Coronado, RA; Riddle, DL; Wurtzel, WA; George, SZ. 2011. Bibliometric Analysis of Articles Published from 1980 to 2009 in Physical Therapy, Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association. PHYSICAL THERAPY 91 (5): 642-655

[Eugene Garfield]

Coronado, RA; Riddle, DL; Wurtzel, WA; George, SZ. 2011. Bibliometric Analysis 
of Articles Published from 1980 to 2009 in Physical Therapy, Journal of the 
American Physical Therapy Association. PHYSICAL THERAPY 91 (5): 642-655..

Author Full Name(s): Coronado, Rogelio A.; Riddle, Daniel L.; Wurtzel, Wendy 
A.; George, Steven Z.
Document Type: Article

KeyWords Plus: QUANTITATIVE-ANALYSIS; DATABASE; TRIALS; PEDRO; 
REHABILITATION; PHYSIOTHERAPY; CITATION; REVIEWS

Abstract: Background. Recent evidence demonstrates growth in both the 
quality and quantity of evidence in physical therapy. Much of this work has 
focused on randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews.
Objective. The purpose of this study was to conduct a comprehensive 
bibliometric assessment of Physical Therapy (PTJ) over the past 30 years to 
examine trends for all types of studies.
Design. This was a bibliometric analysis.
Methods. All manuscripts published in PTJ from 1980 to 2009 were reviewed. 
Research reports, topical reviews (including perspectives and nonsystematic 
reviews), and case reports were included. Articles were coded based on type, 
participant characteristics, physical therapy focus, research design, purpose of 
article, clinical condition, and intervention. Coding was performed by 2 
independent reviewers, and author, institution, and citation information was 
obtained using bibliometric software.
Results. Of the 4,385 publications identified, 2,519 were included in this 
analysis. Of these, 67.1% were research reports, 23.0% were topical reviews, 
and 9.9% were case reports. Percentage increases over the past 30 years 
were observed for research reports, inclusion of "symptomatic" participants 
(defined as humans with a current symptomatic condition), systematic reviews, 
qualitative studies, prospective studies, and articles focused on prognosis, 
diagnosis, or metric topics. Percentage decreases were observed for topical 
reviews, inclusion of only "asymptomatic" participants (defined as humans 
without a current symptomatic condition), education articles, nonsystematic 
reviews, and articles focused on anatomy/physiology.
Limitations. Quality assessment of articles was not performed.
Conclusions. These trends provide an indirect indication of the evolution of the 
physical therapy profession through the publication record in PTJ. Collectively, 
the data indicated an increased emphasis on publishing articles consistent with 
evidence-based practice and clinically based research. Bibliometric analyses 
indicated the most frequent citations were metric studies and references in PTJ 
were from journals from a variety of disciplines.

Addresses: [Coronado, Rogelio A.; Wurtzel, Wendy A.; George, Steven Z.] Univ 
Florida, Coll Publ Hlth & Hlth Profess, Dept Phys Therapy, Gainesville, FL 32610 
USA; [Riddle, Daniel L.] Virginia Commonwealth Univ, Coll Med, Dept Phys 
Therapy, Richmond, VA USA; [George, Steven Z.] Univ Florida, Coll Publ Hlth & 
Hlth Profess, Ctr Pain Res & Behav Hlth, Gainesville, FL 32610 USA
Reprint Address: Coronado, RA, Univ Florida, Coll Publ Hlth & Hlth Profess, Dept 
Phys Therapy, POB 100154, Gainesville, FL 32610 USA.

E-mail Address: rcoronado at phhp.ufl.edu; szgeorge at phhp.ufl.edu
ISSN: 0031-9023
DOI: 10.2522/ptj.20100267
fulltext: 
http://ptjournal.apta.org/content/early/2011/03/03/ptj.20100267.full.pdf+html