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Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 2009, 28, 119-140
© 2009 Human Kinetics, Inc.
A Decade of Research Literature
in Physical Education Pedagogy
Pamela Hodges Kulinna,1 Kristin Scrabis-Fletcher,2
Stephen Kodish,3 Sharon Phillips,4 and Stephen Silverman4
1Arizona State University; 2University of Delaware; 3Arizona
State University; 4Teachers College, Columbia University
The purpose of this study was to provide a detailed analysis of the research literature
in physical education for one decade, including data on the research focus (i.e., teach-
ing, teacher education, and curriculum). A database of published research and
research-based scholarship was created. Data were coded maintaining 97% or higher
agreement levels. There were 1,819 physical education pedagogy research papers
published during 1995–2004 in 94 different journals, including those that primarily
pertain to (a) physical education (56.40%), (b) kinesiology (30.02%), (c) education
and social science (9.35%), and (d) heath education and medical (4.23%). Papers
represented all three focus areas: teaching (65.31%), curriculum (19.24%), and
teacher education (15.45%). Research in physical education pedagogy has increased
each year since 1995, including a small presence in education and social science
journals as well as health education and medical journals.
Keywords: sport pedagogy, impact factor, scholarly publishing
The research literature of a field provides a record of published work and
accumulated knowledge. There have been a few systematic analyses of the
research literature in physical education pedagogy. They, however, have had a
limited focus. Silverman and his colleagues (Silverman, 1987; Silverman &
Manson, 2003; Silverman & Skonie, 1997) have provided the initial efforts to
identify, categorize, and analyze the published papers as well as dissertations per-
taining to research on teaching in physical education (RT-PE), and, even though
these have provided some insight, they were narrowly focused and there is a need
for more current data.
The two investigations of dissertations on RT-PE (Silverman, 1987; Silver-
man & Manson, 2003) provide a quarter of a century of detailed analyses of dis-
sertations in this area. The overwhelming majority of RT-PE dissertations have
focused on teacher effectiveness, with many studies comparing teaching methods’
efficacy on student outcomes, teaching process, or student engagement (Silver-
man, 1987).There has been a more recent movement to enhance the initial studies
on motor skills through studies of student attitude, cognition, decision making,
and emotion. Similar to the trends in other education and social science fields,
there has been a large increase in the use of qualitative methodologies in disserta-
tion studies over time (Silverman & Manson, 2003).

2. 120 Hodges Kulinna et al.
Similar findings to the dissertation reviews were reported by Silverman and
Skonie (1997) in their investigation of published articles on RT-PE. They studied
the published literature on teaching in physical education from 1980 to 1994.
Findings showed that many of the research studies addressed teacher effectiveness
and used quantitative methodologies. The primary publication outlet for articles
on RT-PE was the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education. These initial, com-
prehensive research efforts investigating articles and dissertations in the area of
RT-PE provide important summary data and have greatly improved our under-
standing of the body of literature on RT-PE.
Various paradigms or ways of thinking and patterns for research (Gage, 1963)
are now used to investigate issues in the field of physical education pedagogy.
Shulman (1986), in the third Handbook of Research on Teaching, discusses com-
munities of scholars, practitioners, and policy makers whose activities and inter-
ests comprise the field of education. These research communities, and how mem-
bers conceive the problems and methods to investigate them, use research
paradigms to conduct scholarship within a field. Macdonald and her colleagues
defined and discussed the key paradigms used in the field of PE pedagogy, and
these included positivist, interpretative, socially critical, poststructuralist, and
feminist (Macdonald et al., 2002).
Research communities make decisions about the best ways to study teaching,
teacher education, and curriculum based on attributes of participants, context,
agenda, and the research paradigm. These choices can lead to substantially differ-
ent research programs and different reports about antecedents, teaching experi-
ences, and outcomes. One very positive note is the increased use of multiple para-
digmstoinvestigateresearchquestions,thusprovidingcomplementaryperspectives
and data (Eid & Diener, 2006). Programs of research are influenced by the dialogs
and debates or the conversation among scholars. These occur in print, at national
and regional meetings, in sessions of invisible colleges, graduate classes, corre-
spondence, and departmental meetings where colleagues react to each others’
work (Locke, Spirduso, & Silverman, 2007; Shulman, 1986).
When reviewing the body of knowledge in a field, researchers consider the
quality of its journals in order to determine which are the most relevant to read and
which are the most appropriate to publish our research papers (McGhee &
Ormonde, 2004). Journal quality is often judged using one or both of the follow-
ing measures: (a) peer assessment and (b) impact factor rating (Yue, Wilson, &
Boller, 2007). Although there are limitations with peer ratings due to subjectivity,
peer evaluations are an accepted form of evaluation used in a variety of disci-
plines. Impact factors, although sometimes considered a more objective measure,
also hold inherent biases (e.g., review articles are at an advantage), and can be
artificially inflated (Leff, 2005). In order for papers to have an impact factor, the
journal must be selected for inclusion in Scientific Citation Indexes from Thom-
son Reuters, which is the publisher of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI)
Web of Knowledge. Inclusion in these indices is based on publishing standards,
editorial content, international diversity of authorship, and associated citation data
(ISI Web of Knowledge, 2007), and a number of years may need to pass before
new journals can be considered.
Impact factors are calculated by the number of citations in other journals over
a 2-year period divided by the total number of articles in that period (Harter &

