APTA National - PTJ Editor in Chief

The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) invites applications for the position of Editor in Chief (EIC) of Physical Therapy (PTJ) for a 5-year term beginning January 1, 2024. 

PTJ is the official scientific journal of APTA. PTJ’s mission statement:

PTJ engages and inspires an international readership on topics related to physical therapy and rehabilitation. As the leading international journal for research in physical therapy and related fields, PTJ publishes innovative and highly relevant content for both clinicians and scientists and uses a variety of interactive approaches to communicate that content, with the expressed purpose of improving patient care. 

APTA seeks an EIC who:  

• Understands the overall impact of a high-quality journal on the advancement of health care and improvement of patient care.

• Understands the impact of a high-quality journal on the advancement of rehabilitation and the physical therapy profession—including specific influences on knowledge base, evidence base, education, and clinical practice.

• Is a recognized thought leader.

• Is committed to including research manuscripts reporting on studies that use a variety of methodologies.

• Places a high value on engaging an international readership and understands the importance of social media in scholarly publishing and research dissemination.

Generally, the EIC is responsible for:

• Providing overall vision and direction for PTJ.

• Ensuring that PTJ publishes high-quality, credible, and innovative rehabilitation research that is highly relevant both to clinicians and to scientists, with the expressed purpose of improving patient care.

• Providing leadership to PTJ that is consistent with the journal’s continued position as the premier physical therapy and rehabilitation journal in the world.

• Appointing an international, diverse, inclusive Editorial Board.

• Collaborating with the Editorial Board and the managing editor to set and uphold editorial policies that ensure integrity of the peer review and publication process. 

• Representing, and acting as ambassador for, PTJ at public and professional meetings and events. 

Specifically, the EIC is responsible for:

• Maintaining full authority for determining the editorial content of PTJ.

• Identifying and actively pursuing cutting-edge research for publication in PTJ. 

• Appointing and regularly evaluating an international, diverse, and inclusive Editorial Board in keeping with PTJ’s mission and to ensure content quality and the adequate representation of content areas and world regions. 

• Providing leadership in matters related to scholarly publishing ethics, including scientific misconduct, conflicts of interest, and authorship.  

• Providing leadership on diversity, equity, and inclusivity related to journal policies.

• Collaborating with the editors, Editorial Board, and managing editor on matters related to quality and timeliness of the peer-review process, manuscript decisions, and editorial policies and procedures. 

• Writing and soliciting editorials on timely topics of importance to research and the profession. 

• Identifying researchers and knowledge leaders to develop special issues on important and emerging issues in the field.

• Providing consultation as needed in the development of appropriate social media content, media releases, and consumer-focused communications related to the journal.     

• Leading annual PTJ Editorial Board meetings and periodic virtual meetings.

• Representing the journal, or designating editors/Editorial Board members to represent the journal, at annual association meetings or external national conferences, ensuring PTJ’s visibility as a leading journal.
  
• Collaborating with copublisher Oxford University and APTA staff in matters related to PTJ’s website presence.

• Networking at events or with organizations (eg, the International Society of Physiotherapy Journal Editors, the Council of Science Editors) that impact the future of physical therapy research or the future of health care journal publishing.

General Qualifications

• Physical therapist member of APTA or a foreign-educated physical therapist who lives outside the United States and is an international affiliate of the Association   

• PhD or equivalent

• Recipient of research grants preferred

• Demonstrated expertise as an author who has published in highly cited and visible professional, scientific, and peer-reviewed publications, preferably including publications in international journals

• History of academic appointment(s) 

• Recognized knowledge of the physical therapy community (scholars and practitioners) 

• History of service on an Editorial Board(s) (minimum of 3 years)

• Fluency in reading, writing, and communication in English, with a keen interest in the communication of research findings for application in practice 

• Familiarity with research design, basic statistics, and research ethics, including Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) standards

• Familiarity with research reporting quality and integrity standards such as CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA, SQUIRE, STARD, and SPIRIT

• Familiarity with protection of research participants and with other principles as put forth in the International Committee of Medical Editors’ Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Journals  

Attributes

• In-depth understanding of research and practice trends

• Bold vision to lead PTJ in new directions

• Collaborative spirit

• Excellent interpersonal skills for interactions with authors, editors, Editorial Board members, reviewers, external groups, APTA’s copublisher, and APTA staff and members
• Ability to arbitrate conflicts and find common ground while also ensuring PTJ’s integrity