Editorial

Abstract

With volume 108 begins a hopefully successful new year for the International Journal of Cancer. Thanks to a devoted Editorial Board and Board of Editors, to a committed Editorial Office, and certainly to our active reviewers, the journal was able to maintain its high standard and international flavor during the past year. Although the number of other journals dealing with cancer and related diseases is increasing, we have noted a steady increase in submissions over the past 3 years. What are our expectations for the future? We trust that we will convince our readers that this journal will maintain and hopefully even improve its quality. There are good reasons to submit manuscripts to the International Journal of Cancer: the journal guarantees the publication of high-quality papers after rapid review and approval by expert referees. We will try in the forthcoming year to further speed up this process through a full-scale electronic submission and review system. The Board of Editors will decide quickly after submission whether a manuscript is suited for this journal and send it out for review. The electronic handling of the review process will hopefully further shorten the time period between submission and acceptance. Although contributions can be available on the Internet a matter of weeks after acceptance, we will put more emphasis on fast track publications, permitting an even earlier view of novel developments. Clearly, we intend to maintain the broad scope and the international character of the journal, and invite contributions from all over the world. The flow of mini reviews on timely topics is gaining impetus. Although most of these reviews have been solicited, some unsolicited contributions have been approved in the reviewing process as well. We appreciate the contributions in the “Spotlight” as a source of rapid information for important developments published in the journal, and also plan to increase the number of Editorials highlighting particularly interesting or controversial issues in cancer research. The success of this journal, which has been available for 37 years now, would not have been possible without the help and the interest of the scientific community, the large number of cancer researchers, and oncologists who helped by submitting their interesting studies or participated actively as reviewers. I would like to thank all of you and trust that you will remain loyal to our common goals. I also take this opportunity to thank my editorial colleagues, all the members of the Editorial Board, and the Editorial Office for their devoted support. I am also grateful to UICC as owner of the journal, and to the publisher Wiley for their continued support and help. For 2004, I wish all our contributors, readers, and friends a peaceful and healthy year, and for the journal continued success, based on high-quality publications.