title: Environments for nursing scholarship and journal impact factor in five countries.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Universities worldwide are seeking objective measures for the assessment of their faculties' research products to evaluate them and to attain prestige. Despite concerns, the impact factors (IF) of journals where faculties publish have been adopted.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The study aims to explore conditions created within five countries as a result of policies requiring or not requiring faculty to publish in high IF journals, and the extent to which these facilitated or hindered the development of nursing science.
  
  
  METHODS
  The design was a multiple case study of Brazil, Taiwan, Thailand (with IF policies, Group A), United Kingdom and the United States (no IF policies, Group B). Key informants from each country were identified to assist in subject recruitment.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire was developed for data collection. The study was approved by a human subject review committee. Five faculty members of senior rank from each country participated. All communication occurred electronically.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Groups A and B countries differed on who used the policy and the purposes for which it was used. There were both similarities and differences across the five countries with respect to hurdles, scholar behaviour, publishing locally vs. internationally, views of their science, steps taken to internationalize their journals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In group A countries, Taiwan seemed most successful in developing its scholarship. Group B countries have continued their scientific progress without such policies. IF policies were not necessary motivators of scholarship; factors such as qualified nurse scientists, the resource base in the country, may be critical factors in supporting science development.
authors.affiliation: International Affairs, University of Michigan, School of Nursing, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. ketefian@umich.edu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ketefian
authors.forename: Y-T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hanucharurnkul
authors.forename: I A C
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Mendes
authors.forename: I J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Norman
mesh_terms: D000569:Americas; D001208:Asia; D005181:Faculty, Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D015399:Nursing Research / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends*; D016134:Organizational Policy; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000639:trends*; D011643:Publishing / Q000639:trends*; D006113:United Kingdom