Foreword of the Editor-in-Chief

We wish a happy and successful new year to all our friends and to all endoscopists throughout the world who read and subscribe to Endoscopy. As readers may have noticed, the layout of the title page changed in the middle of 2001 - the tenth year in which the same editorial team has been running the journal. In addition, the present issue is the first in which a new layout is being used for the entire issue. Our hope is that this will give the journal a more up-to-date appearance.

The journal's success story is continuing, and we believe the combination of outstanding original articles and penetrating, in-depth review sections is a special feature in it. The Expert Approach section has taken off well; we are especially grateful to René Lambert for his excellent work in organizing this, and we are looking forward to further contributions to this informative series.

We are also grateful to our reviewers, who have provided tremendous support during the last year in reviewing papers speedily (their names are given at the end of this issue). The support shown by our reviewers has certainly made a substantial contribution to increasing the journal's scientific quality and reducing the turnover time for articles. The Editorial Board was also restructured in 2001, with a four-year term being introduced for members (which can extended by agreement).

Endoscopy is facing exciting new developments on the frontiers of advanced imaging and endoluminal surgery. We aim to participate in this process as vigorously and enthusiastically as we have done in the past.