Each year I write an editorial to inform our readership about changes in the Journal of Perinatology and to thank our reviewers and the Editorial Board Members for their continuing efforts to improve the Journal. Last year I reviewed several important developments to the journal, including changes to the Editorial Board, new Associate Editors, continuing growth of the Journal in regard to manuscript submissions and the impending assignment of a Thomson Reuters Impact Factor. This year I will briefly report on the same issues and then append the list of last year's fine reviewers.

We have added two Associate Editors for Neonatology: Philip V Gordon, the Chief of Neonatology at Tulane, and Jatinder Bhatia, the Chief of Neonatology at the Medical College of Georgia. Dr Bhatia has added this role in addition to the one as the Supplements Editor that he took over last year. I am very proud that Aaron Caughey has continued in the role of Associate Editor for articles in the Maternal-Fetal Medicine field and that Arthur Eidelman has continued as our International Editor. All of the Editors review the initial submissions, determine the initial priority for publication, and decide whether to continue evaluating a manuscript for eventual publication. The Editors then assign reviewers and receive and evaluate the reviews, as well as edit individual manuscripts.

The number of new manuscripts submitted continued to grow last year, as we received over 600 original manuscripts for the 2009 calendar year. This growth is a 40% increase in new manuscript submissions when comparing the number submitted in 2006 with the number submitted in 2009.

The Journal has been indexed by the major electronic abstracting services for many years. Last year we were, for the first time, assigned a Thomson Reuters Impact Factor of 1.621 in the Journal of Citation Reports. The Impact Factor is an index relating to the number of citations to the published articles in a specific journal over the preceding 2-year period. As such, some individuals find this a means to assess the importance of a journal, although it should only be used with the knowledge of the various factors that limit the score's meaningfulness. For us, this was a milestone, as being scored will be viewed by some as an index of acceptance of the scientific reliability of the Journal, and as a means to compare with other similar journals. In regard to the group of pediatric journals receiving Impact Factor scores, our score ranks the Journal in the upper half of all pediatric journals receiving scores.

In sum, the Journal is continuing to grow and our Associate Editors are assuming increased responsibility for manuscript evaluation, resulting in maintenance of a reasonable review period despite this growth. Finally, the advent of a published Thomson Reuters Impact Factor is further demonstration of the acceptance of the Journal by the broader scientific community.

2009 Reviewers list

We acknowledge and thank the individual reviewers who have completed at least one manuscript evaluation (often several) during the past year (1 January to 31 December 2009). The Journal of Perinatology has improved dramatically by their generous contributions of time and expertise in the often anonymous task of reviewing the many manuscripts submitted for consideration of publication.

