From a writeup of the journal's beginnings at the OJIN website:
"In retrospect, no single event led to the creation of the journal; it was a combination of the right people talking and willing to work together at the right time. After deciding to go for it, the nurses invited interested faculty to volunteer and participate.

Key to their success was their ability to work together. "We didn't keep score about who did what. We worked very hard toward our common goal," Jones explained. A chemistry sometimes forms in a group, and something magical happens — which is exactly what happened with this group of people — and the results are tremendous. The first topic was published in June 1996--just six months after the first brainstorming discussion.

While other well-funded online journals were failing, Jones and Coeling were convinced OJIN would succeed because of its focus as an "issues" journal. Three topics are posted each year focusing on a current nursing issue that touches the professional lives of all nurses. "We wanted to maximize this online potential by using it for a journal that discussed issues, defined as questions for which there are not clear right or wrong answers, but rather differences of opinion," said Coeling, associate professor and director of the graduate nursing of adult program at Kent State. OJIN provides all nurses with a free forum for discussing issues in nursing. Nurses can respond immediately with no page limitations — impossible with a print publication.

To maintain high standards, OJIN recruits the most qualified nurse experts available to author the initial articles. The first article on the issue, a historical review, is followed by several in-depth articles that lay the groundwork for the topic. As soon as these initial articles are posted, all authors are encouraged to share their research or experience. The initial article and all subsequent articles are peer-reviewed by three reviewers from the editorial review board. Letters to the editor are a less formal way for nurses to include their experiences and opinions into the ongoing discussion. With each issue, there is also a list of links to relevant sites and articles on the Internet."

Connecting to the community is what keeps this journal prospering, and that in itself is about the best reason we could ever think of to highly recommend this publication.