LAUSR

First of all, as Editor-in-Chief, I want to welcome our readers to a new era of Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine (EHPM), the official journal of the Japanese Society for Hygiene. Since 1996, EHPM has been a major journal in the field of environmental medicine and public health, disseminating the latest exciting research in the field of environmental health and preventive medicine. EHPM takes a comprehensive approach to disease prevention and environmental health, covering medical, biological, molecular, genetic, physical, psychosocial, chemical, and other environmental factors [1]. In 2016, EHPM reached a significant milestone. Following continuous efforts by the ex-Editors-in-Chief, Professors A. Koizumi and T. Otsuki, the journal gained its first impact factor (IF) rating of 1.214. Although IF is just one indicator of a journal’s ranking, we are aware that scientists are evaluated by the cumulative IF of their publications. I hope that EHPM’s IF will rise steadily with the publication of high-quality manuscripts from a wide range of scientific fields. This will mean that the number of submitted manuscripts will also rise steadily, and we will continue to evaluate them properly in a thorough and transparent review process: we understand how important critical peer review and publication ethics are. Fortunately, active researchers from all over the world serve as peer reviewers for EHPM. We will also endeavor to keep the submission/review/decision cycle as short as possible, but without sacrificing quality. Speedy publication will help ensure that EHPM papers are read and cited more often by experts in relevant fields. Also, we aim to help our readers discern valuable information in today’s world of ever-increasing information sources, by publishing high-impact review articles from experts in all fields related to environmental health and preventive medicine. As part of our efforts to help bolster EHPM’s position as a keystone journal, in 2016 we established a best