Editorial

Abstract

Dear colleagues,

With this issue of HÄMOSTASEOLOGIE – Progress in Haemostasis it is time to deeply thank Prof Rüdiger Scharf for his accomplishments and his engagement as the journal's Editor-in-Chief (EIC) for more than 10 years.

Prof Rüdiger Scharf

He started in 2009 as Co-EIC together with Prof Christine Mannhalter. After this successful time he took over as "captain", and from 2013 onwards, he has led the journal's Editorial Board as EIC under his sole responsibility. His dedication for the journal was outstanding and he was always trying to invite and activate leading experts to submit their papers to HÄMOSTASEOLOGIE – Progress in Haemostasis.

During his term as EIC, Prof Scharf made final decisions on more than 900 submitted manuscripts, with over 350 accepted articles covering all relevant topics in the wide field of haemostasis research and published in > 50 issues. Prof Scharf's personal engagement in the journal's scientific content is also reflected by more than 20 accompanying Editorials on various topics in the field of thrombosis and haemostasis.

Prof Scharf successfully accompanied the transfer to a new publishing company in 2018, and despite additional commitments associated with his Visiting Professorship at Harvard Medical School & Boston Children's Hospital he facilitated rapid publication of expert guidance documents following emergence of the COVID-19 healthcare crisis and SARS-CoV-2 vaccine-related thromboembolic complications, and steered the journal and the scientific publications through these rough times.

Among the many achievements of Prof Scharf as EIC is the assembling of a highly renowned Editorial Board with outstanding expertise in basic research or clinical haemostasis, including 15 Section Editors and 25 Advisors from Austria, Switzerland, and Germany. In addition, Prof Scharf has put tremendous efforts in the support of young scientists, as reflected, e.g., by the journal's Special Issue on the "millennial generation of thrombosis and haemostasis", featuring 10 narrative reviews by upcoming leaders in the field and edited by Prof Scharf together with his Junior Editorial Board Member, Dr Stefano Barco, in August 2020. A highly appreciated and interesting read for everyone in our community and a great chance for all contributors to be seen. But not only did he care about the young talents, Prof Scharf also focused on readers and users of the journal and introduced novel manuscript formats, such as Certified Medical Education (CME) articles and Images in Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

Finally, his overall efforts have contributed to a significant increase in the journal's impact factor from 0.780 in 2010 to 1.778 in 2020.

We strongly hope that Prof Scharf will continue to support the Society for Thrombosis and Haemostasis Research (GTH) with his scientific enthusiasm, his academic experience, and his dedicated mentorship. We thank Prof Scharf – also in the name of the new Editorial Board and the publisher – for a highly successful term as EIC and wish him all the best for his future activities.

The new team of Editors will officially take over at the beginning of 2022. With Manuela Albisetti, Florian Langer and Heiko Ruehl we have a broad and well positioned group of experts who cover – also in close cooperation with the overall Board – all relevant topics in thrombosis and haemostasis. The new team has already familiarized itself intensively with the needs and position of the journal and is looking forward to officially taking over in January 2022. We wish the new Editors and our scientific community a wonderful start and a successful cooperation.

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).

Publication History

Article published online:
23 December 2021