Rita H. Pickler, PhD, RN, FAAN
Writer’s Camp Counselor
Editorials are important—and can be fun to write!
Editorials are more important to journals than most editors think; they help editors distinguish their journals from other journals, “marking” a journal’s (and editor’s) territory. An editorial speaks to readers in ways that scientific or other types of papers cannot, communicating directly about important trends and issues. Editorials should be logical, concise, and timely, drawing attention to recent developments, stimulate thinking and discussion, educating and questioning received knowledge, and perhaps even engendering discomfort.
Writing editorials, however, can be challenging, particularly in choosing topics and setting tone. This article will focus on key elements of editorial writing including finding timely and important topics and using tone to interest but not offend readers.
Editorial Purposes
Editorials serve many purposes: as a commentary on current events or on papers published in the journal; to issue invitations to readers to submit papers; and to reflect on current topics in the journal or in the world that may affect readers.1 Primarily, an editorial reminds readers that the journal is not just a collection of papers—it has a bigger purpose. For example, I edit a research journal, Nursing Research. With very few exceptions, the journal does not publish papers about practice trends or educational strategies. Thus, when I am thinking about ideas for editorials I am focused on what is going on in science, and especially in nursing science. I also editorialize about writing, publishing, and reviewing because these things matter to science. I frequently write about progress in nursing science and about scientific truth and misinformation.
Most often, editorials serve as a vehicle to provide commentary; for me, the most important of these are scientific. I wrote about p values when the American Statistical Society issued its statements on the misuse of p.2 I wrote about research methods and the components of high-quality research reports.3 I have also editorialized papers in current journal issues. For example, we published a collection of papers in January 2025 focused on a long-standing area of nursing science—symptom management. Uniquely, the papers’ authors were from the same institution, were all funded on a Core Center Grant (P30) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and were all focused on populations with multiple chronic conditions who are often underrepresented in research. Using my editorial to bring these papers to our readers’ attention was important in advancing scientific understanding.4
Editorials can also be used to issue invitations. In January 2024, I invited readers to submit letters defining nursing science.5 I published the letters throughout the year, and in January 2025, I summarized those papers in an editorial.4 Those editorials led to a number of invitations to present, discuss, and facilitate a broader conversation on this important topic. I am now working with colleagues on a research project about nursing science.
It is important to be mindful of the world our readers and authors inhabit, and editorials allow you to voice an opinion about current events. Over the last 8 years, I have tried to pay attention to those things that affect us as scientists. I have thus written about inclusive scientific language6 and, recently, scientific censorship.7 The challenge with using editorials to talk about current events, rather than blogs or X (formerly Twitter) or Facebook or BlueSky or other social media outlets, is that editorials often need to be submitted months before they are published. For example, I wrote a very upbeat and joyous editorial for our May/June 2020 issue about the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Florence Nightingale. I submitted the editorial to production in FEBRUARY 2020. Then there was March 2020 and a pandemic. I knew my editorial as written would come off as silly and blind to reality. My publisher allowed me to redo that editorial to better reflect the more somber times.8 The editorial was still about Nightingale, but the message was focused on different ways of celebration including showing gratitude to nurses everywhere for their work during the pandemic.
As editors we also get to write about things that aggravate us or that we would wish away. I like this sort of tongue-in-cheek writing. My favorite editorial to write was entitled “please do not impact me.”9 I hate the word impact and all its variants—impacted, impacting, impactful, and so on. Impact is a very negative word that means something bad has happened. It is not a scientific word. I edit the impact out of every paper we publish; the editorial was a warning to authors.
I recently reviewed the titles of all my editorials, including those I wrote for other journals: 43% are commentaries, 13% are invitations, 23% are about current topics, and 21% are purely editorial opinion. This seems a good balance and editors may find it useful to keep track of their editorial focus in this way. I like to think these editorials have raised the identity of Nursing Research; that is my intent and is in fact, why editorials are important to journals.10
Where to Start
Like most of you, I read a lot including at least parts of 500+manuscripts every year that come into Nursing Research. I also read work related to my own science, and I read for general interest in both scientific and lay literature. I also love reading scientific editorials from other journals. They can be hard to find if all you do is read select journals online. They are out there, however, and I encourage you to find and read them. I also think about a lot of things; that thinking often takes me to the internet where I search for what is going on in science, in nursing, and in the broader world that might affect nursing science.
