JCC 10 Year Anniversary

Dear ECCO Members, dear Friends,

September 2017 is a special month to mark in ECCO’s agenda: The Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis (JCC) celebrates its 10 Year Anniversary. Ten years during which it has continuously moved forward to become a key international journal relied upon by healthcare professionals around the world who care for patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD). Thanks to a great effort between the JCC Editorial Team, publishing house staff and the ECCO Office, it has grown to be a pre-eminent journal chosen by top authors to publish their research articles, and a platform for all the important ECCO Papers (ECCO Guidelines, Consensus Statements, Topical Reviews, etc.).

With an Impact Factor for 2016 of 5.813, the JCC ranks highly among the gastroenterology and hepatology journals: 11^th out of 79. What a journey since 2009, when the JCC received its first Impact Factor (0.812)! Over the years, the number of issues published has also increased, showing the journal's growing success, and an increasing number of articles have been submitted to and accepted for the JCC. The JCC has a number of other key distinguishing features that explain its achievement. To cite only one, it benefits from a timely review process for all submitted articles, such that currently initial editorial decisions to authors are, on average, provided after just 2 weeks.  

This tremendous success, however, is no cause for resting on our laurels: It is one thing for the JCC to be a leading journal in its field, and another for it to maintain its position and to continue evolving. All efforts are being made to make the JCC even more attractive. This will mainly be achieved by maintaining a high Impact Factor, providing an increasingly speedy peer review and editorial decision process, improving the quality of the production with the publisher and actively soliciting work from the best and most influential IBD experts worldwide. It will also be accomplished by continuing expansion globally: Thus, readers worldwide will turn more to the JCC as the most trusted source of information about IBD. We will continue to focus on expanding the global reach of the JCC for both authors and readers.

As Editor-in-Chief since February 2014, I am very proud of the JCC’s evolution and status. But success does not just happen by chance and I would like to warmly thank the eight Associate Editors and the 67 Editorial Board Members who throughout the calendar year devote their own time to reviewing the articles of their peers (over 1,000 articles were submitted in 2016). I would also like to address a special thank you to Miquel A. Gassull (JCC Editor-in-Chief from 2007 until 2014), and Eduard Cabré (his Assistant Editor). The JCC’s development and success would never have been possible without the tremendous foundation they put in place.

And I would like to thank you all, readers as well as submitters, for trusting the JCC with your work. The journey continues to provide you with the best IBD journal possible, meeting your needs and requests!

Sincerely yours,

Laurence J. Egan
JCC Editor-in-Chief