About ergopraxis

ergopraxis

ergopraxis is the specialist journal for occupational therapy published by the Georg Thieme Verlag in Stuttgart. Appearing ten times a year in print and digital form, it serves occupational therapists in all professional fields and settings – from newcomers to experienced practitioners – with practical knowledge, learning articles, assessments and client handouts. The journal combines therapy know-how with current studies, research findings and topics from professional and health policy, positioning itself as a magazine by and for occupational therapists that offers practical value and support for everyday professional life. With a print run of around 2,170 copies and the Thieme e-journals platform behind it, ergopraxis is the practice-oriented counterpart to the academic journals of the discipline.

Overview

ergopraxis is published by the Georg Thieme Verlag KG in Stuttgart, one of Germany's leading medical and scientific publishers. The journal appears ten times a year and is available by subscription in print and online, with the digital access included in the personal subscription. The print ISSN is 1439-2283 and the online ISSN is 1869-5507. According to the publisher's media data, the print run stands at 2,170 copies with a distributed circulation of 2,150 and a paid circulation of 1,660, figures that reflect the journal's character as a focused specialist title for a clearly defined professional group.

The readership consists of occupational therapists working in practices, clinics, rehabilitation facilities, schools, nursing homes and community settings, as well as students and teachers of occupational therapy. The journal's self-description emphasizes competence, practical relevance and continuous professional development – from career entry to long-standing professional experience. Its profile, as stated by the publisher, is that of a specialist magazine by and for occupational therapists, offering practically applicable value and support for the working day.

The editorial program rests on three pillars: specialist knowledge for occupational therapy, learning for the professional everyday, and science and policy. Specialist knowledge covers therapy approaches across all fields and settings of the discipline. The learning pillar provides learning articles, assessments and materials for therapy and clients – including handouts that therapists can use directly with their clients. The science and policy pillar presents current studies and research findings alongside topics from professional and health policy, giving readers orientation in the evolving world of occupational therapy.

History

ergopraxis was launched as a new specialist journal for occupational therapy in the late 2000s – early issues from 2008 presented it as "die neue Fachzeitschrift für Ergotherapie", the new specialist journal for occupational therapy, published by the independent Georg Thieme Verlag. The launch responded to the professionalization of occupational therapy in Germany: as the discipline grew in academic recognition and in the breadth of its fields of application, practitioners needed a journal that translated scientific developments into practical guidance for their daily work.

From the beginning the journal positioned itself as an independent publication within the Thieme portfolio, distinct from the publisher's more academically oriented journals. Its early issues established the formats that still define it: detailed therapy articles presenting therapeutic approaches, case-based learning formats, and short rubrics for reading between appointments. The journal grew with its readership, accompanying the expansion of occupational therapy into new settings – from traditional rehabilitation to schools, workplace health, prevention and community-based practice.

Over the years the publisher has developed the journal into a hybrid print-digital product. Subscribers receive the print issues and gain digital access to the current issue and the extensive archive through the Thieme e-journals platform and the publisher's app. The subscription has been enriched with additional benefits, including discounted admission to the ergotag and neuroreha-Tag congresses in Stuttgart, linking the journal to the professional community's live events. The journal's publishing model is hybrid, offering open-access options alongside the subscription model.

Content and Sections

The content of ergopraxis is organized for practical use. Detailed therapy articles present therapeutic approaches across the discipline's fields – from pediatrics and neurology to geriatrics, orthopedics, psychiatry and hand therapy – with case examples that show how concepts translate into treatment. Learning articles and assessments give therapists structured tools for diagnostics and evaluation: standardized assessments are presented with instructions for application and interpretation, and handouts for clients can be used directly in therapy.

Short rubrics provide variety for reading between appointments. The "Praxisprofi" rubric offers tips from practice, while refresher formats help readers update their knowledge on established topics. Current studies and research findings are presented in accessible form, keeping practitioners in touch with the evidence base of their profession without requiring them to read primary literature. Topics from professional and health policy – such as the Federal Participation Act (Bundesteilhabegesetz) and its implications for occupational therapy in sheltered workshops – connect the journal to the regulatory framework of the profession.

The journal's digital platform extends the print content with additional materials and the full archive of past issues. Recent highlighted articles illustrate the breadth of the program: from including sexuality and intimacy in ADHD therapy to environmental counseling in daycare centers and the development of assessments. The combination of in-depth therapy contributions, practical tools and policy orientation makes ergopraxis a working instrument for the profession rather than a mere reading magazine.

Publisher and Organization

The publisher is the Georg Thieme Verlag KG, based at Rüdigerstraße 14 in Stuttgart. Thieme is one of the leading international publishers for medicine and science, with a large portfolio of journals, books and digital products. Within this portfolio, ergopraxis belongs to the therapy journals alongside titles such as physiopraxis, with cross-subscription offers linking the readerships.

The journal's editorial office is located at the Thieme headquarters in Stuttgart, reachable at ergopraxis@thieme.de. The customer service center for journal subscriptions handles subscription inquiries. The journal operates with an editorial team embedded in Thieme's journal organization, drawing on the publisher's infrastructure for peer review, production and digital distribution. Authors include practitioners, researchers and educators from the occupational-therapy community, and the journal invites manuscript submissions from the profession.

The subscription model offers variants for private customers and small practices, for students and trainees at reduced prices, and for institutions such as clinics and libraries with site-wide digital access. The combination subscription of print and online is priced at 195 euros including VAT for the domestic market, with preferential prices for subscribers of Thieme's sister journals. These structures reflect the journal's positioning as an affordable professional tool for individual therapists.

Digital Presence

The digital presence of ergopraxis is anchored in the Thieme e-journals platform, where subscribers can access the current issue and the complete archive of past issues. The platform supports fast, convenient searching across all published issues, making the journal's accumulated practical knowledge retrievable for everyday questions. The publisher's app extends this access to mobile devices, allowing therapists to consult articles and materials at the point of care.

The journal's profile pages on thieme.de present the current issue, recently published and most-read articles, and calls for manuscript submissions, integrating the journal into the publisher's author and reader workflows. The online shop at shop.thieme.de handles subscriptions and provides detailed product information, including FAQs on the journal's scope and subscription terms. Trial subscriptions allow prospective readers to test the journal without obligation.

Through newsletters and the publisher's digital marketing, ergopraxis reaches potential subscribers among occupational-therapy students and practitioners. The combination of a print journal appearing ten times a year, a full digital archive with search functionality, a mobile app and congress partnerships makes ergopraxis a cross-media professional companion: a print read for in-depth learning and a digital reference for the questions of the working day.