About the Journal
As the leading resource for peer-reviewed state-of-the-science information on spinal cord injury and disease, Topics in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation (TSCIR) is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the study and dissemination of practical and theoretical information related to the subject of spinal cord injury rehabilitation. The information contained within TSCIR represents the entire translational spectrum, ranging from basic science to clinical trials, and has proven invaluable for the entire SCI care team, including physicians, therapists, nurses, psychologists, social workers, case managers and others, as well as researchers, policy-makers and industry partners.
The journal reports on clinical practices, state-of-the-art concepts, and new developments in spinal cord injury patient care and research. Both primary research papers and comprehensive reviews of existing literature are included. A unique feature of TSCIR is that each issue includes research papers that keep you up-to-date with the latest clinical developments through in-depth coverage of a single key topic. These ‘topical editions’ serve as the go-to reference for clinicians and researchers alike. With this structure, the objective of the journal is to summarize and synthesize current knowledge on a selected timely topic in spinal cord injury rehabilitation and to present current research articles of interest to the spinal cord injury professional.
Mission Statement: To disseminate relevant and timely science and scholarship in topical areas that advance translational and applied research and facilitate evidence-informed interdisciplinary medicine and rehabilitation in spinal cord injury and dysfunction (SCI\D).
Vision Statement: TSCIR will be an essential resource for those who advocate for advanced research and policy changes, education, and practice in the field.
TSCIR is indexed in Medicus and MEDLINE, PUBMED Central, EMBASE, the Excerpta Medica database; CINAHL, the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature; Psychological Abstracts; PsycINFO; PsycLIT; and OT Bibsys.
The TSCIR Online Archive is fully indexed and includes all articles from 1997 to present.
TSCIR Statistical Guidelines
Submitted manuscripts with quantitative analyses should be accompanied by appropriate analytic techniques and transparent reporting of them. Information about the choice of analytic approach should be included in the ‘Methods’ section. This should include rationale for the choice of analytic procedure, details of treatment and consideration of relevant assumptions of the approach, and description of any other relevant considerations (e.g., missing data, outliers, skew). Also, the significance level, whether tests were 1- or 2-sided and the statistical software used should be noted.
All quantitative results should be reported with measure of variability. Confidence intervals are highly recommended. Please remember that P-values do not provide evidence of the strength of an effect, so appropriate effect size metrics should be included whenever quantitative results are reported to quantify their meaningfulness.
Much recent attention has been placed on the use of p-values and statistical significance testing in science. Although significance tests and p-values can provide information regarding the incompatibility with a relevant null hypothesis, the potential for Type I errors remain in such tests. This is particularly true when multiple significance tests are conducted. As such, appropriate corrections should be utilized to minimize the chances of such errors. Exploratory studies should clearly be defined as such, and should include corrections for multiple comparisons designed for such studies if more than a few comparisons are being conducted. Additionally, when used, p-values should be reported as continuous values to ensure transparency and provide relevant information about the potential compatibility or incompatibility of a result with a null hypothesis. Authors should avoid dichotomous reporting (e.g., p < .05 or p > .05) and provide exact values generated by the analytic approach instead. Finally, p-values above some established threshold (e.g., .05), and thus considered ‘nonsignificant,’ do not constitute evidence of lack of association or lack of differences between conditions. If the authors’ a priori goals for an analysis involve establishing such equivalence or lack of association then appropriate non-inferiority or equivalence testing methods should be utilized.
Additional resources for specific article types that may be useful for researchers:
Clinical trials: Clinical trials should take into consideration information in the CONSORT (CONsolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) statement: www.consort-statement.org/
Multivariate predictive prognostic or diagnostic models: Should consider Transparent Reporting of a multivariable prediction model for Individual Prognosis or Diagnosis guidelines: https://www.tripod-statement.org/
Observational studies: Observational studies should carefully consider wording with regards to the difficulty in establishing causation, and should consult the STROBE (STrengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology) statement: https://strobe-statement.org/
Systematic reviews & meta-analyses: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should utilize appropriate quantitative summary approaches when possible, and consult the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement: http://prisma-statement.org/
Impact Factor: 2.9 (TSCIR was first eligible for inclusion in 2018.) Impact Factor measures the average number of citations received in a particular year by papers published in the journal during the two preceding years. Journal Citation Reports
ISI Journal Citation Reporting © Ranking: 2018: 83/191 (Physical therapy, Sports therapy, and Rehabilitation), 51/120 (Rehabilitation), 213/363 (Neurology-clinical)
ISSN: 10820744 (Print); 1945-5763 (Electronic)