Dear colleagues and friends, during the last year, Annals of Hepatology has kept its goals through a careful selection of its content which is shown by the high quality of the manucripts published. Submissions to the journal have increased considerably, as reflected by the geographical origins of its authors. For example, during 2004 Annals of Hepatology published articles from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, United States, and Mexico.
When Annals of Hepatology appeared in 2002 some questions arose: Why? Don´t we have so many scientific publications to read that we feel overwhelmed? There can be many answers, but the main goal of a good new journal is to fulfill the expectations of physicians and medical scientists who then will find the time to read it. Also Annals of Hepatology is filling an empty space of publications in this field in Latin America. After three years we can proudly say that Annals of Hepatology has successfully passed the challenge.
However, this is a good time to plan the future and to continue with the natural evolution of a scientific publication like this. At this time Annals of Hepatology is under the review process at the Current Contents. We are sure that after its review, we can get an appropriate impact factor that of course will make Annals of Hepatology more attractive for both, authors and readers. In addition, I would like to inform you, that our journal has been included into the Index Copernicus bibliographic databases.
We sincerely hope that the progress we have experienced during those years of valuable experience with Annals of Hepatology will fulfill your expectations, moreover we welcome feedback and suggestions from our readers on how to further improve the journal.
Finally, I would like to thank all the authors who kindly sent their manuscripts, and of course to our readers. You both are the main stimuli to continue working hard to have a better journal.