3. Literature in PE 121
Nisonger, 1997). Thus, for a specific journal in 2007, the number of citations
received by the journal in 2007 for articles that were published in 2005 and 2006
is divided by the number of articles that the journal published in 2005 and 2006.
In some large fields, all journals have larger impact factors than those from a
smaller field of scholarship. Therefore, the comparison of impact factors across
scholarly fields may be problematic, and it is beneficial to scholars and those
evaluating scholarship to have a variety of perspectives on publishing outlets.
Journal quality is used in the larger academic community to rank and evaluate
journals. In the health sciences, journal impact factor ratings may be more common
than peer assessments in evaluating journal quality (Yue et al., 2007), whereas in
many other areas peer assessment plays a larger role. These journal quality mea-
sures are used by faculty members and administrators in making critical decisions
regarding promotion and tenure, funding allocations, merit, and awards (McBride,
2006; Sieck, 2000). Furthermore, the perceived quality of journals in which fac-
ulty members have published also reflects on the department, college, and
university.
This study aims to improve our understanding of published research in physi-
cal education pedagogy by providing objective data that can be used by scholars
in the area because, as just mentioned, journal selection, citations, and the quality
of journals may affect promotion and tenure decisions about faculty members, as
well as merit and other awards. This study builds upon the previous work (Silver-
man, 1987; Silverman & Manson, 2003; Silverman & Skonie, 1997; Ward & Ko,
2006) by adding a global examination of research on physical education pedagogy
(R-PEP) across focus areas and type of journal. Having detailed information on
publications provides the field with a multifaceted view of scholarship in the field.
This expanded understanding can help us identify needs and directions for future
study, further document and enhance the conversation in the field, and provide
scholars and administrators with greater insight into publication outlets and pub-
lishing patterns of faculty. These publishing trends can supplement other indica-
tors of publishing productivity and quality and thus help us make important deci-
sions about faculty members and research programs.
The purpose of this study, therefore, was to provide a detailed analysis of the
research literature in physical education pedagogy for one decade. Specifically,
the purpose was to identify, categorize into type of journal (physical education
pedagogy, kinesiology, education and social science, health education and medi-
cal) and area of the field (teaching, teacher education, curriculum), and analyze
the R-PEP literature from 1995 to 2004.
Method
Procedures
Identifying Articles. A database was created of published research and research-
based scholarship that focused on teaching, teacher education, and curriculum in
physical education for articles published from 1995 to 2004. This decade permit-
ted article identification for all journals—even those with a lag for retrieval pur-
poses (the initial data collection began in 2004 and took two members of the
research team over 500 hr in a little over 1 year to complete). The first step was to

