March 1921 saw the inaugural issue of a publication of the newly formed American Woman's Physical Therapeutic Association. The PT Review was a 16-page magazine, dressed in a blue jacket reminiscent of the uniforms worn by reconstruction aides. It was a modest start, launched by an inexperienced but devoted staff of volunteer members of that association. The reconstruction aides—brave young women who first made their appearance in army hospitals during World War I—began The PT Review as an important educational medium. In the beginning, it contained articles written by recognized “medical men” as well as by reconstruction aides on topics such as “Suggestions for the Treatment of Nerve Injuries,” “The Emotions in the Production of Organic Disease,” and “Relation of Physiotherapy to Reeducation.”
The first issue included a greeting from Dr. Joel E. Goldthwait, the first chief of orthopedics at Massachusetts General Hospital, who wrote, “Such a publication as this will do much to preserve the standards and advance the science of the profession.”1 As noted in 1946 by Ida May Hazenhyer,2 who chronicled the early history of The PT Review, “Like all pioneers, those volunteer laborers gave of their time and efforts, and struggled through an uncultivated wilderness to establish a work of great value to their descendants.” According to Hazenhyer, by the 1930s, The PT Review had the distinction of being one of the best periodicals of its time in the United States (which in those days was the same as saying “in the world”). The PT Review covered a wide range of topics. Among the most frequent: cerebral palsy, back conditions, psychiatry, poliomyelitis, and electrotherapy.
The American Physiotherapy Association—and, along with it, The PT Review—emerged out of the shadows between the 2 World Wars. Like Physical Therapy (PTJ) today, the journal then served as a mirror in which the larger profession of physical therapy was reflected. In the 1940s, renamed The Physiotherapy Review, the journal “went to war” and began to publish articles on topics relevant to the times, including treatment of amputation injuries, burns, bone and nerve injuries; atrophy and regeneration of muscles; and “progressive relaxation.” After World War II, the journal became a monthly publication, and, by the early 1960s, had taken the name Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association, with Dr. Helen Hislop as its APTA headquarters–based editor. In 1988, Dr. Steven Rose was named as the journal's first out-of-house editor, and, since that time, Editors in Chief Dr. Jules Rothstein and Dr. Rebecca Craik extended the physical therapy profession's reach in research, scientific scholarship, and professional development. Today, PTJ stands as one of the premier worldwide scientific publications in physical therapy and rehabilitation science.
Much has changed in the science and scholarship of physical therapy since the pioneer reconstruction aides launched The PT Review in 1921. The 95th anniversary of the journal (and the association) provides us with the opportunity not only to reflect on our roots but also to examine what we have cultivated over the past 95 years. Today, PTJ engages and inspires an international readership on topics related to physical therapy and rehabilitation and publishes innovative and highly relevant content for both clinicians and scientists using a variety of interactive approaches to communicate that content, with the expressed purpose of improving patient care. PTJ is ranked #4 among 65 rehabilitation journals in average number of times that articles published in the past 5 years were cited (the 5-year impact factor), and PTJ has a 2015 impact factor of 2.799. PTJ is global in its reach, with 68% of new manuscript submissions in 2015 originating from outside the United States; and, of the manuscripts accepted in 2015, 57% were international in origin.
As we approach year 100, PTJ's vision is to become the preeminent international journal in physical therapy and rehabilitation by publishing and promoting original research and key information that advances clinical practice, informs policy, and engenders a powerful and sustained impact on the health of individuals and communities.
The Editorial Board, APTA, and I take this vision seriously, and, to that end, will be focusing the journal's energies on attracting the very best science in physical therapy and rehabilitation. My mission as editor in chief is to take a very good journal and make it a great journal. I want to make PTJ a compelling read, from its original research content to its value-added material—Perspectives, Point of View articles, and editorials. I want PTJ to become a journal that all physical therapists look forward to reading each month. We will innovate and experiment, and we will have successes and some failures, as we seek new and creative ways to share the latest research—and to engage you.
In its 95th year, PTJ serves 2 primary communities. The first is physical therapists and other rehabilitation professionals who spend most of their time caring for patients or who are engaged in rehabilitation science. My responsibility and that of my editorial team is to ensure that PTJ's content contributes to our profession's ability to care for patients and improves our understanding of where physical therapist practice is, where it should go, and how it should get there. PTJ's second community is our authors: those who contribute original research and those who contribute other value-added content. PTJ strives to attract the best authors to publish their very best work, and, regardless of the outcome of the peer review process, authors are treated with respect. PTJ can serve as an important vehicle for disseminating the production of new knowledge, but first we need to get more physical therapists to read the research we publish so that they may then design new and more effective interventions to promote the health of our patients and the public at large.
We stand on the shoulders of the pioneers who first cultivated the field of physical therapy, and now it is time to bring forth the fruit of those labors. I often quote former Editor-in-Chief Helen Hislop, who challenged us, “In an age of change, let our time be known as the time of progress.”3 No one doubts that we are in the midst of a tremendous period of change in the health care sciences and in health care delivery. PTJ's challenge is to ensure that its resources are used to identify, publish, and promote outstanding original research and clinical information that advance practice, inform policy, and—true to our vision—engender a powerful and sustained impact on the health of individuals and communities. “Such a publication as this,” Goldthwaite might say today, “will do much to advance the delivery of health care worldwide.”
- © 2016 American Physical Therapy Association
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