Using a Template Article: Why It Works

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

Writer’s Camp Director

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Identify a template article and use it like a roadmap for your own manuscript.

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For many people, maybe even you, the writing process can be paralyzing. You sit and look at the blank white screen on your computer screen and think, “Holy cow, how am I supposed to come up with 16 pages of written text?” Instead of the “blue screen of death,” writers face the “white screen of terror.” To manage this paralyzing terror (or terrifying paralysis), I suggest that you use a template article to get started.

I am assuming you have been reading this series of Manuscript Success articles^1–5 and you have your top journal selected for your manuscript submission. You are confident with the journal you have chosen and can articulate why it is a good fit for your paper. The next step is to write an article that will check the right boxes when it is received in the Editorial Office and be considered positively by the editor and peer reviewers. This sounds simple and straightforward, but as you stare at the white screen, you may be feeling a little lost. Where do you start? How do you get going?

Find a Template Article

My answer: find a template article. A template article provides a framework for understanding what’s been published previously in your selected journal and what format is appropriate for your particular topic. While this might be one of the first articles you have ever written, it’s not the first article your selected journal has ever published. If this journal is a good fit for your article, then something similar to your planned article should be published somewhere within its pages—preferably recently. That’s the article you need to find, and it will become your template article. If you can’t find an article that “clicks,” that’s a strong hint that you don’t have the right journal.

Think about it: if you want to bake a quiche and you’ve never baked a quiche in your life, would you just start throwing eggs in a pie crust? No, of course not. You’d find a recipe (or 2 or 3) to get some guidance on what you need to do. A template article is similar to a recipe. It provides an outline that you can use to structure your manuscript while making sure it is organized and is the right length, written in a style that is appropriate for the journal, and formatted correctly.

Template Article Origins

I came up with the idea of a template article when I was helping a recent PhD graduate transform his dissertation into a journal article. He had used an unusual method for his research: the hybrid model of concept development.⁶ His dissertation was the first study I had ever read that used this method. As a result, I was at a bit of a loss as to where to begin in terms of figuring out the best approach for writing his study in an article format.

This gave me the idea to find another article that used this research method. A quick search on PubMed produced a recent article in the Journal of Clinical Nursing.⁷ Topic-wise, it was completely unrelated to my colleague’s study but method-wise, it was an exact fit. Together, we analyzed the article and pulled it apart to create an outline for his study. With that framework he filled in the content and had a first draft of a manuscript written in a matter of days—after stewing about it for more than a year.

Because the template article was in the Journal of Clinical Nursing, he decided to submit to that journal. This made sense to both of us and his study was a clinical topic, so it fit within the purpose of the journal. Unfortunately, it was rejected. We went back to the drawing board. His number 2 choice was my journal, CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing. (I handed it off to an associate editor for the review and decision process so I wouldn’t have a conflict of interest). This time it was positively reviewed and published a few months later.⁸

The template article idea worked so well, I decided to test it again with a second colleague, also a recent PhD graduate. In this case, she wanted to publish a case study on postpartum depression and had identified MCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing as her target journal. She had met the editor at a conference and after a brief conversation, had been encouraged to write up her idea and submit to MCN. The trouble was, we could not find a case study that had been published in MCN to use as a template.

We did find 2 good examples in other journals however: one in The Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing and a second in Gastroenterology Nursing.^9,10 This gave us a starting point for the format, even though the topics were totally different from what she wanted to write about. Given the lack of case studies published in MCN, my colleague queried the editor to re-confirm her topic and tell her about what she planned to write. A positive response from the editor encouraged us, and we got to work, using the two template articles to organize the paper. It was positively reviewed and published.¹¹ The editor commented to me, later, that she was glad it was accepted and hoped it would encourage other authors to consider the case study format in the future for articles submitted to MCN.

An Ideal Template Article

To me, the ideal template article should meet these 3 criteria:

• Be published in your number one target journal (that you identified in Journal Due Diligence);
• Use a similar method to what you used;
• Be on a similar topic.

Realistically, however, achieving all 3 can be difficult so you need to decide which one to trade-off. I would suggest that the least important is topic—that’s what you know, after all, so you don’t necessarily need a guide for that. Having a guideline for the method is really helpful so you should make that a priority.

What about the journal—does the template have to be published in your target journal?