4. 122 Hodges Kulinna et al.
create lists of all possible authors and journals needed to conduct searches. This
was done using the following resources: (a) American Education Research Asso-
ciation (AERA) Physical Education Special Interest Group member list, (b) all
authors and journals identified in the previous review (Silverman & Skonie, 1997),
(c) all authors and journals identified in an edited book on research on teaching in
physical education (Silverman & Ennis, 2003a) and the physical education chap-
ter in the Handbook of Research on Teaching (Graber, 2001), (d) reviewing vari-
ous journal and textbook reference lists, and (e) examining university Web sites
with known physical education pedagogy programs and reviewing faculty vitas
online. This was followed by an initial search of library databases by typing in the
phrase “physical education” to see which journals appeared without looking at the
specific articles. In addition, reviews of hard copies of current journal issues were
conducted. In this step, the journal title and table of contents were reviewed for
relevance. If the journal seemed to be a possible outlet for research in physical
education pedagogy, it was added to the list of journals to be reviewed.
An extensive literature search was then performed. The search was conducted
using electronic databases and by searching hard copies of journals. Computer
searches were conducted on authors, journals, and known topics, including physi-
cal education, teaching physical education, physical education curriculum, moti-
vation in physical education, learning in physical education, physical education
research, and physical education activity. The searches were performed on each of
the following databases: (a) ERIC, (b) SportDiscus, (c) ProQuest, (d) Medline, (e)
PubMed, (f) PsycINFO, (g) Wilson Web, (h) Ingenta, (i) JSTOR Heath and Sci-
ence, (j) Education Full Text, (k) Social Sciences Citation Index, (l) Ebsco Host,
and (m) Digital Dissertations (to review reference lists). For journals that were
identified in previous steps, all relevant journal issues were reviewed. As new
authors and journals were identified, they were added to the list and the databases
were reviewed again for the new listings.
Articles were only included if they reported research or were research based
(e.g., review article or methodological paper). Procedures included reading the
abstract and determining that the article addressed content related to physical edu-
cation pedagogy and was research based. When articles were entered into the
database, the complete citation was included, as was the type of journal in which
it was published.
Reliability of Article Inclusion. The search and initial coding into journal type
were performed by two of the authors. One author researched and coded articles
in physical education, kinesiology, and health education and medical journals, and
the other author addressed education and social science journals. To have confi-
dence that each person was including the same material and the search was
exhaustive, the agreement of article inclusion was examined. Three years were
randomly selected (1995, 1999, and 2004) for the reliability analysis. Both authors
who conducted searches independently researched and made decisions for all
journals for these three years. The number of agreements and disagreements per
journal and for all articles was tabulated and percent agreement calculated.
Coding Research Focus. Two different authors independently coded all articles
as teaching, teacher education, or curriculum-based studies using the criteria

5. Literature in PE 123
outlined by Silverman and Ennis (2003b) in the introductory chapter of their book
on R-PEP. One of the authors also recorded the number of authors for each article
into the database. Percent agreement was calculated on the two sets of research
focus data.
Data Analyses
An analysis of the citations in the database was completed by cross-tabulation.
Descriptive statistics also were performed on the continuous variable of number
of authors. Impact factors were retrieved from the ISI Web of Knowledge.
Results
Reliability Analysis for Article Inclusion and Focus
The initial review of articles included 97 journals across the 3-year period used to
calculate percent agreement between the two persons collecting data. Both indi-
viduals agreed that three journals did not have R-PEP articles during those 3 years.
These 94 journals contained 469 articles used in the analysis. Across articles,
there was agreement on 456 papers and disagreement on 13; thus, the percent
agreement for the two sets of coding for the 3 years was 97% for the physical
education pedagogy articles. For the journals’ classifications into the four catego-
ries of physical education, kinesiology, education and social science, and heath
education and medical, there was agreement on 59 journals and there were some
disagreements on 8 (1 to 4 disagreements per journal), and thus an overall 88%
agreement. When coding research focus—whether the article focus was on teach-
ing, teacher education, or curriculum—the interrater agreement exceeded 98%.
R-PEP Publications
The 1,819 physical education pedagogy papers from 1995 to 2004 were published
in 94 journals. There was a trend indicating the number of papers increased most
years from 1995 to 2004 (see Figure 1). Papers were published in all four journal
types: (a) physical education journals (n = 1,026, 56.40%), (b) kinesiology jour-
nals (n = 546; 30.02%), (c) education and social science journals (n = 170; 9.35%),
and (d) health education/medical journals (n = 77, 4.23%). A complete listing of
the 94 journals published during 1995–2004 in physical education pedagogy,
including classification type, is available in Table 1.
Across all journal types, the two journals with the most R-PEP articles from
1995 to 2004 were the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education and the Physi-
cal Educator. The majority of physical education papers were published in the
area of teaching, 1,188 (65.31%); followed by curriculum, 350 (19.24%); and
teacher education, 281 (15.45%). Research focus by journal type is available in
Table 2, and research focus over time is presented in Figure 2.
The number of authors on physical education pedagogy papers ranged from
1 to 10 (M = 2.19, SD = 1.34). The mean number of authors was similar across
journal type for education and social science (M = 2.36, SD = 1.33), kinesiology

