Foreword

Dear readers, authors and friends of Endoscopy,

On behalf of the Editors I would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year!

I am pleased to report that the journal is in a healthy state and, with a record number of submissions in 2012, we look forward to an active and productive year ahead.

Amongst other projects, the editors have been giving thought to improving Endoscopy’s review process. We have settled on a two-step approach, and the fruits of the first step are presented in this issue. These are guidelines (page 48) to help reviewers optimize their input on the manuscript they are scrutinizing. The recommendations have been written with a newer generation of reviewers especially in mind; nevertheless, we believe that they will be of value to all those reviewing manuscripts, and I would ask each individual in the Endoscopy reviewers’ pool to take the time to read this article. The second step in this project is an overhaul of the author/reviewer/manuscript keyword system.

Endoscopy’s impact factor is now 5,120. This is slightly lower than the previous year. However, on viewing the scores of Endoscopy and other journals overall we see that there is a general downward trend, and nevertheless Endoscopy remains in a good position relatively.

I would like to take the opportunity to extend my thanks to all those involved in Endoscopy, whether as authors, reviewers, or readers of our journal. In 2012 we bade farewell to Andrea May, and we wish her all the very best for her future plans. This year, together with the publishers, it has been my pleasure to present awards to the following five people as best reviewers of the year: Todd Baron, (USA), Alan Moss (Australia), Klaus Mönkemüller (USA), Daniel Von Renteln (Germany) and Michael Vieth (Germany). On page 2 you will find a list of all those who supported the journal as reviewers in 2012.

I look forward to our continuing collaboration in 2013!

Thomas Rösch
Endoscopy Editor-In-Chief