For example, last year I read about the new Census categories including how the categories are changing and what that may mean demographically for the US. I thought about how, as researchers, we describe our research participants. I wrote about how changes in census categories may change those descriptions. At the same time, a group of scholars queried me about writing an editorial about the new classifications for persons who are Hispanic, Latina/o/x, or Black and their concern about the conflation of race and ethnicity in the new census categories. Our focus and ideas, while different, were related and thus, our editorials were published together last fall.11, 12
Finally, listen to people. For example, at a recent conference, a speaker boldly said that in 10 years all research would only use existing data and that no new data collection would be needed. This seemed like a reckless thing to say, but it was restated more than once over several days, so I used that as the basis for my editorial on prospective research versus that which uses existing data.13 Because PhD students kept asking me for good examples of nursing science that became policy, I have written about that.14 Before that, I wrote about health misinformation; it is a huge problem that everyone talks about and that we all contribute to.15 I have also written about artificial intelligence (AI) and scientific integrity because although we embrace AI, it is fraught with integrity concerns.16
Key Elements of Editorials
Like all purpose driven writing, there are some key elements to editorials. Editorials need an introduction where you present your stance or opinion. They need a conclusion, where you summarize and emphasize the points you have made, issue an invitation or call to action, or leave an impression that is thought about or discussed by readers. In between, is the heart of the matter.
The Introduction
The introduction, also known as the “hook,” sets the stage for the editorial. You want this to be somewhat enticing—something that lures readers in, setting the tone, context, and purpose, and offering a taste what is to come without fully disclosing everything. The hook grabs readers’ attention and encourages them to read further.17
Crafting an effective hook is an art. It might be a provocative statement, an intriguing question, a compelling fact, or a striking anecdote. Regardless of the strategy, the hook should relate directly to the topic, stimulate curiosity, elicit an emotional response, or provoke thought, and encourage the reader to delve deeper into the argument. This section should be brief and clear. It should define the issue and provide enough context for the reader to understand its importance without giving everything away.
The Main Body
It probably goes without saying that editorials should reflect the journal’s purpose. I try to stay in my lane; I do not comment on matters that don’t specifically pertain to nursing science or nursing scientists. I also remind myself that I am trying to convey one idea and not everything about a topic; I try to channel my inner Hemingway by keeping it short and to the point.
It is easier to stay on topic if you have chosen your topic wisely, declare your position early, and build your ideas with data and a few references. Thus, as you get into the heart of your editorial, you want to be sure you have researched the topic well, developing your own understanding of the issue’s context, history, and implications. This work informs the positions you will take and aids you in presenting the issue effectively. Of course, you cannot give your readers all the background. Rather, you distill this information into concise statements, providing enough information to understand the issue’s significance without being overwhelming your reader with unnecessary details.
After setting the context, your point should be clearly made—why the issue is important and who it affects. Again, provide evidence—data, expert opinions, real-life examples. Support your claims with citations as needed, showing the reader that the argument is not merely your opinion but rather is based on facts, rigorous analysis, and credible sources. You should also acknowledge different viewpoints; considering alternative views enhances the depth and credibility of your argument and demonstrates that the issue has been researched thoroughly.18 Moreover, once you have identified opposing views, you can counter them, respectfully. This involves presenting evidence challenging opposing viewpoints, while drawing attention to your central argument, thus enhancing the overall quality and persuasiveness of the editorial.
The Conclusion
The conclusion is the final place to reaffirm your main argument, propose a solution, or issue a call to action. It should leave a lasting impression on the reader by effectively summarizing your points. I find this is the hardest part of the editorial to write and where I take time because I want the readers to remember and think about what I said.
Title Tactics
A note here about titles; they really matter.17 They are what first captures a reader’s attention or curiosity. Thus, the title should accurately represent the content. I also want my titles to be searchable. Thus, the title of a recent editorial is “The Truth About Science” rather than “Cassandra Doesn’t Live Here,”19 even though the latter is pithier. I try to get at least one MeSH term in a title.
Likewise, it is important to include your name as the author with your editorial. In the online world of journals, the masthead is not always immediately evident or prominently placed. A reader needs to know who wrote the editorial—don’t assume they know who you are as the editor. Include your name. This is also important for indexing and searching. And of course, if you have a guest editor as an author, you must include that person’s name with the editorial that they wrote.
Editorial Grace
I will close with something we can all use: GRACE, meaning Gracious, Relevant, Accurate, Controversial, and Engaging.10 Editorials, of course, are opinion pieces. Still, it is important to respectfully acknowledge that not everyone shares our opinions. Here is how GRACE helps with being respectful.
First, we give a nod to differences of opinions in a gracious way. We don’t see a lot of this in our everyday, social media-driven world. There is no reason to be ungracious about differences of opinion.