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(M = 2.32, SD = 1.42), and physical education (M = 1.94, SD = 1.08), with more
authors involved in the health and medical publications (M = 4.22, SD = 1.92).
Finally, Table 3 presents the impact factors for all of the journals published in over
the 10-year period.
Discussion
This analysis of research, which differs from a literature review in that it catego-
rizes results rather than synthesizes them, it builds upon the early work of Silver-
man and Skonie (1997), it adds to the foundation used to understand research
trends, and it plans for developments in the field. Similar analyses of research are
common in a number of other fields, such as peer assessments of journal quality
in, among others, clinical neurology (Yue et al., 2007) and sport management
(Shilbury & Rentschler, 2007).
The previous study of RT-PE from 1980 to 1994 showed that the number of
papers published each year had grown; however, there was a great deal of vari-
ability (Silverman & Skonie, 1997). The current study also showed the published
research in the larger field of physical education pedagogy (teaching, teacher edu-
cation, and curriculum) continuing to grow, with a fairly consistent increase in
journal publications each year. Our field needs to continue recruiting and training
individuals to carry out R-PEP to build our theoretical body of knowledge and
understanding of how to help children become and remain physically active for
Figure 1 — Physical education pedagogy publications by year and journal type.

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Table 1 Journals by Type and Percent of Publications
Type of Journal and Name of Journal
Percent
of Publications
Number
of Articles
Frequency
of Journal
Publication
Physical Education Pedagogy
Journal of Teaching in Physical Education 14.38 262 Quarterly
Physical Educator 9.00 164 Quarterly
British Journal of Teaching Physical Education (formerly British Journal of
Physical Education)
7.63 139 Quarterly
European Physical Education Review 5.16 94 3 times/year
International Journal of Physical Education 4.72 86 Quarterly
Journal of International Council for Health, Physical Education, Recreation,
Sport and Dance
4.12 75 Quarterly
Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy (formerly European Journal of
Physical Education)
3.68 67 3 times/year
Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly 2.63 48 Quarterly
Avante 1.92 35 3 times/year
Physical and Health Education Journal 1.21 22 Quarterly
Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (research publications
only)
1.04 19 9 times/year
Journal of Sport Pedagogy 0.66 12 No longer in print
Journal of Comparative Sport and Physical Education 0.16 3 Quarterly
Kinesiology
Quest 6.75 123 Quarterly
Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport 4.01 73 Quarterly
Sport, Education and Society 3.29 60 Quarterly
(continued)

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Table 1 (continued)
Type of Journal and Name of Journal
Percent
of Publications
Number
of Articles
Frequency
of Journal
Publication
Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science 3.24 59 Quarterly
Australian Council for Health, Physical Education & Recreation Healthy
Lifestyles Journal
2.80 51 3 times/year
Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise 2.36 43 Monthly
Pediatric Exercise Science 1.43 26 Quarterly
Perceptual and Motor Skills 1.26 23 Bimonthly
Journal of Human Movement Studies 0.88 16 Bimonthly
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sport 0.82 15 Bimonthly
International Journal of Sports Medicine 0.44 8 Monthly
Clinical Kinesiology 0.33 6 Quarterly
Exercise and Sport Science Review 0.33 6 Quarterly
Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 0.33 6 Quarterly
Psychology of Sport and Exercise 0.27 5 Bimonthly
International Sports Journal 0.22 4 2 times/year
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 0.22 4 Bimonthly
Journal of Sport Sciences 0.22 4 14 times/year
British Journal of Sports Medicine 0.16 3 Monthly
International Journal of the History of Sport 0.11 2 Quarterly
Journal of Applied Sport Psychology 0.11 2 Quarterly
Journal of Sport and Social Issues 0.11 2 Quarterly
Sociology of Sport Journal 0.11 2 Quarterly
Journal of Sport Behavior 0.05 1 Quarterly
(continued)

