Blog Post, Journal Article, or Both?

Peggy L. Chinn, PhD, RN, FAAN

Senior Counselor

Leslie H. Nicoll, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN

Writer’s Camp Director

---

Engage readers and get extra mileage for your writing efforts with blogs and journal articles.

---

As the lead manager of the Nursology.net website, Peggy’s role is parallel to that of a journal editor. Peggy was indeed the Editor of Advances in Nursing Science (ANS) for over 40 years. Now she has retired from her journal editor role, but serves in a similar role for Nursology.net. Peggy reviews each blog post that is submitted for its suitability for the nursology site, does some editing, and processes the post to publish on the site. This is not dissimilar to the work of editing ANS, but there are distinctions, which Leslie also knows well in serving as both a journal editor, and website developer and blogger. Our combined experiences led to the two of us to reflect on the parallels and differences between blogs and journal articles.

Fundamental Criteria

At Nursology.net, the first and fundamental criterion we look for is the alignment of the post with the purpose and mission of the website. This is also the exact same basic criterion for journal articles. However, in the world of blogs, there is a dimension that most scholars and practitioners are still learning to understand fully—the distinction between blogs and journal articles. Confusion between these two distinctive dissemination ventures is amplified by the fact that many, if not most professional journals are accessed on the Internet (no longer paper journals and bound volumes). As a result, most of us read both journal articles and blogs online. Depending on how the content is presented, and how you read it, you may think something is a journal article. But later, when you go to cite it, you may realize the “journal article” you were reading was a blog post, and vice versa. How do you tell the difference?

General Distinguishing Features 

Theme: Successful blogs and journals have this in common: they have a theme or focus. With a specific focus, readers will seek out the blog or publication and if it meets their expectations, they will subscribe and return regularly. People don’t want to spend a lot of time wading through content that is not useful or relevant to them. Having a focus also makes the work easier for the blog manager or journal editor. Trying to be all things to all people is very hard, if not impossible. Having a mission, theme, or focus—whatever term you use—helps keep everything in perspective.

Length: Most journal articles begin their existence as a 16-18 page manuscript, which shrinks down to 5-6 journal pages, even when it is an online journal. For a blog post, however, the shorter, the better. The web is a vast and easily accessed, almost limitless territory, and most often people do not want to dwell in one place for a long time. Of course most websites exist with the intention of capturing a viewer’s attention and enticing them to stay there. A short read tends to do that better than a lengthy, detailed blog.

The posts here at Writer’s Camp are sort of a hybrid blog post/journal article. Indeed, all articles with a digital object identifier (DOI), like this one, will be archived in The Writer’s Camp Journal. Our Camp Director is quite strict that the length be between 1000 and 2000 words, which is long for a typical blog post which idealy should be between 500-700 words. But this is on the short side for a journal article, which typically needs to be at least 3000 words. Our Writer’s Camp article length hits the spot in terms of what readers enjoy. Leslie knows this from experience and is ensuring that articles are within the specified length.

Tone: The more engaging and conversational a blog, the more it will serve the purpose of holding a viewer’s attention. Journal articles tend to follow writing styles that use an active voice, but are less conversational, and more “formal.” The Information for Authors here at Writer’s Camp specify that articles should be written in a “friendly, accessible voice” and that first and second person are okay. Once again, it is a hybrid between a journal article and blog post.

Authority: Blogs are typically intended to showcase the author’s opinions, ideas, insights, and creativity. Blogs are not typically peer reviewed; the credibility of the posts tends to be tied to the reputation and credibility of the author, as well as the reputation of the website itself. Typically journal articles focus less on the author’s own opinions, and more on the results of their work, and credible journals provide a peeer review process that is intended to substantiate the credibiliity and authority of the articles published. For a blog post, the more clearly the author’s own voice and personality shines through, the more visitors to the site will be tempted to engage. For more information related to voice, see “Finding Your Voice and Writing Well.”¹ Journal articles are more authoritative but only if they are published in legitimate journals. The Directory of Nursing Journals here at Writer’s Camp has vetted nursing journals. Articles posted here at Writer’s Camp are both reviewed and edited and in that respect, they are more like journal articles.

Evolution: Blogs can be regularly updated and changed. Errors can be corrected, and details added or changed at any time by the manager of the blog website. While errors can be corrected and articles published erroneously or with egregious errors may be retracted, this occurs less often. 

Accessibility: Blogs are typically not hidden behind a paywall, and can be “discovered” and accessed with ever-improving search engines.. A blog post is often used to showcase or give viewers access to other features on the web that the blog is intended to promote. Most journals also have websites and blogs that are used to showcase or discuss other resources related to the journal. For the Nursology.net website, the purpose of the blog is to give readers links to other resources on the website, and to encourage them to access the many resources of the site, using links and commentary about the site’s resources.

