manuscript Structure

An original research manuscript should normally follow this order:

1. English title
2. English abstract
3. English keywords
4. Introduction
5. Methods
6. Results
7. Discussion
8. Conclusion
9. References
10. Tables and figure captions, as directed by the template

Review articles, case reports, and other permitted categories should follow the structure applicable to their design and the MKI manuscript template. Author names, acknowledgements, author contributions, funder-identifying statements, and other personal declarations belong in the separate title page during double-blind review.

7. Title

The title must be in English, informative, precise, and understandable to an international readership. It should reflect the principal topic, population, intervention or exposure, outcome, or study design when relevant. A title of approximately 12–15 words is preferred rather than mandatory.

• Avoid unnecessary abbreviations and specialist jargon.
• Avoid formulas and statistical symbols unless essential.
• Do not promise effects or implications unsupported by the study design.

Illustrative title: Nurse-Led Education and Self-Care Adherence in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

8. Abstract

Provide an English-language abstract of 200–250 words unless the applicable article type or template gives another limit. For original research, use a structured abstract with the following elements:

• Background: Scientific context and knowledge gap.
• Objective: The purpose or research question.
• Methods: Study design, setting, participants, sampling, instruments, intervention where relevant, and analytical approach.
• Results: Principal findings, including meaningful numerical results where appropriate.
• Conclusion: Evidence-supported implications for nursing science, clinical practice, education, management, or policy.

The abstract must accurately reflect the full article, report the actual findings, and avoid unsupported conclusions or unexplained abbreviations. Review articles should present an appropriate structured summary of the review method and findings.

9. Keywords

Provide 3–5 keywords in English, in alphabetical order. Choose specific terms that represent the manuscript’s main concepts and facilitate database discovery. Prefer established terms such as Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) when suitable, and avoid unnecessary duplication of the title.

Authors may consult the MeSH Browser.

10. Introduction

The introduction should establish the importance of the problem, critically review relevant literature, and explain what remains unresolved. It must lead logically to a specific study objective or research question.

1. Introduce the clinical, educational, managerial, community, or policy issue.
2. Summarize relevant recent national and international evidence.
3. Identify a genuine research gap, limitation, or unresolved finding.
4. Explain the novelty and expected contribution to nursing science or practice.
5. State the research objective clearly near the end of the section.

A local study setting is acceptable when the manuscript explains the broader meaning and transferability or contextual relevance of the results. Claims of novelty must be supported by appropriate evidence.

11. Methods

Describe the methods in sufficient detail for critical appraisal and, where feasible, replication. Provide design-specific information rather than a generic list of procedures.

1. Study design, setting, and study period.
2. Target population, inclusion and exclusion criteria, sampling approach, and sample size justification where applicable.
3. Study variables or qualitative research focus.
4. Instruments, sources, measurement procedures, and relevant validity or reliability evidence.
5. Intervention and comparator procedures when applicable.
6. Data collection procedures, missing-data management, and ethical safeguards.
7. Analysis methods, software when relevant, assumptions and statistical procedures.
8. Research ethics approval, informed consent, confidentiality, and data protection.

Qualitative studies should additionally justify the qualitative approach, recruitment, interviews or observations, analytic process, researcher reflexivity when relevant, and methodological rigor or trustworthiness. Review manuscripts should detail the search and selection process, eligibility criteria, appraisal when applicable, extraction, and synthesis. During double-blind review, identifying ethics details may be placed in the title page while the anonymous manuscript still clearly reports ethical approval and safeguards.

12. Reporting Guidelines

Authors are expected to use appropriate reporting standards for the study design. The relevant completed checklist should be submitted as a supplementary file where requested.

See the EQUATOR Network for reporting guideline resources. Reporting checklists support transparency but do not replace scientific and editorial quality assessment.

13. Results

Present the findings in an orderly sequence aligned with the research objectives. Report relevant numerical results and avoid repeating entire tables in the narrative.

• Include participant numbers, relevant denominators, and missing-data information when applicable.
• For quantitative findings, report estimates, confidence intervals, effect sizes, and other inferential results as appropriate; do not rely on p-values alone.
• Report analyses transparently and distinguish prespecified from exploratory analyses.
• For qualitative research, describe themes and supporting evidence, using anonymized participant quotations where relevant.
• Avoid extensive interpretation in the Results section.

14. Discussion

The discussion must explain the meaning of the findings, not merely restate the results. Interpret findings in relation to existing theory and credible research, and consider how they extend, confirm, or challenge current nursing knowledge.

