It is an honour, an opportunity and a challenge to take over the position of editor of the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases (ARD). Professor Leo van de Putte has, during his almost nine-year editorship, developed ARD to become the leading rheumatology journal in Europe.

The connection with the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) has facilitated a huge readership and the shared ownership of the journal between EULAR and BMJ Publishing Group has created opportunities for fast and effective communication of science in rheumatology.

Will there be changes in the journal with the new editor?

The only visual change in this issue is many new names among the Associate Editors, in the Editorial Board, and on the Advisory Committee. All previous members who have completed their term have made tremendous contributions to the journal. Many of the new members of the Editorial Boards represent a new generation of young rheumatologists and scientists who will further enhance and develop the current and future research in rheumatology and areas closely linked to rheumatology.

I will continue the editorial policy of Professor van de Putte. The editorial priority will be to publish high quality original research and to achieve a good balance between basic, translational and clinical research. The journal will continue to have editorials, special communications and articles and also reviews, but will not compete with other journals that mainly focus on educational articles. One of the challenges for researchers and clinicians today is to select articles among the increasing flow of information within a short period of time. I hope we may find solutions to make it possible for readers to easily capture the main “take home messages” from the published articles in ARD. An additional challenge is to find the optimal balance between material published in paper format and electronically.

I look forward to future collaborations with colleagues; the members of the editorial boards and reviewers are essential for the success of the journal. Finally, I will welcome any advice or proposals from the readership that can contribute to further improve the quality of the journal.