When this journal first appeared in 1983, it had the distinction of starting out with volume four of its career. Microsurgery was created as a unified successor of the International Journal of Microsurgery and The Journal of Microsurgery. The volume number of the new Microsurgery was set at volume four to acknowledge the initial volumes of its predecessors. Julian Jacobsen and Leonard Malis were Microsurgery's original editors, and they set themselves goals to create a more useful source for the literature of microsurgery,'' one that would represent work from the wide range of specialty disciplines and allow cross fertilization of ideas and development of new techniques in these many diverse specialties which use magnification and highly specialized instrumentation.'' 1 William Shaw, writing as the Plastic/Reconstruction section editor of Microsurgery in 1983, stated even more specific goals for the journal. His objectives included short editorial intervals for publication of accepted articles, balanced emphasis on experimental and clinical articles, flexibility of format to accommodate rapidly developing areas of interest, and utilization of review articles to summarize work from multiple sources.
Nearly 20 years later, I cannot improve on these ambitions. Microsurgery endures as a journal with great potential for presenting innovative experimental and clinical work from evolving areas of interest transcending conventional demarcations of specialties. Based on this commitment, the journal will undergo some structural changes to improve access to publication and to diversify its content and format.
Administratively, editorial duties will be consolidated to a single office to coordinate the elements of publication in simpler and perhaps quicker ways. Established Editorial Board members have been canvassed, and new members recruited, to reconstitute the