1. Identify the key findings.
2. Compare the findings with related national and international evidence.
3. Explain possible mechanisms and reasons for agreement or disagreement.
4. Discuss scientific contribution and realistic implications for nursing practice, education, management, health systems, or policy.
5. Address strengths, limitations, uncertainty, and applicability to other settings.
6. Identify implications for future research where justified.

15. Conclusion

Write the conclusion as one concise paragraph that directly answers the stated objective. Emphasize the principal evidence-supported contribution, avoid introducing new data, and do not draw causal conclusions from designs that cannot support them. Where relevant, state practical or scholarly implications without overgeneralization.

16. Tables and Figures

Tables and figures must be numbered in the order cited and should improve understanding rather than duplicate the narrative.

• Use editable Word tables rather than screenshots.
• Give every table a clear title and every figure a sufficiently descriptive caption.
• Explain abbreviations and statistical symbols in notes or legends.
• Use high-quality, legible figures; do not create deceptive images or alter data content.
• Identify the source of adapted or reproduced material and supply written permission when required.
• Remove potentially identifying patient information unless consent and ethical authorization are appropriately documented.

Supporting datasets, instruments, extended tables, checklists, and additional figures may be provided as supplementary files when relevant.

17. Ethical Approval and Informed Consent

Research involving human participants, identifiable personal data, clinical records, specimens, or interventions must comply with applicable ethical requirements. Approval from an appropriate ethics review committee or institutional review board must be obtained where required.

• Report the committee name, approval identifier, and approval date where available.
• Describe how informed consent or a justified waiver was obtained when applicable.
• Protect participant privacy, confidentiality, and the rights of vulnerable populations.
• Obtain permission or consent for identifiable clinical images or case descriptions where applicable.
• Ensure that any initial anonymization does not conceal required ethical information from the editorial office.

MKI may request documentary evidence of ethics approval or informed consent. Where such evidence is reviewed by editors, documents should be handled confidentially and should not unnecessarily expose identifying details to peer reviewers.

18. Clinical Trial Registration

Prospectively registered clinical trials should provide the registry name, registration number, and registration date. Registration should be completed before the first participant is enrolled, consistent with applicable trial registration standards. Authors should report any departure from prospective registration transparently, and the editor will evaluate it in accordance with the journal’s policies.

Include the full trial registration information in the title page and ensure that any registry disclosure during anonymized review is handled consistently with the journal’s review procedure.

19. Authorship and Author Contributions

Authorship must reflect genuine intellectual and scientific responsibility. All named authors should satisfy established authorship criteria, including substantial contribution, involvement in manuscript drafting or critical revision, final approval, and accountability for the integrity of the work.

Provide a clear author contribution statement using suitable contributor categories, for example: conceptualization; methodology; formal analysis; investigation; data curation; validation; writing—original draft; writing—review and editing; supervision; project administration; and funding acquisition.

Individuals who have contributed but do not satisfy authorship criteria should be acknowledged with their permission. Ghost authorship, guest authorship, and undisclosed authorship changes are not acceptable.

20. Conflict of Interest

Every author must disclose any financial, professional, academic, institutional, or personal interests that might influence—or reasonably appear to influence—the work. Relevant financial support does not automatically constitute misconduct, but it must be declared transparently.

Conflicts must be declared on the title page and updated if new interests emerge before publication. Editorial and reviewer conflicts are governed by the journal’s separate policies.

21. Funding Statement

State all funding and grant identifiers, and explain the funder’s role in design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, writing, or publication decisions when applicable.

22. Data Availability Statement

Every manuscript should contain a data availability statement describing how the supporting data may be accessed, subject to legal, ethical, and privacy protections.

• “The data supporting this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, subject to applicable ethical restrictions.”
• “The de-identified dataset is available in [repository name] at [DOI or URL].”
• “The data are not publicly available because disclosure could compromise participant privacy and confidentiality.”

Authors must not publicly deposit identifiable patient information or confidential institutional data without appropriate authority.

23. Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence

Authors must disclose material use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools in manuscript preparation, translation, language editing, analysis, coding, or figure preparation as appropriate to the nature of the work. Generative AI systems must not be listed as authors.

Authors remain responsible for verifying all claims, citations, calculations, and conclusions; respecting confidentiality; and confirming permission to use any material. AI-generated fabricated citations, unsupported claims, or misleading images are not acceptable.

If the journal requires a specific AI declaration format, the current official policy and submission template take precedence.

