Research and Theory for Nursing Practice Mission Forward-2016 Style

"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success."

-Henry Ford

Not surprisingly, as the incoming editor of Research and Theory for Nursing Practice (RTNP), I had a natural curiosity about the journal's origins and history (Figure 1). My investigation ended in awe at the scholar luminaries who left us an extraordinary legacy.

In 1982, Drs. Ruth Beall Harris and Pierre Woog envisioned a journal that would "facilitate the integration of theory and research relevant to nursing practice." Five years later, seven founding coeditors made that vision a reality (see Figure 1). Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practice: An International Journal was launched in 1987. The founding coeditors were guided by an editorial board composed of exemplar scholars: Drs. Madeline Leininger, Carol Lindeman, June Rothberg, Rozella Schlotfeldt, Kathryn Barnard, Barbara Hansen, Jacqueline Rose Hott, Loucine Huckabay, Afaf Meleis, and Ora Strickland.

In 2002, the journal underwent a name change to Research and Theory for Nursing Practice: An International Journal. Editorial leadership change occurred with the name change.

From our journal's start in 1987 to Dr. Donna Algase's final editorial in February 2016, the pride and enthusiasm for disseminating scholarship that links research, theory, and practice shines through. The newly structured editorial board, and I as your incoming editor, are committed to carrying forward the journal's mission with equal pride and enthusiasm.

We will need more than pride and enthusiasm, though. Successfully carrying forward the mission will mean using different strategies than in the past. Although the original mission has not changed, the social and professional context we work in certainly has. In 1987, the professional background was that of disciplinary silos, individual authorship, limited publication choices, and scholarship that was confined to the narrow definition of primary research. We are now in a time of greatly expanded possibilities and opportunities.