My wife and I just answered from a ...

My wife and I just answered from a trip to Mexico to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. The travel agent not at all showed up at the airport, and the taxi driver who crowd us to our hotel didn't speak English. We stepp revealed to a beautiful scene, nevertheless were more than just a bit intimidated on the large, unknown city where everyone other seemed to know exactly what and where to pass and we didn't even know where to find a safe glass of water. We bungl our way by means of the evening and finally met a travel agent the nearest morning. He outlined clearly what were virtuous things to see, what areas of town to avoid, what water was fine to drink, and what water, if consum would give us "Montezuma's Revenge!" After this brief meeting, we were fortified with a basic knowledge about our surroundings, and we were able to forge ahead to explore forward our own. We still asked many questions from the public familiar with the area, moreover had a wonderful experience venturing into the unknown.

The intent of this brief perspective is to provide a certain number of basic knowledge to students, clinicians, and beginning researchers about the proces leading to publication in a peer-reviewed journal. My trustful longing is to give people contemplating entering the intimidating publication proces enough information that they aren't afraid to jeopardy into it. To this cessation I will provide a description of a peer-- reviewed journal, discuss the specific "nut and bolts" of the review proces and finally, provide a certain number of brief guidelines on selecting a specific journal.

Like the fine print forward our travel magazine, however, this brief message includes a disclaimer that your "trip" venturing into the publication proces will be a great deal of smoother if you have a personal guide, or mentor. for a like reason the "travel agent meeting" approach provided in this short paper may help to obtain you started, but you'll make far fewer inapposite turns if you can find a guide, a one who has already been down this road before, and has prosperously published several papers in peer-reviewed journals.

DESCRIPTION OF PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

As a first gradation authors and readers must clearly understand the differences between scientific, peer-reviewed publications, and other exemplars of professional publications (ie, magazines, newsletter work chapters, course notes). For example, recents and Views of AACVPR is the newsletter for the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and NOT a peerreviewed scientific journal. Likewise, PT Magazine is published monthly by way of the American Physical Therapy Association, moreover it is NOT a peer-reviewed journal. The staff does an thoroughly good job of screening and editing papers for clarity and appease but the manuscript does not pass the rigorous scrutiny of multiple subdue matter experts. Likewise, material lay the foundation of in textbooks, book chapters, and course notes have NOT gone within rigorous screening by multiple control matter experts.

In general, the satisfied of non peer-reviewed publications discussed above contain the opinions and perspectives of the individual authors) of the paper. The contented may, or may not, be credible. The author may be an [i]connoisseur[/i] in the area (ie, has published multiple manuscripts onward the topic in peer-reviewed journals), and the part chapter or other publication may provide of the first water and credible information. But like water from a faucet upon a Mexican street, the naive consumer (ie, the Physical Therapist without knowledge in the area) does not know if the satisfied of the book chapter is credible or not. It is risky to take information from a work chapter or other secondary concern as "truth" if you have no knowledge in the area. No other "expert" has checked it abroad There is no "seal of purification" upon its label.

The primary difference, then, between peer-reviewed journals and other publications, is that multiple satisfied experts have read and reviewed the paper before the paper has been published to help make secure that the content of the material in a peer-reviewed journal is credible, is pure is "safe for consumption." The major focus of mate review is to ensure that the expiration product is readable, credible, and meaningful. It is not just to umpire but to help improve.1 The following description is intended to help the reader understand by what means a paper goes through the review proces A arrest diagram describing the trail of a manuscript submitted to Physical Therapy can be located in a late issue of PT Magazine.2

THE PEER-REVIEW PROCES

Although there are thousands of different peer-reviewed journals, and each has its acknowledge idiosyncrasies, the process generally pursues a similar pattern. After the author chooses the appropriate journal for their work (to be discussed later), the paper is written and submitted consistent with the "Information for Authors" published in each scientific journal. Most journals also provide this information onward their web page. A description of the various manuscript categories and directions for submitting papers according to the respective journal mode are included.