Journal Clubs examples and information
Contents of this webpage
- Real life examples of journal clubs run by members
- Journals Online
- Other Online resources
- More tips for organising a successful Journal Club
- How Journal clubs can support people with Knowledge and Skills Framework(KSF)
Real life examples of journal clubs run by members
If you have an example of how you run your journal club that you wish to share with other members please email us.
Example 1
I have been running a journal club for about a year and a half (5 meetings to date). We meet three times a year and have now found a formula which seems to work for us. Each session is 1 hour long and is devoted to a particular topic which has been chosen at the previous meeting (e.g. therapy for word finding or social skills). I identify two papers published in peer reviewed journals on the topic and allocate half of the department to read one and half the other (I read both), although everyone receives a copy of both in case they want to read both and so they have something to refer to during the meeting.
I send these out several weeks in advance of the meeting. One volunteer summarises each paper (different people at each meeting) and we have general discussion time too.
The timing is roughly:
5 mins - Introduce the topic
10 mins - Summary of first paper
10 mins - Discussion re first paper
10 mins - Summary of second paper
10 mins - Discussion re second paper
10-15 mins - General discussion regarding what it all means for our practice
Hope this is of use
Susan Ebbels
Moor House School
Example 2
Our journal club in the Adult SLT Team at Medway PCT, has been running for about two years. We meet once every two months, with a topic decided beforehand. Attendance is voluntary but each attendee must find a relevant article to contribute to the discussion. There is also an article summary form with several sections to be filled in by the person bringing the article. The form fills just one side of A4.
The meeting lasts for two hours. During the meeting we drink tea, eat biscuits and take it in turns to describe our articles, including a brief evaluation of the methodology. Ensuing discussions often involve anecdotal evidence from our own experience. At the end of the meeting, we summarise our discussions and make a list of recommendations for our own clinical practice as a team. Copies of each article summary and our overall conclusions are then copied and kept in a file on each site for future reference.
We carried out a review of the journal club a few months ago and there was overwhelming support for the continuation of the club.
Example 3
I work in Plymouth Teaching Primary Care Trust and we have just set up a Journal club (we are calling it a Research Focus Group). I am lead therapist for a small team (3 people) with 1 day a month ring-fenced time for research and service development. We set this group up to encourage ourselves and the rest of our service to read more research and consider the impact of this on our practice.
We started by asking someone from our Research and Development Support Unit to come and talk to us about critical appraisal. This was a great way to start as it gave us a structure to look at papers and ask questions - not just take everything we read as fact. It would be ideal to do a half day Critical Appraisal Skills course too.
We meet about every 6 weeks and take turns to choose a paper so that we cover a broad range of research. I have attended courses on searching clinical databases in order to help get hold of papers and am learning how the library can support us.
The discussions are great and you always come away feeling differently about what you've just read. Unfortunately, the only problem we are finding is getting hold of enough quality research. So much of what is published seems to be flawed. It's made us want to get involved in research, which is a good thing.
However, with the changes to the RDSU from Sept this year it will be virtually impossible to get any support to do so unless we are involved in multi-centred, funded projects. This is really going to hinder anyone getting started in research.
Example 4
Evaluation of a journal club
Background
In May 2006 a proposal was put forward by Fran Virden (Speech and Language Therapist) and Gerry Coulson (Speech and Language Therapist) for a Journal Club to be founded for individuals within the Adult Learning Disability Therapy Services Team. It was felt that this forum if held regularly would facilitate supported learning and provide evidence of CPD taking place. The meetings were to include presentations from anyone who volunteered about any subject and on any media related to work. Guidelines on reviewing articles and on presentation were provided. A chair was appointed as timekeeper and to coordinate delivery of the presentations.
The proposal was accepted and the first meeting took place on 05.07.07. There have been 8 meetings in total; roughly every 6 weeks. The meetings took place prior to a team meeting to enable maximum attendance. R and K from nursing have also attended as they are closely linked to the work of the team. Originally it was planned to open out membership further but this was changed as it was felt that the accommodation would not be sufficient and it may become less useful to as many people.
