Dear Readers

As of February 2012 I will step down as editor-in-chief after more than 10 years at IJPH. For me it is the right time to re-direct some of my professional and personal resources, investing more in academic research production than distribution. My term in the position as editor-in-chief has been full of rewarding experiences and challenging tasks. The major challenges came from the enormous macrostructural changes we have witnessed over the last 10 years: globalization and increasing competition of markets, its consequences leading to new rules in the world of scientific publication. Most rewarding was the wonderful team work among the IJPH editors and it was great to see the success of the journal when we went from a Swiss journal of “Social and Preventive Medicine” to the “International Journal of Public Health”.

At IJPH we always recognized exciting opportunities for our journal to contribute to the global exchange of Public Health research and knowledge transfer in a unique way by introducing new and innovative features such as timely topical series, themed issues and new sections. Today IJPH is a well-established medium for high quality scientific exchange for Public Health researchers and practitioners.

As editor-in-chief I had the wonderful opportunity to collaborate closely with my co- editors-in-chief, first Alfredo Morabia and then Thomas Kohlmann. Both have been the most competent and wonderful-to-work-with colleagues. Nonetheless, the success of IJPH over those years is highly attributable to a core team of editors who contributed their time and expertise to discuss and decide about new ideas and directions for the journal. The larger group of associated editors completed the great IJPH team that I had the privilege to lead. Finally, I would like to thank the many reviewers over the years for all their time and support of IJPH. The combination of these colleagues working together successfully during my tenure has allowed me to “retire” with confidence that the journal will progress and develop well under the new leadership.

Thomas Abel