From a national to an international journal: a new opportunity for the physiotherapy community

Archives of Physiotherapy is a new journal dedicated to the publication of scientific papers in the field of rehabilitation particularly physiotherapy. It is the continuation of the Italian Journal of Physiotherapy (It J Physiother), the scientific journal of the Italian Society of Physiotherapy (Società Italiana di Fisioterapia SIF) that has been published by the Italian publisher Minerva Medica since 2011. The change goes far beyond the name of the journal, in that it also involves also the publisher, the type of publishing and the associations and institutions that acknowledge it as their official scientific journal. Before addressing the innovations, it is necessary to answer the question as to why one would launch a new journal in the field of physiotherapy, when the number of physiotherapy journals already exceeds far more than a hundred? The list available on the website of the International Society of Physiotherapy Journal Editors (ISPJE), (http://www.wcpt.org/ispje/membership) a network supported by the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT), includes 117 physiotherapy journals worldwide, with the Asia Western Pacific region having the highest number (67, 57.3 %) followed by Europe with 28 (23.9 %). The same question also presented itself at the time when the SIF board members decided to create the It J Physiother. The answer to this question can be found in the determination to promote the scientific development of physiotherapy in countries where this discipline does not receive the credit it surely deserves, as for example in Italy, where physiotherapy is still considered the Cinderella of biomedical sciences. The SIF was in fact founded in 2010 with the declared purpose of advancing scientific activities within the physiotherapy field in Italy and supporting the dissemination of knowledge and clinical evidencebased practice (EBP) among Italian physiotherapists. Results