Dear readers of Scandinavian Journal of Immunology and ECI2012 attendees

Abstract

Scandinavian Journal of Immunology has established itself over the last 40 years as one of the leading journals in the field through the publication of high quality original research papers and reviews that reflect the developments in this discipline. The journal has made great strides in the last couple of years in particular, and we would like to bring you up to date on some of the changes made and on our plans for the future. The total circulation of the journal is now well over 4,200. Nearly 3,800 institutions in the developing world now enjoy free or very low rate paid access to Scandinavian Journal of Immunology through various philanthropic initiatives (INTAS, INASP, Research4Life [HINARI-WHO], AGORA). More than 90% of the subscribers to the journal are currently online only. Articles from Scandinavian Journal of Immunology were downloaded a massive 238,812 times in 2011. The journal’s top users in 2011 reflect its international appeal: those most frequently downloading articles were University of Copenhagen, Karolinska Institute, University of Oslo, University of Bergen, University of Sao Paulo, University of Gothenburg, Landspitali University Hospital (Iceland), Fourth Military Medical University (Xi’an, China), National Autonomous University of Mexico, Peking University. The most frequently accessed articles last year were: Th17 Cell, the New Player of Neuroinflammatory Process in Multiple Sclerosis (Jadidi-Niaragh, F. & Mirshafiey, A. volume 74, issue 1, pp 1-13, July 2011): 2,661 downloads Utility of the Housekeeping Genes 18S rRNA, β-Actin and Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate-Dehydrogenase for Normalization in Real-Time Quantitative Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction Analysis of Gene Expression in Human T Lymphocytes (Bas, A., Forsberg, G., Hammarström, S. and Hammarström, M.-L, volume 59, issue 6, pp 566-573, June 2004): 2,578 downloads Influenza Virus: Immunity and Vaccination Strategies. Comparison of the Immune Response to Inactivated and Live, Attenuated Influenza Vaccines (Cox, R. J., Brokstad, K. A. and Ogra, P., volume 59, issue 1, pp 1-15, January 2004): 1,932 downloads. Nearly 1,330 researchers subscribe to the e-toc alert service, through which tables of contents are sent direct to their Inbox. There are no page charges or submission fees for authors publishing in the journal. Reviews are freely accessible online and colour reproduction is free to review authors. Author-funded open access is available for those whose funding bodies mandate publication in an open access journal. Members of immunological societies can receive the journal at the privileged rate of £30. All papers for Scandinavian Journal of Immunology are submitted and refereed online using Manuscript Central. This has led to enormous savings in the time from submission to acceptance; the average handling time for a paper is now 26 days from submission to first decision and 46 days from submission to final decision. There is also a fast-track facility available for the highest profile papers. In 2011 publication times became even faster, with the author’s final accepted version being made available online within an average of 5 days from receipt at the production office. This means that articles from Scandinavian Journal of Immunology are downloadable and citable faster than ever. The journal operates a stringent peer review process, and all referees are given feedback on the decisions made on the papers they have reviewed. The year 2011 saw a further increase in Scandinavian Journal of Immunology’s impact factor – it rose from 1.935 in 2010 to 2.230 in 2011. With published contributions from corresponding authors in 31 countries around the world Scandinavian Journal of Immunology is truly international in outlook. With great pleasure we present the ECI2012 issue of Scandinavian Journal of Immunology. It is our sincere hope that the content of this issue with invited review papers produced by Editorial Board members [1–6], without emphasizing any particular immunological topic or subject, reflects the broad international profile of the Journal. These papers covers antinuclear antibodies in rheumatic disease, the multi-functionality of γδ T-cells, LDL apheresis and inflammation, transcriptome analysis of the Interferon-signature in experimental autoimmunity, immunomodulatory type II natural killer T (NKT) lymphocytes in health and disease and the pre-B cell receptor.