Welcome to Nature Clinical Practice Endocrinology & Metabolism. This new journal is part of an innovative effort by the publishers of Nature to address one of the most frustrating complaints of the busy physician: “Where do I find the time to remain current so that my patients can benefit from rapid advances in medical knowledge?” Nature Clinical Practice Endocrinology & Metabolism is designed to identify, summarize and place into clinical perspective the most important, clinically relevant and recent publications in the field of endocrinology and metabolism. I have chosen to work with Nature in this endeavor because their outstanding record in biomedical publishing suggests that they can meet this challenge, if anyone can.

As we all realize, in order to advance in understanding of the pathophysiology and therapy of endocrine disease, the physician-scientist must narrow his field of interest; as it were, learning more and more about less and less. One manifestation of this is the fragmentation of our discipline into a dozen or more subsubspecialties, each with at least one journal (and often more). There are over 40 journals, mostly published monthly, which are focused on endocrinology in its broadest sense. This does not include the 10–15 most widely read weekly or monthly general clinical and scientific journals, which often publish articles relevant to endocrinology. To ensure adequate coverage of this mass of material, we have assembled an international group of senior practicing endocrinologists who are also well-recognized academicians. We will combine our efforts to identify, digest and present in a clinical context the most significant articles in this monthly barrage of journals.

We will combine our efforts to identify, digest and present in a clinical context the most significant articles in this monthly barrage of journals.

The publisher has designed an imaginative easy-to-use format, focusing on the clinical implications of a given target subject. Each issue of the journal will contain timely and topical articles of various types. Research Highlights are short summaries of relevant articles published in other journals. Practice Points are unique articles that focus on influential research papers, comprising a structured synopsis written in-house and a commissioned commentary written by an external author, which puts that research into context. The Practice Point sentence summarizes how the original article should affect the way you treat your patients. Viewpoints are opinion articles in which authors discuss topical subjects. Review articles, of which there are several types, are authoritative overviews of developments in the specialty. Therapy Insights provide information about medical conditions managed by physicians in other specialties, and how that condition impacts on the treatment or management of endocrinologic and metabolic conditions. Drug Insights pertain to the mechanisms and applications of drug classes, and Technology Insights and Surgery Insights focus on advances in treatment and diagnostic technologies and equipment. Mechanisms of Disease Reviews provide insight into the science underlying disease. Primer Reviews provide simple, jargon-free explanations of areas essential to the understanding of clinical research, such as statistical methods and evidence-based medicine. Finally, Case Studies discuss one patient in detail to illustrate the etiology, diagnosis and proper management of a medical condition. You also have the opportunity to earn Category 1 CME credits through the journal's partnership with Vanderbilt University Medical School.

All content will undergo peer review, with two exceptions: the Editorial and the Research Highlights. Articles are editorially independent and authors are asked to state any professional or financial situations that may be perceived as causing a conflict of interest with respect to integrity of content.

Given the expertise of our Advisory Board and the editorial and publishing excellence of Nature, I fully expect Nature Clinical Practice Endocrinology & Metabolism to be a unique and useful tool for both practicing and academic physicians—and not just another journal.