It seems like yesterday that I wrote my Editorial for the first Planta Medica issue of 2012, and yet the time is already there to announce a challenging 2013. Planta Medica has published 18 issues in 2012, including one Special Issue on Herb-Drug Interactions edited by Veronika Butterweck and Hartmut Derendorf [1]. Another remarkable issue was the Abstract Volume of the 8th Joint Meeting of AFERP, ASP, GA, PSE & SIF (28 July – 1 August 2012) in New York (issue 11), in which the abstracts of scientific communications of numerous participants from all over the world were published, presenting a global overview of research on medicinal plants and natural products [2]. As a yearly tradition, again the abstracts of the 11th Annual Oxford International Conference on the Science of Botanicals (ICSB) were published in Planta Medica (issue 5) [3].
As usual I would like to take the occasion to announce some important changes for 2013. I would like to welcome two new members of the Editorial Board, Prof. Nigel Perry (Dunedin, New Zealand) and Prof. Jose-Luis Rios (Valencia, Spain). Both of them were already active as Advisory Board members, and they will be valuable members of the Editorial Board as well.
Starting from 2013, Planta Medica will change its manuscript structure from “IMRAD” (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion) to “Introduction, Results and Discussion, Materials and Methods”. In this way the most important information will be presented early in the manuscript, which we trust will increase the attractiveness of the papers. The Guidelines for Authors will be updated, and the new structure will be gradually introduced. In addition, as of 2013, all figures in Planta Medica will be published in colour in the online version of the articles at no cost for the authors.
However, the most important change is that Planta Medica will stop publishing “Letters”, and will focus on Original Papers and Reviews (including Minireviews and Perspectives). The reason behind this is that Planta Medica is anticipating the increasing tendency to online-only publication, and that a new sister journal will be established, “Planta Medica Letters”. Planta Medica Letters will provide a new home for the “Letters” that were otherwise submitted to Planta Medica, as well as attract new submissions in the same format. Planta Medica Letters will be an international, English-language open access online journal accepting Letters (short communications) in all fields of medicinal plant and natural product research. In the start-up phase Planta Medica Letters will have the same Editor-in-Chief as Planta Medica, but it will be an independent journal with its own website, electronic manuscript submission and review system, and its own Editorial Board. More details will be announced in due course.
Needless to say that in 2013 Planta Medica will maintain its close relationship to GA – the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research. It should be noted that members of the Society can have a personal electronic subscription to Planta Medica at very competitive rates – have a look at http://www.ga-online.org/planta_medica.html.
I am proud to announce that in 2013 Planta Medica is celebrating its 60th birthday! I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge everyone who has contributed to these successful 60 years, including all previous Editors-in-Chief and Editorial Board members. Planta Medica will keep on publishing significant contributions in the field of medicinal plant and natural products research. A scientific journal based on a peer-review system is only possible when lots of scientists are willing to evaluate and to comment on the submitted manuscripts. The Editorial Board and the Publisher of Planta Medica gratefully acknowledge the time consuming but highly valuable efforts, provided by the reviewers on a voluntary basis. We know that many authors appreciate the comments and suggestions made by the reviewers, and use these to improve the quality of their manuscripts.
Best wishes for 2013!
Luc Pieters Editor-in-Chief
