The European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine in 2008: a year in a paper.
BACKGROUND
In 2007, the European Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ESPRM) established the European Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine Journal Network (EPRMJN) with a view to increase scientific knowledge among physical and rehabilitation medicine (PRM) specialists and to foster collaboration among the national, regional (multinational) and European PRM journals. In this connection, this paper gives the readers of national and regional, and European PRM journals a complete overview of the European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (EJPRM), the official ESPRM journal, and a review of the papers published in 2008.


METHODS
The evolution of the EJPRM in the last five years was analyzed, and the papers published in 2008 were systematically reviewed and classified by content and discussed.


RESULTS
The EJPRM is listed in PubMed and Current Contents; at now the unofficial 2008 Impact Factor is 1.14, like the Impact Factor, also the independent SCImago Journal Rate and Cites per Doc (two years) have increased steadily since 2005. The EJPRM published 72 papers in 2008, with a well balanced coverage of different rehabilitation topics. The rejection rate is around 40%; the review and publication times are 1.2 and 10.0 months, respectively. The published papers are presented here by topic, highlighting multi-journal initiatives (such as the EPRMJN and the Euro-American Focus with the American Journal of PRM), monographic Special Sections, systematic Cochrane PRM reviews, original papers and case reports, and other contents including the Internet Bookshelf.


CONCLUSIONS
This paper represents the start of the EPRMJN collaborative efforts to increase scientific knowledge among PRM specialists in Europe, independently of the language in which papers are published.
Negrini
S
S
Italian Scientific Spine Institute (ISICO), Via Bellarmino 13/1, 20141 Milan, Italy. stefano.negrini@isico.it
D015706:Bibliometrics; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D010810:Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine; D012046:Rehabilitation