It is not long since we celebrated the listing of our journal in the Social Sciences Citation Index. The impact factor of 1.34 is surprisingly good for a first entry in this listing, confirming the EJHE's position in the “upper middle class” of economic journals around the world. We expect this impact factor to increase in the near future in line with the very promising development of our journal in recent years.

In 2010, we received about 200 manuscripts—our largest ever number of submissions. In the years 2005–2007, less than half this number of manuscripts were submitted each year. The acceptance rate (number of accepted/submitted manuscripts) is now at its lowest point of 15%. Half of the papers submitted do not enter the referee process and are rejected straight away by the editorial board. Although this might be disappointing for the authors, it is also a chance for them to receive a quick verdict and try other alternatives for publication. Currently, we ask more than 350 scientists per year around the world to review submitted papers. Unfortunately, a growing number of colleagues now choose to decline to review papers; some of these have even published in the EJHE and have benefited from the review process. The large number of submissions and the rigorous review process allows us to constantly increase the scientific quality of the journal. We encourage all authors to cite articles published in the EJHE in order to reflect the high quality implicit in the impact factor of our journal.

Where do the papers come from? In 2009, 23 submissions came from Germany, followed by the UK (19), Spain (14) and Sweden (13). France, Italy and Greece delivered eight submissions each. All other countries contributed less than six submissions.

Although we try to receive referee reports within 4 weeks, and over 90% of our reviewers are compliant, the average peer review time (including revision of the paper) for those papers that enter the referee process is currently about 10 months. Although the average time to acceptance is much less if papers that are rejected directly after submission are included, this is much too long and the editors have made great efforts to reduce this time. Fortunately, all articles are published via Online First, thus papers are publicly available and can be cited before being printed in the journal.

The EJHE is widely read and widely distributed. More than 6,000 institutions have access via an online connection to the journal. Statistics from Springer show 42,669 full text requests for articles published in the EJHE in 2009—an average of 3,000–4,000 requests per month. Most requests (54%) come from Europe, but already about 20% each come from Asia–Pacific and North America.

The editors are proud of what we have achieved over the past years. However, we are aware of the challenges that lie in the future. Major goals are to reduce the time for the referee process and to increase the quality and visibility of the EJHE. We would like to thank all those who have supported us in the past, the publishing house Springer, and all our authors, reviewers and readers around the World.

On behalf of the editorial board:

J.-Matthias Graf von der Schulenburg (Editor-in-chief)

Wolfgang Greiner (Managing Editor)