24. Plagiarism, Duplicate Publication, and Research Misconduct

MKI accepts only original scholarly contributions. Plagiarism, substantial unattributed reuse, fabrication or falsification, duplicate submission, manipulative citations, and inappropriate manipulation of research images or data are prohibited.

Manuscripts are subject to similarity screening and editorial assessment. Similarity reports are interpreted in context; a numerical score alone cannot establish the absence or presence of plagiarism. Authors must disclose any overlap with earlier dissemination or related publications and provide the information the editor needs to evaluate such overlap.

Confirmed or credible concerns may lead to requests for clarification, correction, rejection, or other action in accordance with applicable journal ethics policies and guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

25. References

Use the Elsevier-Vancouver numerical referencing style. Cite sources in the order they first appear in the manuscript and present the reference list in that same numerical order.

1. Use authentic, relevant, and appropriately current sources; give priority to primary studies and rigorous evidence syntheses when relevant.
2. Older foundational references may be included when scientifically necessary.
3. Include a DOI when one exists, and verify all bibliographic information.
4. Ensure that every in-text citation matches a reference-list item and vice versa.
5. Avoid excessive self-citation, coerced citations, fabricated sources, and references unrelated to the manuscript’s argument.
6. Use a citation manager where possible, then manually verify the final output.

Example: Journal Article

Miron-Shatz T, Ormianer M, Rabinowitz J, Hanoch Y, Tsafrir A. Physician experience is associated with greater underestimation of patient pain. Patient Educ Couns. 2020;103:405–409. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2019.08.040.

Example: Article with DOI

Yanto A, Rochayati R, Wuryanto E. Decreased the risk of hyperbilirubinemia incidence with the initiation of early breastfeeding. Media Keperawatan Indonesia. 2018;1:25–31. doi:10.26714/mki.1.2.2018.25-31.

26. Peer Review Process and Editorial Decisions

Every MKI submission undergoes preliminary editorial screening. Manuscripts meeting the initial requirements ordinarily proceed to independent external peer review by at least two reviewers with suitable scientific or methodological expertise. Editors assess scientific merit, relevance, novelty, methodological rigor, reporting quality, ethics, and the substance of reviewer reports.

Review system history: MKI used single-blind review before 2026 and introduced double-blind review in 2026. The current system conceals author and reviewer identities from each other during review. This change applies prospectively and does not retroactively describe earlier manuscripts.

Reviewer recommendations inform editorial assessment but do not constitute final decisions. The Editor-in-Chief retains overall responsibility for editorial decisions. MKI uses the following four editor decisions in OJS 2:

For an invited revision, authors must provide a revised anonymized manuscript, a detailed point-by-point response to editor and reviewer comments, and other revised files specified in the decision letter. The editorial office may request both marked and clean copies. Additional assessment or another review round may follow the recorded decision.

Further information: Peer Review Process and Policy and Editorial Decision Policy.

27. Revision Policy

Authors must respond carefully, professionally, and completely to each editor and reviewer comment. The response letter should identify the concern, explain what was changed, and specify the location of the change. Where an author disagrees with a recommendation, a respectful scientific explanation should be provided.

The revised anonymous manuscript must remain free of author-identifying material. Authors should follow the deadline in their editorial correspondence and request an extension before the deadline if needed. Requests for revision are not promises of eventual acceptance. Appeals are governed by the Editorial Decision Policy.

28. Copyright and License

Authors retain copyright while granting MKI the right of first publication, subject to the journal’s applicable Copyright Notice and license. Readers may reuse the work only in accordance with the specific Creative Commons license assigned to the published article.

Authors must obtain necessary permission for third-party text, illustrations, instruments, images, and other copyrighted material, and must appropriately credit the original sources. Review the journal Copyright Notice before submitting.

29. Article Processing Charge

MKI may require an article processing charge in accordance with the journal’s currently published fee policy. Any applicable charge, available waiver, or exemption is governed by the authoritative fee pages and must be communicated transparently.

Payment or eligibility for a waiver must not influence editorial screening, reviewer selection, reviewer recommendations, or acceptance decisions. No acceptance can be guaranteed by paying a fee.

For current terms, consult the Article Processing Charge Policy and Author Fees.

30. Submission Preparation Checklist

Before submitting, authors should confirm all applicable requirements below. This guidance complements the interactive Submission Preparation Checklist in OJS 2; the checks selected during online submission must also be accurate.

