Looking Back to 1921 and Forward to 2012
- R.L. Craik, PT, PhD, FAPTA, is Editor in Chief of PTJ and Professor and Chair, Department of Physical Therapy, Arcadia University, Glenside, Pennsylvania.
- Dr Craik can be reached at: craikr{at}arcadia.edu.
Many of us mark the beginning of a new year by developing a fresh list of goals that we hope to accomplish. The problem—at least for me—is that I rarely achieve the items on the “old” list and end up feeling overwhelmed by what remains! Editorial Boards feel the same way. Each year PTJ's Editorial Board develops a strategy to answer such questions as:
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Should we go online only?
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How do we best reach our readers?
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How do we attract the best authors?
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Are open-access journals going to put us out of business?
Because the crystal ball that will forecast events in 2012 is still coming into focus, I begin by looking back over the past 90 years. The first P.T. Review was published in March 1921, and it was most likely the only physical therapy journal in existence. Isabel H. Noble, the interim editor in chief, remarked, “As the editorial work is new to us we hope to improve as time goes on. This issue therefore is no criterion, as our aim is to make each copy an improvement over its predecessor.”1(p1) The only other person listed on the masthead was Elizabeth L. Wells, “business manager and assistant editor.”
The first issue consisted of 16 pages, with the bulk dedicated to the American Women's Physical Therapeutic Association Constitution and a directory of members. A review of Mary McMillan's textbook Massage and Therapeutic Exercise concludes that it “should be of great value, not only to the former Reconstruction Aides in Physiotherapy, but also to the physician as a basis for writing proper prescriptions for treatment….”2(p12) By the way, the advertisements for job positions indicate a salary of approximately $100 per month (often with lunch or room and board provided).
Today, the International Society of Physiotherapy Editors (www.ispje.wcpt.org) lists 50 journals that publish physical therapy research, and PTJ has the highest impact factor! I believe that Isabel Noble would agree that PTJ has continued her aim “to make each copy an improvement over its predecessor.” Along with millions of US citizens, PTJ is now a nonagenarian. It has had 20 editors in chief since Noble published the first issue in 1921, at least 100 Editorial Board members, and thousands of reviewers.
Compared with the first issue's 16 pages, this month's issue has 188. It contains 9 Research Reports, 1 Technical Report, 2 Case Reports, and 2 Perspectives. An article by Wiles et al titled “Sixty-Five Years of Physical Therapy: Bibliometric Analysis of Research Publications From 1945 Through 2010”3 has been published 4 months ahead of print in author manuscript form at http://ptjournal.apta.org/content/early/recent. The authors conclude that the typical research report has gone from an anecdotal description by 1 or 2 US authors to a randomized controlled trial or cross-sectional survey with 4 or 5 multinational authors. PTJ content is shared through a variety of media—videos demonstrating procedures, podcasts discussing articles in depth, and tweets. Our articles are available online within 2 weeks of acceptance, and PTJ has a mobile site.
We now live in a world that Noble would have dreamed of.
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I am sorry to announce that 3 outstanding Editorial Board Members have graduated from the board:
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Maura D. Iversen, PT, DPT, ScD, MPH, has made outstanding and sustained contributions to PTJ during her tenure on the board for 7 years. In addition to other content areas, Maura has exceptional expertise in the areas of rheumatology and clinical epidemiology. She is well regarded internationally and was engaged her international network to attract authors to PTJ. For example, we published papers from the CARE conferences in 2007, 2009, and 2010 that share results of international interdisciplinary initiatives to enhance the quality of life for people with arthritis. But…she is not finished! She has agreed to serve as co-editor on a special series about knowledge translation. Thank you, Maura, for your boundless optimism and countless hours of effort.
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James C. Galloway, PT, PhD, otherwise known as Cole, and Paul J.M. Helders, PT, PhD, PCS, were appointed to the board because of their outstanding scholarship in pediatrics. As a team, they developed the December 2010 special issue on variability in childhood development. They have done an incredible job attracting new authors interested in pediatrics. One of my favorite discussion podcasts was with Cole (“Feet Reaching in Infants Born Preterm,” with Doreen Bartlett, PT, PhD and Jill Heathcock, PT, PhD4). Alas, Cole's research activities are demanding increased attention. Thank you, Cole, for helping us bring motor control issues and pediatrics to PTJ! Although Paul retired from Utrecht University, he has been asked to take on new responsibilities at the university and continues to serve as editor in chief of the Dutch Journal of Physiotherapy. Paul has brought a wealth of new international pediatric researchers from around the world to PTJ. Thank you, Paul!
