Type and Extent of Knowledge Translation Resources Published by Peer-Reviewed Rehabilitation Journals

We describe the extent and type of knowledge translation (KT) resources that are published by peer-reviewed rehabilitation journals. Rehabilitation journals traditionally disseminate new knowledge to the scientific community via scholarly publications. Principles of KT suggest that the uptake of research evidence into practice can be improved if research results are readily available and customized to end-users. Using the Google search engine, we identified 50 rehabilitation journals, and data were extracted for the type and amount of KT resources published in 2012. KT resources were classified using the taxonomy of KT interventions. Of the 50 rehabilitation journals, 31 had resources that fall within the domain of KT, which were mostly systematic reviews (21/31). The total number of KT resources per journal ranged from 0 to 55, and the amount of types published in specific journals ranged from 0 to 6. Systematic reviews (30/31) followed by podcasts (6/31) and videos (5/31) were the most common KT resources. All journals that published these resources targeted healthcare professionals (HCP) (31/31); only one journal, the Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy, published KT for the general public. We found that rehabilitation journals focus on the dissemination of scientific papers and have few KT resources for the general public and policy makers.