Talking to Each Other

Clarity of communication is a goal for all of us. Through Pediatric Physical Therapy, our goal is to clearly communicate evidence, thoughts, and opinions in order to improve the care of the children we serve and their families and to share knowledge and opinions with our colleagues and all of our readers. Clarity of communication is enhanced with the use of a common language. In physical therapy we have terms from for example, anatomy, physiology, and our shared clinical language. In research, however, we have not established a common reporting language that would enhance the clarity of our communication. We encourage the use of a common language in all reporting in Pediatric Physical Therapy through the use of published guidelines and checklists. The use of these common instruments is not applied rigidly. We want to ensure that we encourage creativity and openness in pursuing knowledge and best practice. As you will read in the following editorial, adopting common forms of expression for our research enhances the clarity of our communication. This enhances the usability of research and our ability to appraise and replicate research. Pediatric Physical Therapy guides to reporting language are located in the Instructions for Authors on our website (http://edmgr.ovid.com/ped-pt/accounts/ifauth.htm).

In this issue, we co-publish an editorial encouraging the use of the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) guidelines for reporting intervention research. Please take the time to read the editorial. We believe this will enhance the clarity of communication, which will benefit all.

Linda Fetters
Editor-in-Chief
Freeport, Maine