“Since trace elements are essential for health and play a crucial role in all organisms, interest in trace element research is unbroken, and continually growing.”

The Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology (JTEMB) was founded in 1987 and is the official organ of the Federation of European Societies on Trace Elements and Minerals (FESTEM). As a thematically specialized journal, having only existed in the print form until recently, we were aware of reaching a very specific audience of scientists working in the field of trace element research. However, in the last years, we tried to increase attractiveness and worldwide awareness of our journal through some reorganization and enhanced marketing, e.g., with advertisements in Nature. With becoming part of Elsevier and going online on Science Direct we did indeed look forward to reaching a broader public and higher citations. Nevertheless we were surprised to have achieved this goal so soon and are very happy about this result.

   How would you account for JTEMB’s increased citation rate?

There are different events that could account for the increased citation rate:

To begin with, two international symposia of the FESTEM took place in the last years, both attracting an international interdisciplinary audience, thus triggering the interest in our journal.

Moreover, the FESTEM welcomed two new national trace element societies as members: the Spanish SEQCET and the Russian RUSTEM joined the French SFERETE, the German GMS, and the Italian AISETOV in 2002. This increased the number of trace element scientists directly involved with the journal of the FESTEM.

Furthermore, the number of Editorial and Advisory Board members was increased as well, welcoming new internationally renowned scientists.

Finally, the inclusion of JTEMB in Science Direct made its access easier and certainly helps the journal to become known by a broader international audience.

During the last years we tried to encourage scientists from more varied fields of trace element research to submit manuscripts—from clinical research and molecular biology to environmental issues, from nutrition to toxicology, from analytical methods and inorganic chemistry to trace elements in plants. We invited new international Editorial and Advisory Board members of different scientific disciplines. We created new categories, for example "Bioinorganic Chemistry." We have accepted contributions from an international symposium on trace elements in agroecosystems for a special issue, targeted at a new audience from a different field. In general, we aimed at making our journal more attractive by dedicating issues to international conferences or to a special topic, for example compiling articles on different aspects related to the element selenium in the last volume.

Another point is the transition in the past three years to almost complete electronic handling of manuscript submission and evaluation processes, facilitating these processes and making submissions easier for authors from all over the world. Moreover, the recent inclusion of JTEMB in Science Direct made a publication of the articles ahead of print possible.

Altogether, we have registered an increase in submissions, with topics related to most various aspects of trace elements, showing a higher awareness of our journal.

There are only a few journals specialized in the field of trace elements. JTEMB has been conceived as a very specialized medium, focused on trace element research but embracing contributions from a variety of disciplines, in order to combine all possible aspects of trace elements and to be a forum for all researchers in fields related to trace element research.

The fact that the journal has been founded as the organ of the European trace element societies has assured its high profile in this community.

Since trace elements are essential for health and play a crucial role in all organisms, interest in trace element research is unbroken, and continually growing. The mechanisms of their functions in the organism are not always fully understood and wait to be elucidated. For example, due to their discussed implication in neurodegenerative and prion-connected disorders, trace elements are investigated in upfront research.

Interest in trace elements will still grow, especially concerning their role in metabolic processes. More vital functions of trace elements have yet to be discovered, their mechanisms elucidated, as well as their implication in various health disorders, for example in relation to neurodegenerative diseases in view of an understanding of the underlying mechanisms and possible treatment. Adequate trace element supply, including availability of trace elements in food, fortification, and supplementation, is also a crucial topic, particularly in developing countries.

To be the specialized medium for up-to-date research on trace elements, embracing a variety of disciplines, e.g., molecular biology, analytical and bioinorganic chemistry, nutrition, epidemiology, pathobiochemistry, clinical studies, toxicology, environmental studies, veterinary medicine, and agriculture.

Another role will be to serve the trace element community. JTEMB provides a forum for communications of the European trace element societies, gives reviews of publications in this field, and compiles a calendar of forthcoming meetings focused on trace elements, i.e., an overview of conferences of a variety of disciplines with topics related to trace elements.

One aim of the trace element societies is to increase awareness of the importance of trace elements in health and nutrition. Therefore a series of articles is planned in the future, reviewing different trace elements, their functional and toxicological aspects, and discussing recommendations of daily intake in the normal population or in relation with certain pathological conditions.