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Table 1 (continued)
Type of Journal and Name of Journal
Percent
of Publications
Number
of Articles
Frequency
of Journal
Publication
Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 0.05 1 Quarterly
The Sport Journal 0.05 1 Quarterly
Education and Social Science
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 0.71 13 Quarterly
Journal of Applied Social Psychology 0.66 12 Monthly
Teaching and Teacher Education 0.55 10 8 times/year
College Student Journal 0.44 8 Monthly
Journal of Curriculum Studies 0.44 8 Bimonthly
Education 0.38 7 Quarterly
Gender and Education 0.38 7 Bimonthly
Psychological Reports 0.38 7 Bimonthly
British Journal of Educational Psychology 0.33 6 Quarterly
Journal of Classroom Interaction 0.33 6 2 times/year
Journal of Psychology 0.33 6 Bimonthly
Women’s Studies International Forum 0.33 6 Quarterly
Elementary School Journal 0.27 5 Quarterly
Studies in Philosophy and Education 0.27 5 Bimonthly
Educational Leadership 0.22 4 8 times/year
Journal of Educational Psychology 0.22 4 Quarterly
Journal of Research and Development in Education 0.22 4 Quarterly
Social Behavior and Personality 0.22 4 10 times/year
Behavior Modification 0.16 3 Bimonthly
(continued)

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Table 1 (continued)
Type of Journal and Name of Journal
Percent
of Publications
Number
of Articles
Frequency
of Journal
Publication
Educational Psychology 0.16 3 Bimonthly
Educational Review 0.16 3 Quarterly
Educational and Psychological Measurement 0.16 3 Bimonthly
European Journal of Social Psychology 0.16 3 Bimonthly
Race, Ethnicity and Education 0.16 3 Quarterly
Review of Educational Research 0.16 3 Quarterly
Action in Teacher Education 0.11 2 Quarterly
Contemporary Educational Psychology 0.11 2 Quarterly
Educational Studies 0.11 2 Quarterly
Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology 0.11 2 Bimonthly
Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk 0.11 2 Quarterly
Journal of Educational Research 0.11 2 Bimonthly
Journal of Experiential Education 0.11 2 3 times/year
Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education 0.11 2 Quarterly
Education and Treatment of Children 0.05 1 Quarterly
Journal of Curriculum and Supervision 0.05 1 Quarterly
Journal of Research in Childhood Education 0.05 1 Quarterly
Learning and Individual Differences 0.05 1 Quarterly
Learning and Instruction 0.05 1 Bimonthly
Middle School Journal 0.05 1 5 times/year
Psychological Review 0.05 1 Quarterly
Remedial and Special Education 0.05 1 Bimonthly
(continued)

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Table 1 (continued)
Type of Journal and Name of Journal
Percent
of Publications
Number
of Articles
Frequency
of Journal
Publication
Rural Educator 0.05 1 3 times/year
Urban Review 0.05 1 Quarterly
Health Education and Medical Journals
Journal of School Health 1.10 20 10 times/year
Preventive Medicine 0.77 14 Monthly
Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine 0.55 10 Monthly
American Journal of Public Health 0.33 6 Monthly
Canadian Journal of Public Health 0.33 6 Bimonthly
Health Education Quarterly/Health Education & Behavior 0.22 4 Quarterly
Health Psychology 0.22 4 Bimonthly
American Journal of Health Education 0.22 4 Bimonthly
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (formerly Mental Retardation) 0.16 3 Bimonthly
Psychology and Health 0.16 3 Bimonthly
American Journal of Health Education 0.11 2 Bimonthly
Health Educator 0.05 1 2 times/year

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Table 2 Publications by Type of Journal and Focus
Journal Type Curriculum Focus
Teacher Education
Focus Teaching Focus Totals by Type of Journal
Education 32 (1.76) 21 (1.15) 117 (6.43) 170 (9.36)
Health 18 (0.99) 0 (0) 59 (3.24) 77 (4.23)
Kinesiology 82 (4.51) 41 (2.25) 423 (23.25) 546 (30.02)
Physical Education 218 (11.98) 219 (12.04) 589 (32.38) 1026 (56.40)
Total 350 (19.24) 281 (15.45) 1188 (65.31) 1819 (100)
Note. Values are frequency and percentages of total articles.

