This year the Annals enters its fourth year as the official journal of the European League Against Rheumatism, EULAR; in this role the journal flourishes. In the past few years the number of manuscripts submitted has almost doubled, the circulation quadrupled, and the impact of the journal increased considerably.

The editorial team was proud to learn that so many readers appreciated the change and (as they described it) improvement in the design of the journal. The readership may have noticed that since July 2002 the procedures leading to publication have become totally electronic. This means that the whole process—namely, submitting a manuscript, manuscript review, decision making, and editing, is now electronic, and therefore faster than before. Although, inevitably, there have been minor starting problems (which have been largely solved), the new system has been received enthusiastically by an impressive majority of authors, reviewers, and others involved in the publication process. We, the editorial team, backed by strong support from the BMJ Publishing Group, will continue to improve the system.

In 2002 two new associate editors joined the team, Professor Frank Wollheim from Lund and Professor Bevrah Hahn from Los Angeles. The board welcomes these colleagues for their specific expertise and thanks them for their willingness to participate.

In addition to recent expansion of the EULAR journal, EULAR itself has developed over the past few years. The annual conference, which started in Nice three years ago, has become an international annual event with attendees from all over the world. The number of participants registering increases each year, with more than 8000 in Stockholm in June this year.

EULAR has also significantly enlarged its educational activities. Thus, a visiting professor programme, EULAR training bursaries, and travel bursaries enabling young rheumatologists to attend the annual conference have been established. The successful postgraduate courses will be continued and expanded.

Finally, EULAR has established a research grant, which will support collaborative research between European rheumatology groups in fields that are in line with the goals and strategies of EULAR.

On behalf of EULAR, and its official journal, the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, we wish you a happy, fruitful, and prosperous 2003.