VIRUS GENES celebrates an anniversary with the actual issue 50/1. The first issue of the journal was published in 1987. The founding Editor-in-Chief, Yechiel Becker, in his introductory editorial, described VIRUS GENES as “a journal devoted to the publication of original studies on the structure, organization and function of the genes of all viruses.”

Sequence data of virus genomes combined with knowledge of the expression and regulation of their genes remain the basis for the investigation of virus gene function. Next-generation sequencing techniques have revolutionized the way we collect sequence data today, allowing the real-time sequencing of hundreds of virus genomes in outbreak situations. Epigenetics and systems biology look at the interaction of host and virus in complex networks of biological factors.

In the previous 49 volumes, VIRUS GENES has published original work of authors from many different countries, reflecting the international reach and the global nature of virology research. The main virology research areas are represented in contributions on animal, plant, human, and insect viruses, with a renewed interest in bacteriophages.

While VIRUS GENES remains a traditional print journal, it now has to compete against a large number of online-only publications in the field of virology. VIRUS GENES offers online submission and review processes through Editorial manager (EM) and Online First publication, along with an increased transparency of the review and publication process.

In order to ensure VIRUS GENES remains relevant in the foreseeable future, we aim to move away from the publication of primary sequence data and attract more work answering important functional questions in molecular virology. Articles published in VIRUS GENES should be of sufficient immediate interest to ensure early citations as well as sufficient depth to ensure a steady flow of follow-up citations over many years. We publish technically sound work with a high novelty value, including potentially controversial findings. The discussion of such findings in our correspondence section as well as editorials, and interesting review articles on important topics in virology, are expected to make VIRUS GENES a more attractive place to publish in the future.

On the occasion of our 50th volume, we would like to thank the subject editors and all reviewers for their invaluable contribution of time and expertise. We wish to thank the authors, who are contributing their best work for the advancement of virology research, and our publisher SPRINGER, with the team led by Kyesha Schoolfield-Hammond, for their brilliant support.

We are looking forward to many more years keeping VIRUS GENES a well-regarded and exciting platform for the publication of virus research.