Dear readers and contributors to Nutrients,

It is less than four years since the first issue of Nutrients was published. In that short time Nutrients has undergone a rapid evolution to become a seriously competitive publication in the field of human nutrition.

Having attained Medline listing in 2011 and its first Impact Factor (0.676) last year, Nutrients has recently been accorded a 2012 Impact Factor of 2.072 and is now ranked 41/67 in the 'Nutrition & Dietetics' category. This is a tremendous achievement in such a short time frame.

Clearly there was scope for another journal in the clinical nutrition field which could offer fast track, free access publishing whilst maintaining internationally accepted standards of peer-reviewed publication.

The rapid growth of Nutrients has resulted in a greatly increased workload for the honorary editors and editorial board members as well as the highly committed staff of the Nutrients publishing office. As the focus of Nutrients has evolved, so also have the expectations for publication standards and the requisite review processes. Not surprisingly, our manuscript rejection rate has also risen sharply to 50%. This rate may diminish as our rising reputation enables us to attract higher quality submissions.

I am indebted to the Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Prof Jon Buckley, for the tremendous support that he has given me since the instigation of the journal and I am pleased to announce that Jon has now been appointed as Joint Editor-in-Chief of Nutrients. I also wish to acknowledge the contributions made by the dedicated members of our Editorial Board and the hard working, professional staff of the Nutrients publishing office. The recent success of the journal is a testimony to their commitment.

Finally, I would like to thank you, the contributors and readers of Nutrients, for your interest in the journal and I encourage you to continue to send us your invaluable feedback and ideas for further improvement of your journal.

Peter Howe

Joint Editor-in-Chief