Content Analysis of Five Occupational Therapy Journals, 2006–2010: Further Review of Characteristics of the Quantitative Literature

Case study research: Building the occupational therapy evidence base one case at a time

BACKGROUND

There is growing recognition in healthcare that evidence from randomised controlled trials may not be appropriate to answer the full spectrum of practice-based questions and a more pluralistic approach is needed.

AIM

To consider the use of case study research in contributing to the occupational therapy evidence base.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A critical discussion of the current state of evidence-based practice in occupational therapy and exploration of a viable approach to case study research is used.

RESULTS

Case study research can capture the context and complexity of occupational therapy practice. Cases can then be pooled to make a substantial contribution to the evidence base.

CONCLUSIONS

Occupational therapists should consider the use of case study research to produce practice related, meaningful research. Journal editorial boards need to be mindful of the value of high-quality case study research when considering publication priorities in occupational therapy literature.

SIGNIFICANCE

Highlights a changing landscape in the literature about how best to conduct research in health and social care, particularly for complex interventions and describes a pragmatic approach to case study research for occupational therapy.

Characteristics of research with older people (over 65 years) in occupational therapy journals, 2013-2017

Background: A growing population of older people will require different types of occupational therapy services in the future. For occupational therapists to provide effective services and to optimize care, their practice must rely on high-quality evidence. Research is one important pillar of evidence-based practice. Therefore, it is important to examine the research published in occupational therapy journals, which guides practitioners in their work with clients.Aim: The overall aim of this study was to review research characteristics in articles with older persons as participants, aged over 65 years, with or without illness, diseases or disabilities, reported in occupational therapy journals during the period 2013-2017.Materials and methods: Data was collected from peer-reviewed occupational therapy journals and categorized in relation to research characteristics using descriptive statistics.Results: The findings show that most articles presented basic research, using quantitative design where the sources of data were instruments.Conclusion: The findings suggest that both qualitative and quantitative articles use appropriate sample sizes. However, descriptions of the studied populations are frequently unclear, which may affect the transferability and generalization of the results.Significance: In order to support practice, efforts are needed to develop research aims and questions that develop knowledge to embrace more than just basic research.

High Impact and Highly Cited Peer-Reviewed Journal Article Publications by Canadian Occupational Therapy Authors: A Bibliometric Analysis

A bibliometric analysis of high impact and highly cited peer-reviewed literature published between 1992 and 2016 by Canadian occupational therapy authors that were included in the Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCI-E) or Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) was completed. To complete the analysis, journal article titles, abstracts, author details, and keywords were searched. A second-filter identified articles where the first or corresponding author had a Canadian affiliation and occupational therapy qualification. The total number of times an article was cited since its initial publication and during 2016 in Web of Science Core Collection was recorded. A total of 919 retrieved articles met the inclusion criteria with 18 articles having 5 or more citations during 2016 alone and another 34 articles having 50 or more citations since their initial publication date. The top three journals where high impact and highly-cited articles were published were Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Disability and Rehabilitation, and American Journal of Occupational Therapy. The three institutions that generated the largest number of high impact and highly cited articles were McGill University, University of Toronto, and University of British Columbia. Therefore, as of 2016, Canadian occupational therapy authors published 18 high impact and 34 highly cited articles.

Impact factor, eigenfactor, article influence, scopus SNIP, and SCImage journal rank of occupational therapy journals

BACKGROUND

Journals are currently assessed and ranked using a number of different quantitative performance metrics.

AIM

To compare and correlate the publication metrics of English-language occupational therapy journals published in 2015.

METHOD

Bibliometric data was sourced for 14 English-language occupational therapy journals including the Journal Citations Report (JCR) 2-year impact factor (IF), Eigenfactor Score (EFS), Article Influence Score (AIS), Scopus Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP), Scopus Citescore, and SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) score. The JCR, Scopus, and SJR 2015 bibliometric data were correlated.

RESULTS

The top six English-language occupational therapy journals in relation to JCR IF, EFS, AIS, SNIP, Citescore, SJR score, and SJR IIF were AJOT, AOTJ, POPT, CJOT, SJOT, and BJOT. JCR IF, EFS, JCR AIS, SNIP, Citescore, SJR score and SJR IIF were all significantly correlated with coefficients ranging from 0.751 to 0.961 (p < 0.05; p < 0.01). The calculated SJR IIF was on average 0.335 larger than the JCR IFs reported.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings indicate that the range of available bibliometric measures should be used collectively to yield a more comprehensive assessment of journal and article rankings rather than the singular use of IF scores that currently and frequently occurs in many jurisdictions.

State of the journal, 2014

The outgoing editor-in-chief outlines the advances made during her 6-yr tenure and provides recommendations for AJOT’s future