Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics: a bibliographic analysis

The first 9 years of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT) (1978-1986) were surveyed to determine concentrations of research activity, educational backgrounds of contributors, sources of funding for chiropractic science, and the volume and kinds of research in chiropractic. Most articles were authored by chiropractors but a fourth of all articles included contributors with scientific/academic doctorates. Most chiropractors were affiliated with a chiropractic college, but collaboration among chiropractic colleges was rare. A recent increase in contributions from private practitioners was also evident. Authors with medical training were uncommon (6%). National College and Canadian Memorial together accounted for 43% of all articles, and 72% of papers whose authors gave chiropractic college affiliations. Authors acknowledged 30 funding sources, and the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER) accounted for a third of all grants (18 of 55). Empirical studies increased in frequency from 1978 to 1986, but accounted for less than half of the papers. Case reports have been the most common form of original data report; 39 were published in JMPT during the 9 year period. Controlled clinical trials of chiropractic healing methods were extremely rare (3 of 334 papers). A need for greatly expanded clinical research in chiropractic is suggested.