13. Literature in PE 131
life. While the research base has grown and flourished, it is important that sus-
tained research continue and be published in appropriate, quality outlets.
The majority of papers are published in physical education and kinesiology
journals. Although there is not a direct correspondence between the measures in
the current study and Silverman & Skonie’s (1997) paper, the earlier study coded
articles published in “generic education” journals at 10.6%, and the current study
coded articles in any “education or social science” journal at 9.11%; thus, there
has been relative consistency in publications in education journals. Although the
current study’s classification system of “health education and medical” journals
was not included in the previous studies, it is encouraging to note that publications
in the health area are now large enough to warrant coding and that the conversa-
tion has begun between faculty in the physical education pedagogy and the health/
medical fields. A number of collaborative studies conducted in physical education
and health/medical fields are discussed in Story’s (1999) review of 11 school-
based intervention studies targeting the prevention and treatment of childhood
obesity. Of the 11 intervention projects reviewed, 10 had a physical education
component. It is important to continue this conversation with personnel in health
and medical fields, wherein the focus of research can develop comprehensive pro-
gramming leading to students whose lives exemplify the concept of physical
activity for life. In addition, if good research is to be focused on physical educa-
tion, it will require pedagogy scholars—the experts on school physical educa-
tion—to be a part of these multidisciplinary teams.
Figure 2 — Physical education pedagogy publications by year and focus.

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Table 3 Impact Factor Ratings Listed by Frequency of Publications in Physical Education Pedagogy
Journal
Impact Factor
2004 2005 2006
Journal of Teaching in Physical Education 0.462 0.500 0.900
Physical Educator Not on ISI
British Journal of Teaching Physical Education (formerly British
Journal of Physical Education)
Not on ISI
Quest 0.644 0.577 0.808
European Physical Education Review Not on ISI
International Journal of Physical Education Not on ISI
Journal of International Council for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation, Sport and Dance
Not on ISI
Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport 0.982 1.106 0.930
Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy (formerly European
Journal of Physical Education)
Not on ISI
Sport, Education and Society Not on ISI 1.081
Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science Not on ISI
Australian Council for Health, Physical Education & Recreation
Healthy Lifestyles Journal
Not on ISI
Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly 0.846 0.717 1.217
Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise 2.552 2.831 2.909
Avante Not on ISI
Pediatric Exercise Science 1.375 1.576 0.983
Perceptual and Motor Skills 0.334 0.363 0.333
Physical and Health Education Journal Not on ISI
Journal of School Health 0.872 0.721 0.856
(continued)

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Table 3 (continued)
Journal
Impact Factor
2004 2005 2006
Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (research
publications only)
Not on ISI
Journal of Human Movement Studies 0.1561 Not on ISI 0.096
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports 1.717 2.151 1.989
Preventive Medicine 2.327 2.195 2.390
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 1.131 0.846 0.491
Journal of Applied Social Psychology 0.642 0.533 0.566
Journal of Sport Pedagogy Not on ISI
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 2.893 3.566 3.565
Teaching and Teacher Education 0.496 0.462 0.496
College Student Journal Not on ISI
International Journal of Sports Medicine 1.357 1.433 1.240
Journal of Curriculum Studies 0.309 0.239 0.211
Education Not on ISI
Gender and Education 0.776 0.642 0.767
Psychological Reports 0.341 0.281 0.364
American Journal of Public Health 3.241 3.566 3.698
British Journal of Educational Psychology 0.915 0.810 1.145
Canadian Journal of Public Health 0.566 0.976 0.248
Clinical Kinesiology Not on ISI
Exercise and Sport Science Reviews 2.349 2.492 2.349
Journal of Classroom Interaction Not on ISI
(continued)

