Revista de Salud Pública is turning 19 years old this year; in 2018, with volume 20, our journal will leave adolescence behind and will welcome adulthood, which will also bring changes in both the development of what we have already achieved, and the new challenges to come, in terms of editorial quality, professionalization of the editorial team, visibility, versatility, published articles, audience, quotations, among other similar aspects.

The past 19 years have been intense and have provided us with relevant lessons. As is the case with other scientific journals in the country, working conditions are far from optimal; however, we have not lost our purpose of moving towards a first-class scientific journal. From 1999 to 2006, we developed our work on a four-month basis, but in 2017, we switched to a quarterly frequency. In 2008, we issued five numbers as a transition, and since 2009 onwards, the journal has been issued bimonthly. More than one thousand pages per volume or per year have been published since 2009, and we have significantly increased the amount of papers published in English and Portuguese languages; several authors from Latin American countries, especially from Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile, have submitted their papers, turning Revista de Salud Pública into an international journal, which has been accepted and is well positioned in indexes such as Scopus, Thomson, Medline, SciELO, Ebsco, Redalyc and others. This journal is the only Colombian journal on Public Health indexed in Medline and SciELO public health.

We want to take advantage of this opportunity and thank, again, all of those who have contributed voluntarily and dedicated their time and efforts to this scientific communication project; without their selfless cooperation, we never would have been able to reach the goals that have taken us to where we are now. These group of collaborators includes professors, researchers, authors, evaluators, communicators, administrators, editors, auxiliaries and other professionals and technicians, as well as some institutions that have supported us for many years in a decisive manner such as Instituto de Salud Pública, the Public Health Master’s degree program, and the Faculty of Medicine, of Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

In 2017, starting with volume 19, the steps necessary to materialize the changes and developments set for 2018 must be taken. In this volume, beginning with the first issue, Revista de Salud Pública will be published mainly as an electronic journal, visible through indexes and repositories. The vast majority of our readers already search indexes and bibliographic databases, and also, read and download the contents of our journal through online query systems. On the other hand, we modified the format of the journal, although much of the original design has been maintained; this will significantly increase the number of articles published, and will also allow us to respond better to the needs and expectations put in us by countless authors who send their contributions. In addition, it will be possible to reduce the waiting time between the approval of an article and its publication. All the changes made this year, as well as those that will occur in 2018, are based on the editorial quality that has historically characterized Revista de Salud Pública.

The challenges ahead of us are faced with optimism and realism, reaffirming our commitment to science and to scientific communication. We hope to contribute, in an honest and comprehensive way, to a better public health.

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