Editorial

Abstract

May we take the opportunity in the first issue of the New Year to express thanks to all our readers, authors, reviewers and editorial board members for their continued interest and help with our journal. Scientific peer review has become a fast-moving undertaking at the International Journal of Cancer since we introduced the online submission and peer review procedures in 2003. Since then, our review times have dropped by nearly 38%, and we can presently boast of average times to decision of about 24 days. The next logical step, then, was to reduce the times for accepted papers to appear online and be made available to our authors and readers. To this end, a new feature was launched on our homepage (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/29331/home) last August. Perhaps, you have already even noticed the new tab “Accepted Articles.” There, accepted IJC articles in their final form—including the DOI—are posted in pdf format on our Wiley Interscience site 5 days after the publisher receives them. This means that the articles are available to all and can even be cited by DOI while they are being processed. After proofing and approval for publication, the published articles are automatically moved over to “Early View” and then on to their final destination in a print issue. You might want to watch out for the second innovation, too. In the near future, our readership can look forward to reading the “Editor's Choice.” Selected articles of high interest will be posted online and made available free of charge. Through this feature, the International Journal of Cancer can do its share in ensuring that the most important findings published in the journal are available to scientists worldwide, with no strings attached. To accompany this progress, our homepage will also soon be receiving a new look as Wiley-Blackwell will be launching its new web presentation later this year. You may want to keep an eye out for this as we can all expect a wide range of new internet options and advantages. Indeed, we are very grateful that our publisher, Wiley-Blackwell, and the UICC have promoted and implemented these innovations and our special thanks go to them. In 2009, the International Journal of Cancer will continue to pursue the goal of publishing articles of high scientific quality. We look forward to working with our authors, reviewers and readers to this end. The Associate Editors of the IJC join me in wishing you all a Happy and Successful New Year.