[Rdl (Rivista dell'infermiere): a research project that is valued]

The production of a professional journal is assumed as a comprehensive research project, which is definitely atypical with respect to the traditional meaning of research, but which could be considered at least of equal interest and importance. The nine year experience of Rdl is analysed as the development of an original protocol aiming at experimentally testing the possibility of developing a new culture of nursing: such protocol needs now some formal evaluation. The compleity of a project-journal requires a "modular" analysis, where each section of the journal is taken as a distinct area of evaluation. This first part considers the contents of the editorials, and tries to identify their main trends with respect to the development of the nursing profession, and to its interplay with the concurrent evolution not only of the health care system but also of the broader societal context where the project has been implemented.