Each meeting had a maximum of two presentations and the delivery of these was shared amongst 14 core team members. Average attendance was 9 and at least 19 people, including students, have attended. There are 3 members of the current team who have not attended yet. 8 people have presented (apart from 2 OT students) 4 of whom have presented twice. There are therefore a significant number of people who have not yet presented. Two presentations were done jointly between 2 people.
Evaluation
Included over the next few pages is a summary of the sessions and feedback gained from questionnaires sent out recently to those who have attended. (Some staff are no longer with the team so their input was not requested neither was that from some new staff or very part-time staff who have not attended yet).
Generally the feedback is very positive and the consensus is for the club to continue. It is proposed that it continue during 2008 half-way through every other all day meeting. This would mean that there would be 6 meetings through the year. It is proposed that they continue with the same format and duration as before i.e. two fifteen minute sessions.
Please click here to read feedback from questionnaires
Gerry Coulson and Fran Virden
November 2007
Example 5I am responsible for the organisation of the journal club in our paediatric department and have gained feedback from the members of our team:
- Each team member is asked what topics they would like to be discussed or any topics that they could cover themselves.
- We then have a vote on the suggestions and formulate a programme for the year.
- Each member of the department is expected to host a journal club at some point!
- We have one 1 1/2 - 2 hour session per month.
- The range of topics covered months include: Working with difficult to motivate client groups, feedback ad discussion about the Pre-school Celf (2) and Celf 4 assessments, the impact of enlarged tonsils on speech, feedback on the use of Making Priorities Count, Topic Based Language Groups, Assessment and managment of early language skills, assessment and diagnosis of Specific Speech and Language Difficulties.
- The time and location stay the same (always held at the end of the day as this was the preference) but the day changes each month to ensure that part time staff can attend as many as possible.
- Attendence is not compulsary but is recommended.
- The 'hosts' range from newly qaulified SLTs to the Highly Specialist SLTs.
The feedback we have recieved is that it works well because it is an informal environment, it provides opportunity to learn more about what each SLT in doing in their different settings, it is useful for students to attend and plenty of notice is given about the topic and the dates.
Acknowledgment and thanks to the members who have kindly written about their journal clubs for the benefit of other members.If you have an example of how you run your journal club that you wish to share with other members please email us.
Journals Online
We've compiled a list of journals people have suggested on this page. If you have any more let us know. You will find useful abstracts by attending the Scientific Conference in March 2009.
A great place to start is with The International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders.
The RCSLT's widely-respected international research journal publishes peer-reviewed papers on the latest speech and language therapy related research.
Certain RCSLT membership categories receive this journal as part of their annual subscription. Please see our membership information for more details.
IJLCD back issues are also available online for RCSLT members.
You can download back issues from our website.
This is not an exhaustive list.
Other online resources
Put simply, Athens is an online database that contains information from a wide variety of educational, public and private enterprises. The information you can access through Athens is extremely varied but includes research papers, journals, libraries and many others.Access to Athens is usually arranged at an organisational level rather than for individuals and many PCTs have access. If you want more information about how to access Athens please contact your PCT if you work in the NHS. If you are an SLT working in private practice you can contact ASLTP for more information.
To give you an idea of the resources available through Athens please see this link: http://www.athensams.net/allresources
To find out how to get access directly to Athens please see this link: http://www.athensams.net/libraries/faq
More tips for organising a successful Journal Club
The RCSLT Professional Development Services manager also did a quick Internet search and found some other useful publicly available links:Organising a successful journal club
Andrew J Gibbons
http://careerfocus.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/325/7371/S137a
What makes evidence-based journal clubs succeed?
Robert S Phillips and Paul Glasziou
http://www.cebm.net/index.aspx?o=1263
How Journal Clubs can support people with Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF)
- Workbased learning
- Professional Activity
Core 2 - Personal and people development levels 3 and 4 as part of enabling others to develop
- Self-directed learning
IK3 - Knowledge and information resources - level 1
Don't forget, you can reflect on your Journal Club activities as part of your CPD, click here to open the Reflective Writing e-learning.
Back to top