As Editor-in-Chief of the European Thyroid Journal (ETJ) it is my pleasure to report how we have been doing in the first year of publication. My conclusion is that we delivered not a baby journal with neonatal distress but already a well grown-up, mature and robust scientific publication. To support my conclusion, here are some figures. We published 6 editorials, 4 guidelines, 11 reviews, 18 original papers, and 6 letters to the editor, dealing with both basic, translational and clinical thyroidology. Rejection rate was 39%. I do not apologize for the rejection rate, which is relatively high for a new journal, as we are reluctant to compromise on scientific quality. In this respect I would like to thank very much our reviewers, who are instrumental in maintaining high scientific standards. As a token of appreciation for their essential job, we acknowledge all reviewers in the year 2012 in the list below. Time to first decision (either rejection or revision) is on average 25 days, which is remarkably short and compares favourably with other journals. The figure will be attractive for prospective authors. Submissions came from all continents. Not surprisingly, 74% of submissions originated from Europe, but 26% were from outside Europe (North America, Latin America, Africa, Australia, the Middle East and especially from the Far East including Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia). It testifies to the truly international character of the journal, also evident from the composition of the Editorial Board.
The journal has been received very well by the international community. To a certain extent this may reflect trust in the European Thyroid Association, as the ETJ is the official journal of the ETA. But the well-conducted promotion campaign orchestrated by Karger Publishers certainly contributed to the propitious response. Indeed it was very difficult for participants of major endocrine conferences - including the annual 2012 meetings of the ETA and ATA - not to become aware of the existence of ETJ.
I myself liked especially the various ETA guidelines and even more the accompanying editorials, which put the recommendations in perspective. The ETA guidelines are special in a way that they are dealing with small topics of limited scope, which generally have not given much attention. In these areas the highest levels of evidence are often lacking because no randomized clinical trials are available. Consequently, the recommendations are really expert driven. Just in these grey zones the recommendations could be very useful for clinicians, and we will continue with regular publication of upcoming ETA guidelines.
I valued my job as Editor-in-Chief because I considered launching a new journal as an experiment, which - as any experiment - could either succeed or fail. Especially in the present times with so much competition between journals, success is by no means guaranteed. It looks however as if the experiment is going to be successful: the prospects for ETJ, given the record of the first volume, are very healthy. I look forward to receiving papers from all corners of the world, as long as they are related to the thyroid and meet quality criteria. Suggestions for improvement of the journal are always very welcome.
Also on behalf of associate editors Josef Koehrle, Luca Persani, Peter Laurberg and Furio Pacini, I wish you much pleasure in reading our forthcoming papers in 2013.
Wilmar M. Wiersinga
Editor-in-Chief, European Thyroid Journal
Acknowledgement to Reviewers 2012
Ramzi Ajjan, Leeds
Maria Alevizaki, Athens
Stig Andersen, Aalborg
Klaus Badenhoop, Frankfurt am Main
Yoshiyuki Ban, Tokyo
Luigi Bartalena, Varese
Tomasz Bednarczuk, Warsaw
Juan Bernal, Madrid
Victor Bernet, Jacksonville, Fla.
Peter Bisschop, Amsterdam
Anita Boelen, Amsterdam
George Brabant, Greifswald
James D. Brierley, Toronto, Ont.
Allan Carlé, Aalborg
Luca Chiovato, Pavia
Bernard Corvilain, Brussels
Colin Dayan, Cardiff
Giovanni de Petris, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Juan J. Diez, Madrid
Henning Dralle, Halle/Saale
William Duke, Augusta, Ga.
Leonidas Duntas, Athens
Cosimo Durante, Rome
Rossella Elisei, Pisa
Murat Erdogan, Ankara
Vahab Fatourechi, Rochester, Minn.
Ulla Feldt-Rasmussen, Copenhagen
Laura Fugazzola, Milan
Anne-Catherine Gérard, Brussels
Daniel Glinoer, Bruxelles
Martin Grussendorf, Stuttgart
Laszlo Hegedüs, Odense
James V. Hennessey, Boston, Mass.
Anthony N. Hollenberg, Boston, Mass.
Till Ittermann, Greifswald
George J. Kahaly, Mainz
Jesper Karmisholt, Aalborg
Fahrettin Kelestimur, Kayseri
Richard T. Kloos, Columbus, Ohio
Josef Koehrle, Berlin
Anne Krejbjerg Motavaf, Aalborg
Benjamin Lallemant, Nîmes
Piotr Lass, Gdansk
Peter Laurberg, Aalborg
John Lazarus, Cardiff
Laurence Leenhardt, Paris
Claudio Marcocci, Pisa
Stefano Mariotti, Monserrato
Enio Martino, Pisa
Catherine Massart, Rennes
Jorge Mestman, Los Angeles, Calif.
Jens Mittag, Stockholm
Fabio Monzani, Pisa
Roberto Negro, Lecce
Birte Nygaard, Herlev
Maria Obregon, Madrid
Bjørn Olav Åsvold, Trondheim
Jacques Orgiazzi, Lyon
Furio Pacini, Siena
Ralf Paschke, Leipzig
Simon H. Pearce, Newcastle upon Tyne
Robin Patrick Peeters, Rotterdam
Hans Perrild, Copenhagen
Petros Perros, Newcastle upon Tyne
Luca Persani, Milan
Kris Poppe, Brussels
Eduardo Pretell, Lima
Patrice Rodien, Angers
Domenico Rubello, Rovigo
Domenico Salvatore, Naples
Matthias Schmidt, Cologne
Ulrich Schweizer, Berlin
David Scott-Coombes, Cardiff
Warner Simonides, Amsterdam
Alex Stagnaro-Green, Washington, D.C.
Emme Strydom, Tygerberg
Gianluca Tamagno, Dublin
Duncan Topliss, Melbourne, Vic.
Ove Törring, Stockholm
Konstantinos A. Toulis, Thessaloniki
R. Michael Tuttle, New York, N.Y.
Bijay Vaidya, Exeter
Mark Vanderpump, London
Elisavet Vasilopoulou, Birmingham
Leonard Wartofsky, Washington, D.C.
Dillwyn Williams, Cambridge
