JNPT has launched three new features: the Clinical Point of View or what we affectionately call the CPOV, the journal club podcast and Editor videocasts. The CPOV gives a voice to the JNPT reader-practitioner. It provides a reader's reflection on an article and how the information from the article may be translated into clinical practice. The Editorial Board of the Journal spearheaded by Kathleen Gill-Body created this feature to address our strategic plan's goal of developing and adopting new methods for synthesizing research and its application to practice.
The first two articles that have a CPOV are in the December 2007 issue of JNPT for the article written by Fry and colleagues "Randomized Control Trial of Effects of a 10-Week Inspiratory Muscle Training Program on Measures of Pulmonary Function in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis" and in this issue for the article written by Fulk and Echternach, "Test-Retest Reliability and Minimal Detectable Change of Gait Speed in Individuals Undergoing Rehabilitation after Stroke." CPOV's can be found either in print (when their publication is concurrent with the article) or the on-line (when their publication follows the article) version of JNPT. Look for the CPOV's on http://JNPTextra.org and with the June issue in print.
The journal club podcast addresses the same goal as the CPOV as well as the goal of using technology to improve the delivery of the journal content. The journal club podcast allows the reader to revisit information published in JNPT article by listening to members of a journal club discuss the article. The first journal club podcast features Carolynn Patten and a group of her colleagues discussing Francine Malouin and colleagues article "The Kinesthetic and Visual Imagery Questionnaire (KVIQ) for Assessing Motor Imagery in Persons with Physical Disabilities: A Reliability and Construct Validity Study" published in the March 2007 issue of JNPT. The journal club podcast can be found online in our JNPT Extra Website (http://jnptextra.org).
Our last new feature is the Editors' Videocasts. Every month during 2008, you will have the chance to meet one of the Associate Editors by viewing their videocasts. In these brief videos you will learn about their background, contributions and visions for the journal. Plus you get as we say "a visual." The first video will appear around the time this issue is published.
One of JNPT's strengths and contributions to physical therapy has been its use of technology to communicate and stimulate the development of research, education and practice. We were among the first journals indexed in MEDLINE to use podcasts and continue to innovate with features such as the journal club podcast. It is our goal to maximize our print resources by adding features such as CPOVs, as well as go beyond our print resources to aid our readers in using the information presented in the journal. Please use our online or print mechanisms to provide us with feedback and suggestions. Knowledge translation requires two-way communication.