Imagery: Blogs are enhanced by the addition of media images. The old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” rules on blogs! While journal articles may have images, it is more common to see tables and figures as opposed to pictures to illustrate the article. Note that some journals are very visual and include many design elements, such as pictures, “pull quotes,” and lots of color and typography. That is a journal design decision and not something that is under the author’s control. In fact, the editor may be asked for their opinion but probably won’t have the final decision on design—that is in the publisher’s wheelhouse.

Engagement: Blogs invite reader response “in the moment”—they are a form of social media. Blogs typically allow and encourage viewer comments and interactions with the blog author and other viewers, using a “comments” feature following the blog post. The posts here at Writer’s Camp all allow comments and in that regard, they are a little less hybrid and more like a blog.

Citability: Blogs can be cited and used as sources for other purposes. However, many people use blogs to simply share their ideas, beliefs, and opinions. What a blog author writes is therefore typically taken as the author’s opinion, and not intended to be taken to be authoritative or credible evidence. The credibility and reputation of the blog website is typically in the “eyes of the beholder.” 

What if you read something in a blog that you want to cite in an article you are writing? You should verify that the information is correct as a first step. You should also find out if the information is available in another source—many blog posts are derived from longer, more detailed articles and written as a synopsis. In that case, you should strive to find the original article. In the absence of that, it is acceptable to cite the blog. Note that here at Writer’s Camp, a citation is provided at the end of every article. This is done for both accuracy and convenience.

The nature of the Nursology.net website—as a repository for nursing theories, and with the purpose to support the development of nursing knowledge, gives it a degree of credibility that is worthy of citation. However, most nursology.net blogs are connected to the journal literature, and this literature remains the foundation, or the primary source, that needs to be acknowledged and cited in scholarly writing.  See a brief blog/journal/hybrid comparative table below.  

Blog Posts	Journal Articles	Hybrid (Writer’s Camp)
Use own voice.	Use formal voice.	Friendly, accessible voice. 1st and 2nd person is acceptable.
Test ideas and elicit feedback.	Refine ideas with formal peer review.	Informative articles specific to the Writer’s Camp theme; edited and reviewed by Camp Director and senior leadership.
Short and focused (aim for 700 words or less).	Predetermined word count (minimum and maximum).	1000 to 2000 words
Trust linked to blog credibility.	Trust linked to journal credibility.	Trust is linked to Writer’s Camp’s credibility with senior leadership and team of counselors.
Open (free) access to large readership.	May have paywall to access (ie, subscription) unless published open access.	Open access with Creative Commons license and copyright for the site and author. Articles are not behind a paywall. Subscription is free and is primarily used to alert readers to new articles.
Authors: depends on the blog owner and preferences. May be only the owner or other invited contributors.	Anyone can submit an article. Published articles are selected after peer review.	Articles are primarily written by Counselors, although anyone is invited to submit an idea or article for consideration.

Energy Between Platforms 

So how do these publishing platforms intersect, and how can they be used to promote your scholarly work? Scholarly projects including research studies or evidence-based practice quality improvement (EBPQI) initiatives must first be published in scholarly journals. In a journal manuscript you can include the background and other necessary components of your work in a standardized, peer-reviewed format. These details are essential for others to judge the value of your work for their own purposes. For generalizable (research) studies or transferable (EBPQI) initiatives to be used by others, these works should be accessible in a journal. Blog posts (on your own website, or on a site like Nursology.net), can be used for a number of purposes along the way to benefit others. Some of these include:

• Announcing a forthcoming journal publication of your work and encouraging blog visitors to read it.
• Exploring challenges that you encounter as the project evolves (for example, if you have a challenge engaging participants, you might blog about this).
• Discussing related background literature that you recognize as having value for the discipline. 
• Sharing ways in which you balance the demands of your multiple roles and still manage to get things done.
• Providing advice you found helpful in conducting your study or initiative.
• Telling stories that inform your understanding of concepts related to your work.
• Summarizing and discussing a project that emerged as a result of your scholarly work.

Sharpen Your Writing Tools and Dig In 

Finally, writing is an art and a practice. There is no such thing as a “born writer.” Like any other creative talent, people may have innate tendencies or abilities, but if they are to become a musician, or a painter, or a writer—they must engage in rehearsal and practice to hone their skill and ability. Writing for blogs can be a sort of “rehearsal.” Artists depend on feedback and encouragement from their community of informed colleagues. Writing for a blog can expand your connection with colleagues far and wide who share your interests—your community of scholars. So sharpen those writing tools, and dig in! We believe you will not regret it!

Reference

1. Chinn PL. Finding your voice and writing well: Situating yourself within your text. Nurse Author Ed. 2017;27(2):1-9. doi:10.1111/j.1750-4910.2017.tb00244.x

Authors: Peggy L. Chinn & Leslie H. Nicoll

Editor: Jayne Jennings Dunlap

© 2025 Writer’s Camp, Peggy L. Chinn, and Leslie H. Nicoll CC-BY-ND 4.0

Citation: Chinn PL., Nicoll LH. Blog Post, Journal Article, or Both? The Writer’s Camp Journal, 2025;1(1):16. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.15641379