Nursing research published in Italian journals between 2002 and 2021: a comparative review

In the development of nursing as a discipline, research plays a key role. Sharing and disseminating scientific knowledge is essential but, for non-English-speaking communities, research published in their language is more accessible to the national nursing community. Various comparative reviews of the national literature of Italian nursing research since the late 80s revealed significant methodological deficiencies. This review aims to assess nursing research published by nurses in Italian, between 2002 and 2021 from a quantitative and qualitative point of view. Most reviewed papers report results of non-interventional studies with simple methodology and statistics. Research is mostly focused on clinical nursing and management. The weaknesses found in this review underline a lack of progress in Italian nursing research published in Italian as already pointed out in previous reviews. Nursing research published in Italian journals still does not meet international standards. This study provides information about research in Italian never assessed so analytically and systematically.