It is an honour to be invited to write the first editorial of the New Year for the Annals of Hepatology. 2018 is the 16th year of the Annals, a journal that was created by Dr. Nahum Mendez-Sanchez who has been the editor-inchief since the beginning. The Annals started as the official journal of the Mexican Association for the Study of Liver (MASL) and the Latin American Association for the Study of Liver (LASL) and, as hepatologists living and practicing outside of Mexico and Latin America, we felt that a perspective of the Annals from “the outside” may be insightful.
In the 16 years of its existence, the Annals has quickly evolved from a regional journal to a truly international journal that still maintains its mission of promoting academic Hepatology within Mexico and Latin America (Annex 1). Indeed, the growing international profile of the Annals has most likely enhanced the profile of both MASL and LASL as well as its members. The evolution of the Annals is reflected by the growing proportion of original research papers published and the increasing number of papers published each year (Annex 2). Clinical research remains the main stay of the Annals as this reflects the interests of the majority of its readership and contributors but basic science is not ignored as interesting bench research papers can still find a home here (Annex 3). The liver topics covered by the Annals (Annex 4) span the spectrum of clinical hepatology: from viral hepatitis to NAFLD to liver transplantation and liver oncology. In terms of metrics, the Annals is indexed in all major scientific bibliographic databases including PubMed/Medline. The Annals has always had a respectable impact factor that has, in recent past years, been close to 2.0 or greater than 2.0. A review of the Annals editorial staff (i.e. associate editors and editorial board members) reflects its international profile as its members span the globe from, not only Mexico and South America, but also Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. A glance of the table of contents of the Annals over the years can resemble a “Who’s Who” of global hepatology with many of hepatologists biggest names contributing papers to the journal. Certainly, their great contributions also produced dozens of highly cited papers (Annex 5). The fact that the Canadian Association for the Study of Liver (CASL) later became an official affiliated society of the Annals further underscores the impact the journal has had.
For a journal to accomplish what the Annals of Hepatology has managed to do within a relatively short time period reflects vision, dedication as well as pure and simple hard work. To use an analogy from the world of American professional sports, a football team cannot win a Superbowl championship without an outstanding quarterback. In the case of medical journals, that quarterback is the editor-in-chief and in the specific case of the Annals of Hepatology, that superstar quarterback is Dr. Nahum Mendez-Sanchez. Dr. Mendez-Sanchez has been there from day one, carefully guiding the Annals to respectability and more. His efforts have been recognized as we note that in 2014 when the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) announced its inaugural class of Fellows (i.e. FAASLD), Nahum was among this select group. We certainly hope that Dr. Mendez-Sanchez continues to guide the Annals for the foreseeable future as it has truly become a journal that is important and needed in the field of Hepatology. In a world that seems to be threatened by a proliferation of predatory journals, some of which claim to cover hepatology and liver disease, we need a strong Annals of Hepatology more than ever.
