Shu-Sen ZhengHangzhou, China

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The journal in its fourth five-year publication

Shu-Sen Zheng
Hangzhou, China

Author Affiliations: Editorial Office of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, China (Zheng SS)

Fax: +86-571-87236559; Email: hbpdint@126.com)

? 2016, Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int. All rights reserved.

Published online January 7, 2016.

As 2016 begins, Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International enters its fourth five-year publication. It is also an occasion on which to look back the things we have done.

From 2007 to 2015, we have published 759 original articles, 106 review articles, 29 editorials, which are mostly from China, USA, India, England, Japan, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Greece, and South Korea. There are dozens of highlycited articles including a review cited for 232 times, reported by ISI Web of Science.[1-10]The journal has an average of 5000 hits per month in PubMed and an average download for 1000 times per month in ScienceDirect. The impact factor of the journal has increased moderately from 1.183 in 2009 to 1.517 in 2014.

Obviously, the journal has been well accepted by worldwide audience. Following the “online first” policy, we have reinforced the electronic publication of important articles, thus shortening the editorial process from the acceptance of an article to publication and increasing the visibility of the articles. The increased quality of the journal largely depends on the optimal selection of papers from daily submissions to the editorial office as well as from authors of major institutions in relevant fields around the world and our editorial committee members who have committed to submit articles to the journal as the first target journal. To seek high-quality research papers, we have carried out academic activities such as the convening of International Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases Summit Forum and expanded editorial committee meeting in 2010, 2012 and 2014, respectively.[11-13]These events not only facilitate the academic exchange in different fields but also find potential authors of research papers. This is exemplified by 41% of submissions from overseas in 2015.

At present, the overall acceptance rate of manuscripts for the journal is about 20%. The first decision-making for an article is limited within 4 weeks from the submission. To take actions, five noted experts of the editorial board were designated as deputy chief editors to recruit and solicit articles from their regions at the 2014 editorial committee meeting.[13]They have done well and deserved a great appreciation.

The number of papers submitting to our journal is increasing. The editorial office receives about forty papers a month, of which about one fifth are accepted for publication. The decision on whether or not an article is suitable for publication, though ultimately resting with the editor, depends largely on our expert referees from all over the world who perform the demanding and unacknowledged task of giving their opinions on the strengthness and weakness of a paper. Without peer opinions, editors would find themselves in an impossible situation. Although the peer review is not perfect and never will be, “the combined contribution of editors screening articles, referees reading the remainder, and editors using the referees’ opinions in making their final decision is as effective a mechanism as any for identifying those articles that should be published and then put to the test of time”.[14]

We have designed a new cover for the journal, as a pleasant appearance for years coming. We hope that 2016 is starting well for our authors, referees, editorial staff and readers. This year, as always, your contributions are central to the development of the journal.

Contributors: ZSS proposed and drafted the article. ZSS is the guarantor.

Funding: None.

Ethical approval: Not needed.

Competing interest: No benefits in any form have been received or will be received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article.

References

1 Lau WY, Lai EC. Hepatocellular carcinoma: current management and recent advances. Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int 2008;7:237-257.

2 Olempska M, Eisenach PA, Ammerpohl O, Ungefroren H, Fandrich F, Kalthoff H. Detection of tumor stem cell markers in pancreatic carcinoma cell lines. Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int 2007;6:92-97.

3 Yao DF, Dong ZZ, Yao M. Specific molecular markers in hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int 2007;6: 241-247.

4 Fan JG, Peng YD. Metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Asian definitions and Asian studies. Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int 2007;6:572-578.

5 Lau WY, Lai EC. Classification of iatrogenic bile duct injury. Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int 2007;6:459-463.

6 Lau WY, Lai EC, Lau SH. The current role of neoadjuvant/adjuvant/chemoprevention therapy in partial hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review. Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int 2009;8:124-133.

7 Fan JG, Qiao L. Commonly used animal models of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int 2009;8: 233-240.

8 Dai HF, Wang XW, Zhao K. Role of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis: a meta-analysis. Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int 2009;8:11-16.

9 Wan CD, Cheng R, Wang HB, Liu T. Immunomodulatory effects of mesenchymal stem cells derived from adipose tissues in a rat orthotopic liver transplantation model. Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int 2008;7:29-33.

10 Yang T, Zhang BH, Zhang J, Zhang YJ, Jiang XQ, Wu MC. Surgical treatment of xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis: experience in 33 cases. Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int 2007;6:504- 508.

11 Lei SY. Editorial Committee Meeting of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International held in Hangzhou, China. Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int 2010;9:555.

12 Lei SY. Editorial Committee Meeting of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International held in Hangzhou, China. Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int 2013;12:102.

13 Lei SY. Third editorial Committee Meeting of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International held. Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int 2014;13:458.

14 Lock S. A difficult balance. Editorial peer review in medicine. The Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust, London: 1985;129.

Received December 1, 2015

Accepted after revision December 30, 2015

Editorial

doi:10.1016/S1499-3872(16)60051-6

Corresponding Author:Shu-Sen Zheng, MD, PhD, FACS, chief editor of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, China (Tel/