Looking forward, looking back

Abstract

Welcome to the first edition of 2008, and a new year of research productivity and scholarship for the occupational therapy profession. Our professional journal is the window of our profession to the world and this issue is no exception with a broad range of contributions that reflect the diversity and creativity of occupational therapy practice. This editorial will pause to review the challenges and rewards of professional publishing and look forward to the continuing development of the journal. What is the role of a professional journal? Professional publishing is a vehicle for research and practice to have an influence on building professional knowledge, and to make the work of occupational therapists available for discussion and debate, and to inform the work of other health professionals (Unruh, 2007). Scholarly writing is an important medium to stimulate new thinking on a topic, challenge practice and promote change and the advancement of professional knowledge (Finlayson, 2007). Therefore, a professional journal is a key means of communicating professional knowledge, promoting evidence-based practice and providing an opportunity for networking and collaboration. The year 2007 welcomed innovations for the Australian Occupational Therapy Journal (AOTJ) in response to current challenges. For instance, a special issue on mental health allowing practitioners and researchers to showcase their work on this important topic, the first on-line-only supplement focussing on occupational therapy education, and the introduction of a series of papers on research methods. As the occupational therapy profession continues to grow with increased numbers of graduates, students completing honours projects and therapists undertaking research degrees, the challenge of the capacity of the journal to accommodate the expediential increase in manuscript submissions remains. Achieving Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) listing to enable AOTJ to gain an impact factor has received much attention in past editorials (Fricke, 2006; Farnworth, 2007) and will continue to be a key goal for the journal into the future. Despite the controversies in relation to the use of the impact factor outlined by Fricke (2006), the validation of publications by impact factor is currently a critical component of competitive grant applications and academic appointments, and the AOTJ needs to continue to pursue this goal. A further critical challenge in 2008 is to appoint an editor who will continue the excellent and inspiring work of Janet Fricke in directing the journal's future growth. The ultimate challenge of professional publishing is at the individual level of writing, where many obstacles often need to be overcome to get into print. These challenges include perceiving oneself as a writer with the necessary skills, confidence about the relevance of one's work for publication, the capacity to analyse and critique one's own work and finding the time and head-space to be creative (Wright-St. Clair & Hocking, 2005). Enhancing one's contribution through peer review may involve accepting constructive criticism and even dealing positively with rejection of one's work (Unruh, 2007). The rewards of an individual publication are many and include knowing your work has contributed to the international occupational therapy knowledge base, promoting occupational therapy among other health professionals, and ultimately benefiting the consumers of occupational therapy practice. Hopefully, 2008 will be the year that many new authors will respond to the professional mandate to make a contribution to the journal, rather than allowing completed theses and project reports to remain on a shelf. So, 2008 will be a time for the journal to continue managing the balance of competing drivers to ensure its continued development as an internationally recognized publication in an environment of rapid change. At the end of the day, the final challenge for the journal is how to get the contents of the journal out of the plastic bag and into practice, so that occupational therapists demonstrate the evidence that the services provided to consumers are effective (Thomas, 2007).