Coming in 2017: Our 15th Anniversary!

In the spring of 2017, we will celebrate the 15th anniversary of Biopreservation and Biobanking and its predecessor Cell Preservation Technology. Our Founding Editor-in-Chief, Dr. John Baust, will provide his own history and perspective in a special anniversary issue. We also expect to publish a series of anniversary commentaries and reviews in the special issue and at other points during 2017. Plans for those articles are developing with input from our senior editors. I expect we will have reviews concerning ethical and regulatory topics, cryopreservation, and information technology, and other topics that cover the range of issues that have become the hallmark of the Journal's success.

We are entering the anniversary year in a strong position. As I have noted in other editorials, the recent trends in the Journal's impact factor and full-text downloads have been outstanding. These important trends in statistics are reflections of our long-term success as we celebrate milestones such as the coming anniversary. However, although mindful of these important factors, our priority is to take a thoughtful approach to editorial decisions concerning the topics to cover. We take the approach that we want to establish our leadership in areas such as biobank sustainability, which will not be covered in a comprehensive way by other journals. In addition, our editorial board, with its representation from all parts of the globe, allows us to cover the most critical issues relevant to the advancement of international biopreservation and biobanking studies. International collaboration and harmonization in the research areas that we cover continue to be among the most critical challenges that our stakeholders face. Our anniversary reviews and commentaries will focus on future trends in these and other areas of interest to our readers.

Thanks to all of our authors, readers, reviewers, editors, and publisher's staff for your contributions to the success of the Journal as we celebrate this important milestone!