International journal of therapeutic massage and bodywork: a first-year retrospective view reflecting google analytics and open journal systems sources.

The date August 20, 2009, represents exactly one year since the launch of the inaugural issue of International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (IJTMB). During that first year, four issues of the journal were published—in August and December 2008, and in March and June 2009. This editorial focuses on identifying information sources that interested readers may consult regarding various available data for profiling the journal’s accessibility and progress thus far.

Perhaps the principal data source is that of the IJTMB’s Google Analytics webstats site, which is available to interested parties through a generic visitors’ account. This source is accessible through either the hyperlink just cited or at www.google.com/analytics/. In either case, once the “Access Analytics” option is activated, the complete database can be examined by entering info@massagetherapyfoundation.org (username) and ijtmbstats (password). Various sectors of this database provide such information as the extent of site usage, a visitor overview, a traffic sources overview, a map overlay with a rank ordering of visitors’ countries, a content overview, new and returning visitors, visitor loyalty, and keywords used in accessing the journal. Particularly useful in understanding certain terminology specific to the Google Analytics reporting format is the Glossary, available through a standard Help option while navigating the site.

Table 1 provides selected excerpts from certain sectors of the IJTMB’s Google Analytics webstats. Although the table lists only the top 10 countries in terms of rank order by number of visitors, it is of particular note that as many as 120 countries are represented by colleagues who have visited the IJTMB’s site. This statistic alone gives testimony to one of the major objectives of immediate, open-access scholarly publishing: the expansive availability of a professional resource that might otherwise be quite limited because of any combination of financial, political, geographic, and logistical constraints.

Table 1.

Google Analytics Webstats for the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, August 20, 2008–August 20, 2009

Statistic	(n)	(%)
Site usage and visitors overview
Visits	18,124
Unique visitors	13,531
Pageviews	77,920
Avg. pageviews per visit	4.30
International scope: visitors from 120 countries/territories
Top 10 countries/territories
United States	10,999
Canada	3,584
United Kingdom	732
Australia	671
New Zealand	249
India	186
Philippines	92
Germany	91
Spain	68
Malaysia	68
New vs. returning visitors
New visitors	13,296	73.36
Returning visitors	4,828	26.64
Traffic sources overview
Direct traffic	7,693	42.5
Referring sites	5,277	29.1
Search engines	5,083	28.1
Other	71	0.3

Another data source providing valuable information regarding the progress of the IJTMB is the Stats & Reports sector of the journal’s website. This feature is a component of the Open Journal Systems (OJS) software used by the IJTMB and mentioned in an earlier editorial( as part of Canada’s Public Knowledge Project. Although readily accessible to readers through the “About the Journal” option at the top of the home page, the journal’s Editorial Board will periodically highlight for our readership pertinent information from this database. Relevant data provided on a calendar year basis include the number of issues published; total number of manuscript submissions; submissions peer-reviewed, accepted, declined, and resubmitted; days to review; days to publication; and number of registered users and readers. Table 2 shows pertinent data spanning the IJTMB’s four issues published since its inception in August 2008.

Table 2.

Open Journal System (OJS)–Based Statistics for the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, August 20, 2008 –August 20, 2009

	2008		2009
	(n)	(%)	(n)	(%)
Issues published	2		2
Items published	15		11
Total submissions	26		24
Peer reviewed	21		16
Accepted	16	76	15	94
Declined	5	24	1	6
Resubmitted	4	19	2	13
Days to review	47		24
Days to publication	62		17
Registered users	1142		1586
Registered readers	1117		1545

In addition to the Stats & Reports journal management sector just cited, another information source available for periodic dissemination to the journal’s readership is the number of “views” per entry in each issue of the IJTMB. These data span not only articles per se appearing in the journal, but editorials and entries in both the Commentaries and the News/Announcements sections of the journal. In the context of the four journal issues published thus far, these are the top three entries eliciting the most views as of August 20, 2009:

Zalta’s( Orthopedic Massage Protocol for Post-Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: A Case Report (4939 views)

Grant et al.’s( Steps toward Massage Therapy Guidelines: A First Report to the Profession (2699 views)

LeMoon’s( Clinical Reasoning in Massage Therapy (2187 views)

Several trends and conclusions may be derived from the data sources cited thus far. However, among the most important from a formative evaluation standpoint, given the journal’s one-year juncture, are these:

The international scope of the journal is indeed apparent, as evidenced by the identification of 120 countries from which readers are accessing one or more issues of the journal. This fact bodes quite well regarding at least the potential for the journal’s content increasingly to reflect the contributions of colleagues from diverse regions of the globe.

The figures of 18,124 and 13,531—representing total number of site visits and of unique visitors, respectively—are presumably encouraging at this stage in the journal’s evolution. Accurately interpreting the practical significance of these data in the broader context of what should be expected of an open-access journal at the end of its inaugural year, however, has been difficult to ascertain. Accordingly, input from readers is encouraged if available data sources can be cited against which the IJTMB’s statistics may be compared.

An increase in manuscript submissions is always an obvious objective of any scholarly publishing effort. The figure of 50 submissions through August 20, 2009, as cited in Table 2 includes manuscripts spanning all six sections of the journal and, hence, contributions of an editorial, article, letter to the editor, and news/announcements nature. While inviting viable submissions of any genre, we particularly encourage the obvious: viz., a greater number of manuscripts pertaining to potential articles per se and letters to the editor that highlight reader response to previously-published articles. The availability of three principal journal sections emphasizing Research, Education, and Practice was intended from the outset as a catalyst for encouraging as extensively diverse as possible author input.

The top three journal entries cited earlier as eliciting the most views by readers (9825 in toto) appeared in the Practice section of the journal. Readers have been attracted seemingly to a lesser extent to entries in the Research and Education sections. Although a competitive theme is certainly not the intent here, the effectiveness of the journal would seem to be enhanced if greater balance were in place across all three major sections with respect to both the number of manuscript submissions received and, by implication, the potential for number of articles actually published per section. Prospective contributing authors are encouraged to contact any member of the Editorial Board for assistance in manuscript preparation and submission. Furthermore, this type of assistance is also available through the journal’s publishing firm—Multimed—and can be coordinated in tandem with any Editorial Board member.

This calendar year of 2009 provides the IJTMB with its first opportunity for the complete range of quarterly issues. By the start of 2010, six issues will have been published and a context established for the journal to serve as one of two publishing venues for two major international conferences. As referenced in the News/Announcements section of this issue, the IJTMB will be a publishing venue for selected papers scheduled for presentation at the Second International Fascia Research Congress in Amsterdam in October 2009. Likewise, the journal will function as a publishing outlet for selected presentations at the Second Highlighting Massage Therapy in CIM Research Conference to be held in Seattle in May 2010. The IJTMB’s track record established thus far in its first year of existence—in combination with the publishing expectations of the two previously-cited conferences—should allow for an even further expansion in the near future of the journal’s impact among colleagues involved in the research, educational, and practice aspects of the massage/bodywork profession.