Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet is Professor of Gastroenterology and an internationally recognised expert in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Between 2020 and 2023, he was President of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) and Scientific Secretary of the International Organization for the Study of IBD (IOIBD), the two leading international organisations in IBD.
In 2025 Laurent became new Editor-in-Chief of JCC, which is now the first-ranked journal in IBD worldwide. In this edition of ECCO News, we are delighted to learn about Laurent’s plans for the future of the journal.
What has been your previous experience as a journal editor and what have you learned from that?
I have been fortunate to serve as an Associate Editor of two journals, one North American (Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology) and one European (Digestive and Liver Disease). This has been a fantastic experience. You discover what happens behind the scenes! For instance, even internationally recognised scientific journals are facing major issues in finding external reviewers. Otherwise, the atmosphere on editorial boards is unique and having such a large amount of responsibility makes this role unforgettable.
What are your main objectives with JCC?
My first objective with JCC will be to further promote the success of JCC by capitalising on previous work. Having such a strong impact factor for a journal that focuses on one disease (or two diseases!) is a fine achievement and something that we should not ignore. Second, we need to create new activities for the journal to make it even more attractive. Finally, we must ensure that the journal continues to reflect the spirit of ECCO as it is the journal of our organisation.
What are the main threats facing JCC?
The main threat facing JCC is that the impact factor plateaus or even falls. The brand of ECCO is a kind of shield against this. However, the competition is tough and global. Citations are always difficult to predict.
How do you see the impact of artificial intelligence on a journal such as JCC?
The impact of AI is already there. Some articles are written or edited thanks to AI. This has to be disclosed in the published article. For review articles that are partially based on a literature review that can be facilitated by AI tools, the question of AI’s impact remains open.
How do you think JCC should evolve to meet readers’ expectations? What are the main assets of JCC that will enable it to remain the first-ranked IBD journal?
To make JCC interesting for our readership, we have to ensure that articles are clinically relevant and/or innovative as well as methodologically and scientifically sound.
How do you think ECCO should involve Y-ECCO Members to ensure that the community of associate editors, editorial board members and reviewers is constantly being renewed?
The involvement of Y-ECCO Members is key to the future of JCC. They sometimes have more energy and more time than us! The main issue is that to be part of the editorial board of a scientific journal, you need certain skills and some experience. We could consider having more discussion with Y-ECCO, especially with a view to preparing and identifying potential future associate editors of JCC.
How should JCC contribute to the role of ECCO at the global level?
ECCO is global. With each passing year, JCC is also becoming more and more global, as demonstrated by the number of papers submitted to our journal from non-European countries. IBD is a worldwide problem. Hence, we should promote the publication of articles from every continent. As Editor-in-Chief, I intend to make sure that no distinctions are made on the basis of country of origin. Only science matters!
How do you see the collaborations and interactions between JCC and JCC Plus?
JCC Plus is our little brother. Hence, we will try to help and support it in growing up! Papers that do not reach a sufficient level of priority for JCC are sometimes transferred to JCC Plus, with no guarantee of acceptance but with a first positive evaluation from the editorial board of JCC.
Thank you, Laurent. Good luck and every success as the new Editor-in-Chief of JCC!
