With this issue, a new era begins for Modern Pathology. While Modern Pathology has enjoyed a presence in cyberspace since it was made available online in 2001, this innovation did not fully capitalize upon the benefits offered by the world-wide web. With our transition to the Nature Publishing Group, the entire process of publication involves the Internet, from submission of manuscripts, to peer review, to communication with authors and reviewers, to submission of accepted manuscripts to Nature Publishing Group for production, to copyediting, to review of proofs, to posting of articles online ahead of their appearance in print, and finally to transmission to the printer. Also, the process is now world-wide in that different segments of it take place in North America, Europe, and Asia. When Nathan Kaufman edited the first issue of Modern Pathology late in 1987, editorial processes had changed only a little since Johann Gutenberg introduced moveable type around 1450. The changes of the last decade in the world of editing and publishing are of a scale comparable with those brought on by Guttenberg. As the fourth editor of Modern Pathology, following in the footsteps of Nathan Kaufman, MD (January 1988–December 1988); Bernard M Wagner, MD (January 1989–December 1994); and Stacey E Mills, MD (January 1995–April 2000), it is a great privilege to be the steward of the journal during this time of change.

While the editorial and publishing processes have changed, Modern Pathology will continue to bring the same excellent content to its readers. Our focus remains the publication of peer-reviewed original papers reporting innovative clinical and translational research in the pathology of human disease. True to our name, the majority of these papers will employ modern methods of immunohistochemistry, molecular biology, or other disciplines to advance the understanding of disease. However, authors should know that we welcome papers that advance the diagnosis and prognostication of human disease, regardless of the methods employed in the study. We will also continue to publish the Long Course proceedings from the Annual Meeting of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, review articles, methods articles, and a few of the most interesting and novel case reports submitted to us.

The changes in the process will enable us to bring the content of Modern Pathology to the readers more quickly and more effectively. Here are some of the improvements:

  • online publication of articles in advance of their appearance in print;

  • up to two pages with color illustrations can be published in each article at no charge to the author;

  • inclusion of Modern Pathology in the Nature Publishing Group website that is accessed millions of times per month;

  • capability to download selected articles free of charge (approximately four) from Modern Pathology each month; and

  • manuscript submission and management online that is expected to reduce the time between submission and disposition of manuscripts.

As we enter the 17th year of Modern Pathology's existence, Harvey Cramer, MD, FRCPC, Marsha Cline, and I wish all of our readers a Happy New Year!