title: Methodological quality and scientific impact of quantitative nursing education research over 18 months.
abstract: The methodological quality of nursing education research has not been rigorously studied. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the methodological quality and scientific impact of nursing education research reports. The methodological quality of 133 quantitative nursing education research articles published between July 2006 and December 2007 was evaluated using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI).The mean (+/- SD) MERSQI score was 9.8 +/- 2.2. It correlated (p < .05) with several scientific impact indicators: citation counts from Scopus (r = .223), Google Scholar (r = .224), and journal impact factor (r = .216); it was not associated with Web of Science citation count, funding, or h Index. The similarities between this study's MERSQI ratings for nursing literature and those reported for the medical literature, coupled with the association with citation counts, suggest that the MERSQI is an appropriate instrument to evaluate the quality of nursing education research.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA. Carolyn.yucha@unlv.edu
authors.forename: Carolyn B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Yucha
authors.forename: Barbara St Pierre
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Tish
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Smyer
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kowalski
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stowers
mesh_terms: D015706:Bibliometrics; D006801:Humans; D015402:Nursing Education Research / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods*; D012107:Research Design; D012109:Research Support as Topic