16. 134
Table 3 (continued)
Journal
Impact Factor
2004 2005 2006
Journal of Psychology 0.423 0.525 0.589
Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 1.411 1.167 1.457
Women’s Studies International Forum 0.242 0.423 0.462
Elementary School Journal 0.978 0.911 0.591
Psychology of Sport and Exercise Not on ISI 1.394
Studies in Philosophy and Education Not on ISI
Educational Leadership 0.221 0.283 0.210
Health Education Quarterly/Health Education & Behavior 1.349 1.720 1.818
Health Psychology 2.628 3.513 3.693
International Sports Journal Not on ISI
Journal of Educational Psychology 1.689 2.235 2.025
American Journal of Health Education Not on ISI
Journal of Research and Development in Education Not on ISI
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 0.675 1.050 1.212
Journal of Sport Sciences Not on ISI
Social Behavior and Personality 0.208 0.287 0.381
Behavior Modification 1.151 1.415 0.880
British Journal of Sports Medicine 1.259 1.855 2.233
Educational Psychology Not on ISI
Educational Review 0.333 0.390 0.267
Educational and Psychological Measurement 0.756 0.773 0.921
European Journal of Social Psychology 1.146 1.616 1.287
(continued)

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Table 3 (continued)
Journal
Impact Factor
2004 2005 2006
Journal of Comparative Sport and Physical Education Not on ISI
Intellectual and Development Disabilities (formerly Mental
Retardation)
Not on ISI
Psychology and Health 1.683 1.796 1.636
Race, Ethnicity and Education Not on ISI
Review of Educational Research 1.960 1.760 1.897
Action in Teacher Education Not on ISI
American Journal of Health Education Not on ISI
Contemporary Educational Psychology 0.750 1.120 1.089
Educational Studies 0.109 0.339 0.267
International Journal of the History of Sport Not on ISI
Journal of Applied Sport Psychology 0.902 0.906 1.220
Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology 1.176 1.101 1.923
Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk Not on ISI
Journal of Educational Research 0.439 0.377 0.444
Journal of Experiential Education Not on ISI
Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education Not on ISI
Journal of Sport and Social Issues Not on ISI 0.625 0.675
Sociology of Sport Journal 0.286 0.622 0.773
Education and Treatment of Children Not on ISI
Health Educator Not on ISI
Journal of Curriculum and Supervision Not on ISI
(continued)

18. 136
Table 3 (continued)
Journal
Impact Factor
2004 2005 2006
Journal of Research in Childhood Education Not on ISI
Journal of Sport Behavior Not on ISI
Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 0.680 0.856 0.568
Learning and Individual Differences 2.167 2.000 1.250
Learning and Instruction 1.617 1.548 1.717
Middle School Journal Not on ISI
Psychological Review 7.145 7.986 8.825
Remedial and Special Education 0.771 0.453 0.848
Rural Educator Not on ISI
The Sport Journal Not on ISI
Urban Review Not on ISI

