This is the first issue of the International Journal of Obesity in the mathematical New Millennium, so a report on the status of IJO is in order. Readers will notice several changes in the format of the journal. A different page size, American A4, was adopted to benefit the libraries across the world that could not fit onto their shelves the taller A4 size that was used previously. The smaller page size of the current version of IJO necessitated a new typeface that is slightly smaller, but will allow a similar amount of material to be included per page. Finally, only non-standard papers had a heading in the past, but now each paper in the new IJO will have a heading.

The number of investigators in the field of obesity has been rising steadily in recent years. This, coupled with the increasing recognition of obesity as a subject of serious scientific inquiry and as a major public health problem, has led to a dramatic increase in the number of manuscripts submitted to IJO. Another factor contributing to the flood of manuscripts to IJO has been an increase in the impact factor to 3.199, making IJO sixth out of all nutrition and dietetics journals. In 1999, nearly 450 manuscripts were submitted to IJO. As of November 2000, more than 500 manuscripts have been received and we anticipate nearly 600 will have been submitted by the end of the year. Potential authors have already noticed one consequence of the increased number of submissions: a higher rejection rate. We are now forced to reject almost 60% of all manuscripts received. While this makes publication in IJO more prestigious, we are finding that there simply is not room for many worthy manuscripts. In response, pagination since 1999 has increased by over 30%.

The increase in manuscript submissions necessitates an increased need for reviewers for these manuscripts. The Editors of IJO would like to urge readers of IJO to volunteer to review manuscripts. You may correspond with the Editors using the e-mail or fax addresses listed in the journal. If you are asked to review a manuscript, we will greatly appreciate your cooperation and a speedy review.

In summary, the IJO and the field of obesity research are doing very well at the start of this New Millennium. We welcome your suggestions to improve the Journal and urge you to submit your best quality research for consideration for publication.