The first issue of the New Year is a good time to look back on past achievements and forward to the future. Gut continues to be a popular journal for authors and readers alike. 2006 was an exceptionally busy year with over 2400 manuscripts submitted, a 33% increase since 2003. Approximately half our manuscripts come from Europe, with most of the remainder coming equally from the USA, Japan and Asia. The criteria for acceptance are entirely uniform and the acceptance rate by country is increasingly similar. In spite of the steady rise in the number of manuscripts, the median time to decision for all manuscripts remains under 30 days, while the median time to first decision for reviewed manuscripts is around 40 days. As we only publish around 1 in 8 of manuscripts submitted, it makes sense for us to reject without review those that we think have little chance of success. These make up about one third of all manuscripts: all such papers are read by at least one associate editor and myself before the decision is made. The remaining manuscripts are sent out for review, most of which are …