1. The manuscript is original, has not been published, and is not simultaneously submitted elsewhere.
2. The manuscript is within the journal’s aims and scope and the correct active OJS article section is selected.
3. The anonymous manuscript, separate title page, and cover letter are prepared using current MKI templates.
4. All review-visible files, document properties, comments, and filenames have been checked for identifying information.
5. The manuscript uses A4 paper, Cambria 12 pt, 1.5-line spacing, and 2.5 cm margins.
6. The title, abstract, and 3–5 keywords are provided in English.
7. Scientific novelty, research objectives, and methodological details are clearly documented.
8. The appropriate reporting guideline and relevant checklist are followed.
9. Ethics approval, consent, registration, author contributions, conflicts of interest, funding, data availability, and AI declarations are included where applicable.
10. Tables and figures are legible, appropriately numbered, and accompanied by permissions when needed.
11. References use Elsevier-Vancouver style; DOI details and bibliographic information are verified.
12. All listed authors have approved the submission and consented to their authorship.
13. The work has been checked for language quality, plagiarism, and data integrity.
14. All required additional documents and supplementary materials have been provided.

31. Manuscript Templates

Use the most current official MKI forms and templates. At minimum, prepare:

1. MKI Anonymous Manuscript Template.
2. MKI Title Page Template.
3. MKI Cover Letter Template.

Download files from the MKI Manuscript Template page. Submissions with outdated or incorrectly completed templates may be returned for technical revision. Authors should also consult the Peer Review Process and Policy, Editorial Decision Policy,

1. The submission is original, has not been previously published, and is not being considered by another journal; any related or overlapping publication has been disclosed to the editor.

2. The submission is within the journal's aims and scope, and all authors have approved the submission and agree to the authorship order and declarations.

3. The anonymous manuscript, separate title page, and cover letter have been prepared using the official MKI templates and uploaded as separate files. Reviewer-facing files, file names, document properties, comments, and tracked changes do not disclose authors' identities.

4. The manuscript is submitted as a Microsoft Word .doc or .docx file, on A4 paper, in Cambria 12 pt, with 1.5-line spacing, 2.5-cm margins, page numbers and line numbers, and editable tables, following the official MKI template.

5. The manuscript includes an English title, a 200–250-word English abstract, and 3–5 English keywords, and follows the Elsevier-Vancouver reference style with DOI or stable links where available.

6. The manuscript and separate title page provide all applicable ethical approval, participant consent, trial registration, funding, competing interests, author contribution, data availability, and generative AI disclosures; reporting guideline checklists and supplementary files have been supplied where required.

7. The manuscript follows the current MKI Author Guidelines, Peer Review Process and Policy, and Editorial Decision Policy. The authors understand that submission, revision, optional fast-track processing, or payment does not guarantee acceptance or publication.

Copyright Notice

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Author Fees

This journal charges the following author fees.

Fast-Track Review: 800000.00 (IDR)

The Fast-Track Review fee is an optional service for authors who request expedited editorial handling. This service supports faster administrative screening, reviewer invitation and coordination, editorial decision processing, and author notification.

The fast-track process is intended to support completion of editorial handling within approximately four weeks, depending on manuscript readiness, reviewer availability, editorial workload, and required revisions.

Payment of the Fast-Track Review fee does not guarantee peer review, acceptance, publication, issuance of a Letter of Acceptance, or a favorable editorial decision. Manuscripts submitted through the Fast-Track Review service are evaluated using the same editorial standards, peer-review requirements, ethical criteria, and decision process as regular submissions.

Article Publication: 700000.00 (IDR)

The Article Publication Fee applies only to manuscripts that have been accepted for publication by Media Keperawatan Indonesia.

This fee supports editorial processing, peer-review administration, manuscript editing, article layout preparation, online publication, indexing support, digital archiving, journal website maintenance, and other publication services required to maintain the quality and sustainability of the journal.

Payment of the Article Publication Fee does not influence editorial evaluation, reviewer recommendations, or final editorial decisions. Editorial decisions are based solely on manuscript relevance, originality, scientific quality, ethical compliance, peer-review results, and editorial judgment.

Media Keperawatan Indonesia may consider a waiver or reduction of publication-related fees in special circumstances, particularly for authors with limited funding support. Waiver requests must be submitted to the editorial office before completing the publication payment process and should include a clear justification.

Approval is not automatic and depends on the journal’s policy, available support, and the justification provided. Waiver requests do not influence editorial evaluation, peer-review recommendations, or final editorial decisions. All manuscripts are assessed based on relevance, originality, scientific quality, ethical compliance, peer-review results, and editorial judgment.