Relevance is critical for a good editorial. As noted, being relevant can be a challenge when your editorial is due to production months before it gets published. To stay relevant, I try to think about topics that have durability, or that are likely to affect us for some time. For example, scientific integrity is a constant concern. We could write about it every day.
I have already addressed the need to do your homework on a topic. Editorials are opinion pieces. Nevertheless, they need to be bolstered with facts from reliable references.
Controversy is harder for me; I don’t aim to be controversial even though I know that doing so may be more interesting to readers. When you are controversial, you also get pushback. That is okay—a discussion may be exactly what you hope to stimulate. Again, it is important to be thoughtful and gracious even while being controversial.
Finally, be engaging. This happens by knowing your readers and what they are interested in reading and thinking about. I love it when I receive an email from a reader thanking me for a thought-provoking editorial. Those comments keep me working on my editorial style and keep me striving to write about ideas that are important not just to me, but to nursing science and nursing scientists.
Conclusion
A disclaimer—I love writing editorials. In fact, the opportunity to write about my opinions is one of the most attractive aspects of being a journal editor. I was not, however, trained to write editorials. Thus, I have tried to study what others do and what others have written about writing them. Although I have more to learn, editorial writing is one of the most interesting and rewarding aspects of being an editor and a unique opportunity to advance science.
References
1. van Teijlingen ER., Hundley V, Sathian B, Simkhada P, Robinson J, & Banerjee I. The art of the editorial. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology. 2022;12(1):1135–1138. https://doi.org/10.3126/nje.v12i1.43104
2. Pickler RH. The problem with p and statistical significance. Nurs Res. 2019;68:421-422. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000391
3. Pickler RH. Exceptional research papers. Nurs Res. 2021; 70:415-416. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000546
4. Pickler RH. Nursing science revealed: Holistically, human-focused. Nurs Res. 2025;74:1–3. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000790
5. Pickler RH. In search of nursing science. Nurs Res. 2024;73:1-2. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000701
6. Pickler RH, Chyun D, Jairath N. Inclusive language in scientific writing. Nurs Res. 2023:72:335-338. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000675
7. Pickler RH. Censoring science. Nurs Res. 2025;74:247-249. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000830
8. Pickler RH. Happy birthday, Florence Nightingale. Nurs Res. 2020;69:165-166. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000431
9. Pickler RH. Please do not impact me. Nurs Res. 2018:67:197-198. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000284
10. Leslie K, Hemmings HC. Excellence in editorials: Fulfilling their critical role in the medical literature, Br J Anaes. 2020;125:639-641,
11. Pickler RH. Who are they? Identification of study participants. Nurs Res. 2024;73:415–416. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000766
12. Parra A, Morales V, Lebron CN, Santos HP. Health implications of Black identity among Latinos: A call for Afro-Latina representation in maternal child health research. Nurs Res. 2024;73:417-419. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000769
13. Pickler RH. Expedition and curation: Different approaches to understanding human health. Nurs Res. 2024;73:255-256. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000741
14. Pickler RH. Research and policy. Nurs Res. 2024;73:173–174. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000720
15. Pickler RH. Health misinformation and nursing science. Nurs Res. 2024;73:89–90. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000711
16. Pickler RH. Artificial “intelligence” and scientific integrity. Nurs Res. 2023;72:165–166. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000651
17. Warden SJ, van Dyk N. Insert catchy title here: Engaging readers and improving health with stylish academic editorials. Br J Sports Med. 2019;53:1131-1132
18. Fontanarosa PB. Editorial matters: Guidelines for writing effective editorials. JAMA. 2014;311:2179-2180.
19. Pickler RH. The truth about science. Nurs Res. 2025;74:165-166.https://doi.org/ 10.1097/NNR.0000000000000812
Author: Rita H. Pickler
Reviewed and Edited by: Leslie H. Nicoll
Copyright © 2025 by Writer’s Camp and Rita Pickler. CC-BY-ND 4.0
Citation: Pickler RH. Writing effective, timely, and thought provoking editorials. The Writer’s Camp Journal. 2025;1(3):2. doi:10.5281/zenodo.17290556
NB: Dr. Pickler presented a version of this paper at the INANE Annual Meeting, August 2025.
Thank you for this wonderful, informative blog, Rita! You have captured the essence of what I also know to be great editorial writing! Your insights also apply to writing blogs! For more about blogs, see https://writers-camp.org/category/blog/
This is an excellent summary of what is involved in preparing an editorial. Thank you