In 1988, the Academy made a motion to create a peer-reviewed journal of pediatric physical therapy. APTA Pediatrics approached publisher Williams & Wilkins (now Lippincott Williams & Wilkins [LWW]) with a proposal to jointly form a journal. APTA Pediatrics provided the editorial expertise and subscription base (Academy of Pediatric Physical Therapy members), while LWW took the financial risk and handled the production. In return, LWW owned the title "Pediatric Physical Therapy" and had full copyright on all published content. During contract renegotiations in 2002, the Academy requested and was granted co-ownership of copyright for journal articles.

At APTA Pediatrics 2010 Strategic Planning Meeting, with the Academy's contract with LWW coming up for renewal, PPT Editor Ann Van Sant, PT, PhD, FAPTA, put forth a request that the Academy seek to renegotiate the contract to allow the Academy the option of purchasing the title. With the help of an attorney, the Academy did so, allowing us the ability to purchase the title for the first time. The new contract was implemented in January 2011, providing the option of purchasing the title for 2.25 the annual net income, per industry standard.

At the CSM 2011 Board Meeting, the Academy passed a motion to explore the option of purchasing the journal title from LWW. As a result of this motion, the Academy created and posted the PPT Briefing paper (link) and shared it with Academy members at the CSM 2012 Business Meeting and with all Academy members via E-News and the Academy website. APTA Pediatrics also launched a PPT Member Survey, which was open for 6 weeks, to seek member feedback on the purchase. Survey results showed strong support to move ahead with the purchase.

The APTA Academy of Pediatric Physical Therapy leadership continued to gather information about this critical issue over the summer of 2012, getting input and feedback from a publishing industry consultant and a publishing attorney with expertise in publication law. Based on their input and on the feedback from the membership, the Board voted to purchase the journal title from LWW and submitted a letter of intent to LWW in August 2012.

An update was sent to Academy members via E-News at the same time, which noted that the purchase of the title will require some significant changes to the yearly budget. APTA Pediatrics launched the "Buy Back the Title" fundraising campaign at the CSM 2013 Business Meeting.

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APTA Pediatrics Finalizes Purchase of Pediatric Physical Therapy Title