In 2004, I was appointed by ESPE and Karger Publishers as Editor-in-Chief of Hormone Research. This long tenure has been time-consuming but rewarding. During this period, I was fortunate to work with a strong group of Associate Editors with whom ideas were shared about the Journal's strategy. I would like to thank all these colleagues and friends who generously gave their time and effort to improve the Journal.

Indeed, new features were introduced which I believe have improved the Journal's image and value: the ‘Mini Review' section is certainly a success and well cited. Under the leadership of Jean-Claude Carel and later on Mehul Dattani, many aspects from basic research to more clinical topics have been covered in mini-reviews. This will probably continue and further contribute to the important high-level educational program that ESPE has undertaken in the last 10 years.

The ‘Novel Insights from Clinical Practice' section has also received a lot of attention from many colleagues who wanted to publish interesting and well-studied cases. As submission increases, we have been forced to exclude good clinical observations of potentially important content, but even though the number of pages of the Journal has increased, space is not infinite and the number of accepted papers must be limited. I want to thank the small group of Associate Editors, Olle Söder, Primus Mullis, Peter Clayton, Sergio Bernasconi and Lourdes Ibanez who have reviewed a large number of novel insight papers with expertise and rigour. Thanks also go to the other Associate Editors Guy Van Vliet, Paul Saenger and Olaf Hiort.

In December 2013, we introduced a new feature, the ‘Special December' issue devoted to a single topic. To start this new venture, Jan-Maarten Wit and Primus Mullis accepted the role of Guest Editors for this month's special issue on the ‘Genetics of Growth'. I am convinced that these special issues will have great success and will continue in the future.

Hormone Research in Paediatrics (HRP) is the official journal of ESPE, but early in 2008, the members and Council of the South American Society of Pediatric Endocrinology (SLEP) also decided to adopt HRP as their official journal. I am proud to say that this association has been fruitful and productive. Marco Rivarola has from the beginning been a member of the Board of Associate Editors and represents the point of view of SLEP.

In 2010, we took the decision with the Board of Associate Editors to change the name of the Journal from Hormone Research to Hormone Research in Paediatrics. This was a difficult decision because we knew that this would have, at least for a while, a negative effect on the impact factor. Nevertheless, the Journal is now a paediatric journal and the majority of the information published is related to paediatric endocrinology and reaches paediatric endocrinologists worldwide. Since 2011, HRP is listed in the Journal Citation Reports sections of both ‘Pediatrics' and ‘Endocrinology and Metabolism'.

During my editorship, the established ‘online in advance of print publication' of the articles was further developed to the ‘online first' concept which allows online publication within 48 h of the author's approval for publication, i.e. offering significantly improved services to authors and the reading community.

Finally, I would also like to thank all colleagues around the world who have accepted to review a large number of manuscripts submitted to HRP. Their work has been crucial in improving the quality of the journal. Their dedication deserves a strong acknowledgment from our society.

During the years of my editorship, I received strong support from the ESPE Secretaries Martin Savage, Franco Chiarelli and Lars Sävendahl which was extremely useful - thank you Martin, Franco and Lars.

Last but not least, it has been a great pleasure to work with Karger Publishers. Excellent, highly professional and dedicated to our journal, they deserve our acknowledgment and have made a strong contribution to the success of HRP.

I am happy that Stefano Cianfarani has accepted to become the new Editor-in-Chief. Under his leadership, I am sure that the Journal's success will continue to grow and reach more and more readers. Good luck Stefano!

Paul Czernichow, Editor-in-Chief

2013
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