Announcement: JMS retires Good Apples/Bad Apples section in 2021.
We have published the Good Apples/Bad Apples section since the first issue of JMS in 2009 with the intention to give therapists clear guidance on the clinical aspects of massage therapy recommended by different educators.
At that time, the number of unscientific claims and articles was astonishing. Educators felt utterly free to write what they wanted, and no Editorial Board of any major massage publications in the USA made any effort to regulate false information.
We used medical and scientific data to carefully and methodically dismantle such claims to give therapists professional confidence. It was an uphill battle considering the high number of false and pseudoscientific claims. We bought and reviewed the scientific papers that educators used to support their incorrect claims to show that they intentionally manipulated data in the articles they wrote. Once, we even examined how the natural glue for the furniture was made since one of the authors used this data to support her ridiculous claims.
We are proud to report that JMS’s tireless work for the last ten years has finally paid off as a smaller number of articles have been receiving the JMS Bad Apples rating. Clearly, the Good Apples/Bad Apples section of JMS did its job in elevating the standards of professional massage publications. We are pleased to pivot and retire this section of JMS starting 2021 to make room for new material.
For Educators: Please check and double-check your data before publishing articles on the clinical aspects of massage therapy. We will continue to watch and confront any ridiculous claims.
There are four major national massage publications in the United States; more than any other country. Each magazine tries to inform massage practitioners on a wide variety of topics. In 2020, the Editorial Board of JMS reviewed articles published in all four massage journals to direct our readers to the most valuable publications and to call-out the authors who published incorrect or unscientific claims.
For massage practitioners who would like to learn from scientific publications that cover massage and bodywork and that are recognized by the international medical community, we recommend the following two sources: International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork and Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies.
We would like to state what we didn’t review:
- We didn’t review articles that discussed the spiritual aspects of massage therapy. We think that this is an equally important side of massage therapy that is already well presented. Readers may find a great variety of articles on this topic.
- We didn’t review any political articles. JMS is entirely independent, and we are not associated with any massage therapy organization or association. We are here only for the science of massage.
- We didn’t review articles on Oriental medicine, although we try to bridge the concepts of Eastern and Western practice throughout JMS. We believe the split between both views is unfortunate and is perpetuated by a misunderstanding and miscommunication from both authors and educators.
We only reviewed articles that were scientifically based or claimed to be scientifically based and we are happy to publish the responses or comments from authors or editors in the future issues of JMS.
MASSAGE & BODYWORK MAGAZINE (M&BM)
Congratulations to the Editorial Board and to Darren Buford, Editor-in-Chief of M&BM for receiving JMS’s Annual Appreciation Award for 2020!
Each year M&BM continues to deliver scientifically grounded information to therapists. This magazine publishes six times per year, with print and digital versions. Each issue of M&BM is beautifully illustrated and also provides video illustrations in its digital version.
What makes M&BM really stand out is its content which is ripe with clinical data and insights. The ability to educate and uplift readers to help them become better therapists is what a professional publication should strive for and in our opinion, M&BM achieves just that.
M&BM offers various topics, from clinical cases to theoretical pieces to various techniques and articles that touch on issues in massage therapy that no other publications mentions. The articles are well written and nicely illustrated, which helps readers better understand and implement the articles’ content.
M&BM has significantly contributed to furthering the development of the massage therapy profession in the USA. We hope the Editorial Board of M&MB continues to be agile, curious and keeps challenging their readers! Our congratulations on a job well done!
JMS‘s Editorial Board
Category: News
Tags: 2021 Issue #1