19. Literature in PE 137
Coding the articles as using qualitative or quantitative methodologies was not
performed in this study. Chen and Zhu (2001) provided these data in their study
of the assumptions for inferential statistics in R-PEP. They reported methodologi-
cal data for two top-tier R-PEP journals, that is, the Research Quarterly for Exer-
cise and Sport (RQES) and the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education (JTPE)
from 1990 to 1999. Of the 295 research reports published during this time period
in these two journals, 122, or 41%, used qualitative methodologies. Similarly,
Ward and Ko (2006) also investigated articles published in JTPE by methodology
from 1981 to 2005 and reported for the 68% of the articles that were research
studies that they used quantitative (40%), qualitative (18%), mixed methods (6%),
and single-subject designs (4.5%). It is interesting to note that Silverman and
Skonie’s (1997) previous study on RT-PE only reported 8.9% of the studies as
using qualitative methodologies.
There still is an emphasis on RT-PE in the field of physical education peda-
gogy, with the majority of studies (>65%) continuing to address teaching issues.
There has been an upward trend in the number of publications and, perhaps, in the
number of studies focusing on teacher education and curriculum (although these
data have not previously been tracked). There certainly are different publication
outlets available for various research agendas, and these data suggest that tailoring
specific papers to specific types of journals will likely result in greater publishing
success and visibility. For example, as can be seen in Table 2, teacher education
papers are not published in health or medical journals because the focus of these
journals is not appropriate for teacher education research. Selecting journals in
which to publish based on a unitary criterion, such as impact factor, may not result
in success—and the data presented here provide a comprehensive analysis of the
R-PEP literature upon which to base decisions.
Different faculty teams (and authors) also are needed for different types of
projects, and this influences the number of authors on a paper. An in-depth analy-
sis of a physical education teacher’s content development studied over a semester
may require one or two team members to be immersed in the setting, whereas a
large, funded, multiyear intervention project may involve 20 or more team mem-
bers. A higher number of authors typically are present in published research in
medical fields. For example, the mean number of authors across five medical jour-
nals in 2005 was 5.73, and this was an increase of approximately 1 author from
1995 (Levsky, Rosin, Coon, Enslow, & Miller, 2007). Compare that with an edu-
cational management study that reported 48.7% of articles authored by one person
and 83.5% authored by one or two persons (Oplatka, 2007). The data from this
study reflect similar trends based on the type of journal in which articles were
published and serve as comparison data for those departments that assess the
number of authors as a part of the faculty evaluation process.
In reviewing the quality of journals published in physical education peda-
gogy, placing weight on impact factors could be very problematic. Journals with
small target audiences and a limited range, such as JTPE, face a distinct disadvan-
tage leading to lower impact factor ratings (McBride, 2006). There also are a
number of newer journals in the field that have not yet been added to the ISI. To
provide perspective, the median impact factor of the 100 education journals listed
in the ISI Web of Knowledge is .49, and for the 73 sport science journals listed it
is 1.02, whereas the impact factor rating for the journal Science is 30.03 (ISI Web
of Knowledge, 2007).

20. 138 Hodges Kulinna et al.
A number of alternatives to the traditional approach to citation analysis are
emerging, such as Google Scholar and the h-index (Cronin & Meho, 2006; Kirk,
2007). These approaches, however, also face limitations inherent in citation analy-
ses (i.e., including citations that are negative about the work and the exclusion of
total citations for scholars). It is important to acknowledge that the impact factor
rating “is merely a single piece of information among many others that must be
evaluated together to form a true picture of a journal’s value” (Leff, 2005, p. 30).
Therefore, we suggest that administrators and researchers consider the following
measures when evaluating journal quality: (a) peer assessment of journal quality;
(b) common publication outlets for the type of journal (see Table 1); (c) journal
acceptance rates; (d) the composition of the journal’s editorial board; and (e)
impact factors (see Table 3), which should be used only in comparison with other
journals in the same field.
There often are consequences for the publication venues that academics
choose. For some, this may be the difference of receiving merit pay, awards, or
even tenure and promotion at their institutions. In fact, the idea for this study
began while one of the authors was going through the tenure and promotion pro-
cess at a Carnegie Research Extensive institution and was defending top-tier jour-
nals in the field of physical education pedagogy. This author was denied top merit
pay as a result of low impact factors of the five journals in which she published
that year (namely, two in education and three in physical education pedagogy).
The data reported here provide a perspective of a decade of publishing trends, and,
if the impact factor is used, it should be considered in light of where and in what
quantity R-PEP is published.
These data add to the body of literature in R-PEP and provide objective data
for colleagues and university personnel to use in determining appropriate and
common places for researchers in physical education pedagogy to publish. For
example, pedagogy scholars can now make a stronger case for publishing their
work in journals frequently published in by their peers (e.g., JTPE) and substanti-
ate the role that journal plays in the R-PEP literature. Researchers also can use
journal type (i.e., physical education, kinesiology, health education/medical, edu-
cation/social science) to inform others of the common publication outlets for work
in physical education pedagogy. It would be unreasonable, for example, to expect
certain types of papers to be published in health-related journals. Similarly, it
would not be reasonable for most pedagogy scholars to publish a large number of
papers in health journals, given the overall number of papers published in the
decade examined in this study.
Future work needs to address physical education pedagogy faculty members’
specific perceptions of the publication outlets identified in the current study to
have further data on published research in the field (e.g., quantitative and/or quali-
tative analysis of faculty perceptions of journals). As scholars, by understanding
the R-PEP publishing trends we have a stronger basis upon which to make deci-
sions about outlets for our own work. This understanding can further influence
personnel evaluative procedures and the success of physical education pedagogy
faculty members.

21. Literature in PE 139
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