For this anniversary issue, we invited the Editors-in-Chief of the Society's journals to write about a topic of their choice.

Scholarly publication has played a fundamental role in the history of the Society for Endocrinology. Journal of Endocrinology was founded in 1939 by several of the leading endocrinologists of the day as a first step in the establishment of the Society, which occurred after Second World War, in 1946. Thereafter, subscriptions to the Journal have provided the single largest source of income for the Society to this day.

A decade ago, the Society was at the vanguard in recognising that scholarly publishing was changing, primarily as a result of the internet. This led to immediate online access to papers and, coupled with the worldwide decline in library budgets, the movement towards open access. In such a scenario, journal subscription income could not be relied upon for the future support of the Society. Hence the decision was made, in partnership with the European Society of Endocrinology, to establish a fully open access, online-only journal. Whilst many questioned the wisdom of this initiative, and Bioscientifica (the Society’s commercial subsidiary, which publishes the journals) had much to learn about this new mode of publication, the initiative was a success.

Jens Sandahl Christiansen, the founding Editor, believed strongly that a journal with a broad remit should enable greater ‘connections’ to be made both within endocrinology and with intersecting disciplines, and hence Endocrine Connections was born.

Since those early days, Endocrine Connections has grown. It receives over 500 submissions a year, is included in all the major indexing sites, and has attained an impact factor that is steadily rising. As with all fully open access journals, there are no subscriptions, personal or institutional, and content is freely available anywhere with an internet connection. Authors pay an article processing charge; in the case of Endocrine Connections, this is one of the lowest of any endocrine journal, and Society members then benefit from a 40% reduction in that charge.

Subscription journals face a challenging future. It is inevitable that Endocrine Connections is the future of scholarly publication by the Society. This is why, as Society members, you should lend it your support by submitting your papers, agreeing to review when asked, and accepting Editorial Board invitations when they arrive.