This year, Welding in the World celebrates its 50th anniversary as the leading technical publication of the International Institute of Welding. In 1963, there were 4 issues with 17 total papers. This year, we will publish over 80 papers in 6 issues.

The original editor (1963–1966) was Guy Parsloe. He was succeeded in 1968 by Philip Boyd who held this position until 1991 and was followed by John Hicks (1991–1995). From 1996 through 2009, the International Institute of Welding CEO served as the editor of Welding in the World and included Michel Bramat, Daniel Beaufils, André Charbonnier, and Cécile Mayer. In 2009, Bruno de Meester, Thomas Böllinghaus, and John Lippold were appointed as co-editors.

The original publication coordinator at the Secretariat was André Leroy (1963–1974). He was succeeded in 1975 by Henri Granjon, who held this post until 1986, followed by Michel Bramat (1986–2000), Nöelle Fauriol (2001–2004), and Véronique Souville (2004–2012). The current coordinator is Pierre Tran.

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For the first 20 years, Welding in the World was published by the International Institute of Welding, then by Pergamon Press until 2001. From 2001 through 2012, it was again published by the International Institute of Welding. As described below, Welding in the World has now joined the Springer Group of journals and, starting in 2013, is available in both online and print versions. For the first 30 years, the journal was published in both English and French (Le Soudage dans Le Monde) with the transition to English-only occurring in 1994. With all these changes, Welding in the World has taken on many different looks over the years as demonstrated by some of the covers shown here.

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Welding in the World was established as a vehicle for publishing the work of working units within the International Institute of Welding. Selected papers presented at the annual assembly were recommended by the working units for publication. These papers were then edited (and translated) by the Secretariat for inclusion in the journal. Editing and translation limited the number of papers that could be published, as seen by the accompanying chart. An average of about 20 papers per year was published from 1963 to 1993. The transition to English-only in 1993 resulted in a marked increase in papers published, although the number of papers per year was highly variable.

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In an effort to elevate Welding in the World to the next level, editors from outside the International Institute of Welding Secretariat were appointed in 2009. Bruno de Meester (Belgium) was the first, followed by Thomas Böllinghaus (Germany) and John Lippold (USA). Their first task was to streamline the peer review system, which was introduced in 2008, and to improve the quality of papers published. In 2009, an application was filed to join the Science Citation Index (SCI). The SCI, monitored by Thompson-Reuters, provides an indicator of the quality and impact of the journal. Entry into the SCI was approved in 2010.

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Another significant milestone in the evolution of Welding in the World occurred in 2013 with the addition of Springer as the journal publisher. An online peer review system (Editorial Manager™) was introduced to streamline the review and approval of papers recommended by the working units. Papers approved for publication are assigned a DOI and are published immediately through Online First™. This allows papers to be made available online up to 4 months before they appear in print. The relationship with Springer also allows more papers to be published, since the manuscript throughput is no longer limited by the editorial constraints of the Secretariat.

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As seen in the accompanying chart, over 80 papers were published in 2012 with a similar projection for 2013. This is nearly double the number published in 2010. It is anticipated that the journal will continue to publish at this level in the near future.

The impact factor (IF) calculated for a journal has become an important measure of a journal’s quality and reputation, i.e., the scientific visibility of the journal. This factor reflects the number of citations of the articles published in the journal over a fixed period of time. The IF is determined over a 2- or 5-year period. The 2011 IF was 0.35 and the 2013 IF is at 0.45. Most journals entering the Science Citation Index need several years to establish a representative IF and the goal of the Editors is to achieve an IF in the range from 1.0 to 2.0 by 2016.

We celebrate the 50th anniversary of Welding in the World, recognizing the many individuals before us whose contributions have made the journal what it is today. The future outlook of our journal is bright. Our thanks go out to all of you who contribute to its current and continuing success.

John Lippold

Bruno de Meester

Thomas Böllinghaus