Virchows Archiv: Quo vadis?

Excerpt

Each time I receive an issue of Virchows Archiv (The European Journal of Pathology), I realise with a feeling of pride that I am part of an incredible tradition in medical publication: 165 years of continuous pathology publishing! The journal was founded by our intellectual forebear Rudolf Virchow as ‘Archiv für Pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für Klinische Medicin’ in 1847. The first change in name occurred in 1903 when, for the 171st volume, the name of the founder was added to the name of the journal. Thus it became ‘Virchows Archiv fuer Pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für Klinische Medizin’. With foresight the editors of the journal in 1968 decided to create two different sections of the journal: volume 344 had part A dedicated to ‘Pathologische Anatomie und Histologie’ and part B dedicated to ‘Zellpathologie’, later changed into ‘Pathological Anatomy and Histology’ and ‘Cell Pathology’. These changes anticipated the important impact that the development of molecular biology would have on our understanding of the mechanisms involved in disease and the implications of this knowledge for the practice of diagnostic histo- and cytopathology. The journal also started to accept papers written in English, which in the second half of the twentieth century had become the new ‘lingua franca’ of science. Just a decade later, English became the sole language for the journal, with another name change: the German name versions disappeared. Again with foresight, the designation ‘Molecular Pathology’ was added to part B. In 1994, another decade later—we were now at volume 424—the two sections were fused, underlining the notion that cellular and molecular mechanisms of disease are an intricate part of pathology, be it in research or in diagnostic practice. The global orientation of the journal was reflected in the subtitle ‘An International Journal of Pathology’. In 1999 the journal became officially associated with the European Society of Pathology and, with volume 454 in 2009, the journal metamorphosed in appearance (some like the flashy almost psychedelic colours, others do not) and again in name: the subtitle became ‘The European Journal of Pathology’. …