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PHYS THER
Vol. 88, No. 4, April 2008, p. 539
DOI: 10.2522/ptj.2008.88.4.539.1
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Letters and Responses

On "Journal publication productivity..." Richter et al. Phys Ther. 2008;88:376–386.


Stuart Warden is correct in pointing out that the search strategy used by Richter and colleagues1 means that they have likely underestimated the research productivity of physical therapists. I did a quick check on Web of Science (http://scientific.thomson.com), which allows you to search the affiliation field of all authors, and found about 20% more articles. This is pretty close to the error of 30% suggested by Warden based on a hand search of PTJ. I also repeated my search on Web of Science, but this time for the period 2002–2007, and found twice as many papers. Given these errors, we can just ignore Richter and colleagues' paper—or can we?

I don't think we should ignore the article. The finding that does not seem to change materially with the different search strategies is that the publication productivity of the physical therapy institutions seems to vary enormously. Some institutions publish a lot, some very little, and some not at all; a result that suggests there are quite different cultures of scholarship within the various institutions.

With the APTA Vision 2020 statement emphasizing a culture of research and scholarship in the physical therapist of 2020, Richter and colleagues' article flags a potential problem for the profession. It would seem that not all institutions are equally equipped to foster this culture in their students.

Christopher Maher

C Maher, PT, PhD, is Professor, School of Physiotherapy, University of Sydney, Lidcombe, NSW, Australia


  Footnotes
 
This letter was posted as a Rapid Response on February 11, 2008, at www.ptjournal.org.

References

  1. Richter RR, Schlomer SL, Krieger MM, Siler WL. Journal publication productivity in academic physical therapy programs in the United States and Puerto Rico from 1998 to 2002. Phys Ther. 2008;88:376–386.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

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On "Journal publication productivity..." Richter et al. Phys Ther. 2008;88:376-386.
Physical Therapy, June 1, 2008; 88(6): 791 - 791.
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This Article
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