My sadness in saying goodbye is balanced by my joy in introducing our 4 new, interdisciplinary and international Editorial Board members:
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Jan Willem Gorter, MD, PhD, FRCPC, is associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster University, an investigator at the CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research, and a member of the McMaster Child Health Research Institute. After completing his postdoctoral training, Gorter served as cofounder of NetChild Network for Childhood Disability Research and founder and chair of the Dutch Academy of Childhood Disability. He has training in rehabilitation medicine with a special interest in pediatric and adolescent rehabilitation, especially family, function, and fitness to enhance participation of children and youth with developmental disabilities.
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Sarah Hope Kagan, PhD, FAAN, RN, holds a primary academic appointment as professor-clinician educator in the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. Her clinical appointment is as clinical nurse specialist in the Abramson Cancer Center. Kagan's secondary faculty appointment is in the department of otorhinolaryngology. Her program of clinical research is centered on human experience and illness, with a focus on symptom experience for older adults, particularly those who have cancer.
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Michel D. Landry, BScPT, PhD, is division chief in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program in the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Duke University. His experience covers a diverse range of areas, from private practice, to humanitarian aid and development, to global health, to health services research. His general area of research is the interface between available supply (financial and human resources) and increasing demand for health and rehabilitation services across the continuum of care. He also is a past-president of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association.
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Teresa Liu-Ambrose, PT, PhD, is assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on the role of exercise in promoting healthy aging and preventing cognitive and functional decline among seniors. Currently, she is conducting research among seniors at risk for dementia to determine the effect of exercise on cognitive performance, brain function as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging, and physical function. Teresa works collaboratively with faculty in psychology, family practice, geriatric medicine, and health care and epidemiology.
Beginning this year, PTJ recognizes its “Senior Reviewers”—manuscript reviewers who have completed 10 or more reviews during the previous 3-year period and who received an average quality score of at least 2.5 out of a possible 3. We thank all of our reviewers whose expertise and generosity help advance physical therapy science and practice. Please refer to the PTJ masthead for the 2009–2011 Senior Reviewers.
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Last month, PTJ published a special issue on advances in disability research; in 2012, we plan to publish a special issue on military rehabilitation. In the March 1921 issue of P.T. Review (Figure), Joel E. Goldthwait, who cofounded the US Army Reconstruction Department in 1918, wrote:
The war [World War I] demonstrated, in a manner that probably nothing else could, that even severe injury need not lead to serious disability, provided suitable treatment following the care of the wounds can be given. Good primary surgery and good nursing, of themselves, do not yield results which can be considered satisfactory. Measures having to do with the early restoration of function in the damaged part are essential…. Not only were many men saved to useful lives,…but the principle of physiotherapy and occupational therapy was so definitely established that civil hospitals must provide a staff of such workers, similar to those provided by the Army.5(p1-2)
A page from the first issue of P.T. Review.
The science and culture of physical therapy may have changed after 90 years, but the core of physical therapy has not. What's different is that we finally are conducting meaningful research to examine mechanisms that underpin our examinations and interventions, to compare the effects of different interventions, to determine the most effective approaches to teaching novice clinicians, and to shape health care policy. Rather than focusing on “evidence-based practice,” we are moving to use the evidence for effective decision making. Let's look forward to a productive and healthy New Year for the profession and for ourselves!
With sadness, PTJ marks the passing of Richard Di Fabio, PT, PhD, Editorial Board member from 1990 through 1996. Dr Di Fabio served as editor in chief of the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy (1999–2001). Recipient of the Golden Pen Award in 2002, he published more than 20 papers in PTJ. A Rick Di Fabio Scholarship Fund is being established in the physical therapy program at the University of Minnesota.
- © 2012 American Physical Therapy Association