The appearance of the European Journal of Human Genetics is the result of a long discussion which took place within the European Society of Human Genetics between July 1991 and May 1992. These two dates correspond to the two meetings the Society held in Leuven and Elsinore, respectively, after the modification of its former statutes. The central theme of this discussion was the following: is an official journal of the Society needed at this point in Europe, where several other journals in the field of human genetics already exist or are just initiating publication? There was a clear and almost unanimous answer in the end, which can be summarized as follows: the Society needs its own official voice, which must be a journal of scientific excellence.

The contents of this first issue demonstrate that this statement is not only a declaration of intent, but that scientific excellence is already a feature of our European Journal of Human Genetics.

In order to achieve this goal the Editorial Board had to make the following choices:

  1. (1)

    the journal is starting as a quarterly publication and in a small format to guarantee that only the best papers among those submitted will be published. If the number of highly qualified papers submitted to the journal increases, it will become bimonthly without any change in the subscription rate for members of the Society;

  2. (2)

    the policy adopted by the present Editorial Board for the functioning of the journal (see below) should represent the best guarantee for efficiently and fairly reviewing each paper submitted, the essential prerequisite for the scientific success of our journal.

Is this enough to guarantee our journal a position of strength among the other journals in the field? We feel that it is, as long as we, as members of the European Society of Human Genetics, are convinced that the success of our journal relies on our scientific contributions. The more we make our journal a success, the higher the standards of human genetics in Europe will become. It is in the best interest of human genetics in Europe and elsewhere that our European Society of Human Genetics has a voice which speaks the language of scientific excellence.

Editorial Policy and Review Process Regulations

  1. (1)

    The European Journal of Human Genetics is under the control of two boards: the Board of Editors and Advisory Board.

  2. (2)

    The Board of Editors consists of three editors appointed by the board of the European Society of Human Genetics. The Board of Editors, after consultation with the publisher, will elect from amongst its members the Chief Editor who will be responsible for the management of the editorial office. The Chief Editor will have the option of appointing an Assistant Editor, who will cooperate in the management of the editorial office, but will not have the right to vote on the Editorial Board.

    The Board of Editors is responsible for the scientific standards of the journal. To fulfill this responsibility, the Board is expected to meet at least once yearly in order to

    1. (a)

      evaluate the decisions made by the editorial office during the review process of papers submitted to the journal,

    2. (b)

      update the panel of referees which will have a broad international representation and include members of the Advisory Board plus other experts in the field of human genetics, and

    3. (c)

      prepare an annual report on the activities of the journal to be distributed to the Advisory Board and to the European Society of Human Genetics.

  3. (3)

    The Advisory Board consists of up to 30 members appointed by the Board of Editors who will be asked to

    1. (a)

      participate in the review process of papers submitted to the journal, and

    2. (b)

      submit a short confidential assessment of the journal to the Board of Editors at the end of each year.

  4. (4)

    Once a paper is submitted, the editorial office will send a copy of the abstract of the article by FAX to at least two scientists asking if they are willing to review the paper. Once they have agreed, it will be forwarded to them. The referees will return the review by FAX within 15 days. The editorial office will then communicate both its decision and each referee’s review to the corresponding author as well as to the referees. Every attempt will be made to publish papers requiring minor revisions within 6 months from the date of submission to the journal. Modifications of this review policy, if needed, may be decided upon by the Editorial Board.

  5. (5)

    The Board of Editors will be responsible for the appointment of Section Editors (e.g. Education, Ethical Issues, Applied Cytogenetics, Applied Molecular Genetics). Section Editors will be asked to

    1. (a)

      promote discussion within the journal on these issues, and

    2. (b)

      collaborate with the appropriate committees operating inside the European Society of Human Genetics.

  6. (6)

    Papers should be submitted to

S. Karger AG

Editorial Department

European Journal of Human Genetics

P.O. Box

CH-4009 Basel, Switzerland,

following the Instructions to Authors.