Referring back to the 2 examples above, obviously the answer is no. In the first one, my colleague did start with submitting to the Journal of Clinical Nursing, which was the source of his template article, but it was rejected. To submit to CIN, he made very few revisions, since it followed the template closely and was an excellent write-up of a study that used the hybrid model of concept development. When his article was published in CIN, it was the first one that used this method and as such, it was a groundbreaker. The strength of this process was that by using the template article, even though it was from another journal, the method was appropriately presented, organized, and clear. The reviewers recognized that and gave the manuscript a positive review, which led to acceptance and publication.

To be a groundbreaker, realize that you may not always be successful. I think we’re all familiar with the challenges that nurses have had publishing qualitative research in more quantitatively oriented journals. As I discussed in my Journal Due Diligence articles,^2–4 publishing outside of your discipline can also be a barrier. So be realistic with yourself in what you hope to accomplish with your publishing efforts and what journal you set your sights on.

Sometimes you won’t find one, perfect template article. Again, in the second example above, we found 2 good template articles in 2 different journals. They were both examples of case studies but they were not written in the same way. My colleague “mixed and matched,” taking the best from each of the template articles and using that as the model to write her manuscript. Just like you may look at more than one recipe to bake your quiche, you may need more than one template article to come up with the best prototype for your manuscript.

If you find your template article(s) in a different journal, I suggest you still find an article or two from the journal where you will be submitting. Journal examples will help you with length, format (of abstract and headings in particular), and style. Remember, your goal is to have the editor and managing editor (if there is one) nodding their heads and feeling positive about your manuscript—not shaking their heads and wondering if you have even looked at one issue of the journal, much less being a regular reader.

Conclusion

It is important to be deliberate about choosing your template article. Make sure you can explain why it is appropriate in the context of your planned article. It should be more than just being written on a similar topic—look for similarities in participants, methods, or presentation. Your template will become your roadmap and as such, should be reflective of what is published in your first choice journal and, at the same time, be a good match for your selected topic.

Next up: the process of a template article analysis.

References

1. Nicoll LH. Manuscript success: Academic papers: considerations in topic selection. The Writer’s Camp Journal, 2025;1(1),8. https://doi.org:10.5281/zenodo.15522536
2. Nicoll LH. Manuscript success: journal due diligence part I. The Writer’s Camp Journal. 2025;1(1):10. doi:10.5281/ZENODO.15570045
3. Nicoll LH. Manuscript success: Journal due diligence part II, special considerations. The Writer’s Camp Journal. 2025;1(1):12. doi:10.5281/ZENODO.15620094
4. Nicoll LH. Manuscript success: journal due diligence part III: Journal finders. The Writer’s Camp Journal, 2025;1(1):14. doi:10.5281/ZENODO.15668413
5. Nicoll LH. Manuscript success and choosing a topic. The Writer’s Camp Journal. 2025;1(1):6. doi:10.5281/ZENODO.15443066
6. Schwartz-Barcott D, Kim HS. An expansion and elaboration of the hybrid model of concept development. In: Rodgers BL, Knafl KA, eds. Concept Development in Nursing; 2000:129-159.
7. Lee I, Lee EO, Kim HS, Park YS, Song M, Park YH. Concept development of family resilience: a study of Korean families with a chronically ill child. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 2004;13(5):636-645. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2004.00845.x
8. Erdley WS. Concept development of nursing information: a study of nurses working in critical care. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing. 2005;23(2):93-99. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15772510
9. Hill R. End-of-life care for the patient with borderline personality disorder. Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing. 2005;7(3):150-161. doi:10.1097/00129191-200505000-00007
10. Davy E. The endoscopy patient with a history of sexual abuse: strategies for compassionate care. Gastroenterology Nursing. 2006;29(3):221-225. doi:10.1097/00001610-200605000-00003
11. Zauderer CR. A case study of postpartum depression & altered maternal-newborn attachment. MCN American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing. 2008;33:173-178. doi:10.1097/01.NMC.0000318353.93234.b8 [doi] 00005721-200805000-00009 [pii]

Author: Leslie H. Nicoll

Reviewed and edited by: Marilyn Oermann

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

Citation: Nicoll, LH. Manuscript success: using a template article: why it works. The Writer’s Camp Journal, 2025; 1(2):2. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15792795