Kjersti Marie Aagaard David H Adamkin Vincent Adolph Hany Z Aly Namasivayam Ambalavanan Sture Andersson Harry Applebaum Ronald Lee Ariagno La Armstrong Shmuel Arnon Antonio C Arrieta Rosemary Arthur Joshua Attridge Susan Aucott Richard Auten, Jr. Natali Aziz Henrietta Bada David Bader Praveen Ballabh Eduardo Bancalari Maskit Bar-Meir Steven Michael Barlow Benjamin Bar-Oz Keith J Barrington Maneesh Batra Moraye Bear Alan Bedrick Sandra Bellini William E Benitz Ivor Berkowitz Hank Bernstein Gerard Berry Carol Lynn Berseth Vineet Bhandari Jatinder Bhatia Howard J Birenbaum Matthew Bizzarro Joseph Bliss Barry T Bloom Yair Josh Blumenfeld Arend Bos Carl L Bose Renee Boss Debra Brandon Luc P Brion Ruben Bromiker Patrick Brophy Elchanan Bruckheimer Susan Howell Brunssen Dale Bull David James Burchfield Alison Cahill Darlene Anne Calhoun Victoria Camerini Deborah Campbell Corradino Campisi Waldemar A Carlo Brian Scott Carter William J Cashore Robert Castro Anita J Catlin Gary M Chan Mickie Cheng Yvonne Cheng Angie Child Ramen Chmait Euming Chong Robert D Christensen Judith Chung David A Clark Reese Hunter Clark Nelson Claure Bernard Cohen Christopher Colby Shlomo Constantini Simo Costa Dennis T Costakos Xanthi Couroucli Sherry E Courtney Douglas Cunningham Donna Daily Jonathan M Davis Peter Davis Eugene Dempsey Susan Denson Shaul Dollberg Edward Donovan Mia W Doron Nora M Doyle Manuel Durand Eric Eichenwald Dorethea Eicher Ayman El-Mohandes Yasser Y El-Sayed William A Engle William D Engle Tania Esakoff Juan-Sanchez Esteban Nick Evans Karen Fairchild Roger G Faix Dan Feig Heidi Feldman Lori Feldman-Winter Vickie Feldstein Betty Ferrell Andrea Fick Jeffrey Fineman Neil N Finer Glenn Flores Edwin Forman Philippe S Friedlich Judith Fullerton Ed Funai Masahisa Funato Janusz Gadzinowski Stanley A Gall Jeffery Garland Elena Gates Cara A Geary Jeffrey S Gerdes Ira Gewolb Christina Glick Laura Goetzl Jay Goldsmith Mitchell Reid Goldstein Ricki Goldstein Sergio G Golombek Phillip V Gordon Jeffrey B Gould Clarence William Gowen Ernest Graham Anne Greenough William Grobman Heinz-Peter Groneck Edith Gurewitsch Maureen Hack David Hackney James Hagadorn Donna R Halloran Cathy Hammerman Ada Hamosh John V Hartline Mary Hartnett Sonia S Hassan Don Hayes C Mary Healy Micah Hester Rosemary Dowe Higgins Diane Holditch-Davis Shigeharu Hosono Cynthia Howard Mark L Hudak Thierry Huisman Thomas Hulsey Naveed Hussain Michael T Hynan Saleem Islam Oussama Itani Lucky Jain Krista A Jangaard Jan Janota Celeste Johnston Doug Jones Sandra E Juul Anjali J Kaimal PCA Kam Michael Kaplan M Gary Karlowicz Miki Karplus David Kaufman William Keenan Roberta Lynn Keller Martin Keszler Stephen D Kicklighter Howard W Kilbride Lena Kim Matthew Kim Hiroyuki Kitajima A Klar Jonathan M Klein Gil Klinger Martin Kluckow Gail Knight Robin B Knobel THHG Koh Girija G Konduri Robert J Kopotic Vedat Koseoglu Amir Kugelman Miriam H Labbok Alain Labrique Anais Lacasse Edmund F LaGamma Hugo Lagercrantz Satyan Lakshminrusimha Margaret Lampe Abbot R Laptook Chantal Lau Matthew Laughon Richard Hwan Lee Maureen Lefton-Greif Brigitte Lemyre JV Leonard Felicia Lester Steven Leuthner Edward Liechty Nehama Linder George A Little William Frank Liu John Wells Logan Harold N Lovvorn, III Carolyn Lund Anne Lyerly William MacKendrick Cathy Macknet Ashima Madan M Jeffrey Maisels Imad R Makhoul Mark C Mammel Dror Mandel Paolo Manzoni Kyla Marks Diane D Marshall Maria Mata Oommen Mathew Ranjiv Mathews Ryan M McAdams Antony McDonagh Jane E McGowan Michael McMaster Patrick J McNamara Robert McVie Orly Meged Mark Mercurio Paul Merlob T Allen Merritt Marvin Elliott Miller J Ross Milley Sheba Mohankumar Martha Montello James Moore Dean Morrell R Lawrence Moss Fernando Moya Jonathan Muraskas Patricia Murphy Ali M Nadroo Suhas Nafday Don K Nakayama Craig Nankervis Josef Neu PC Ng Yvonne Peng Mei Ng James M Nicholson Heber C Nielsen Laura Noble Shahab Noori Robyn North Mary Norton Anthony O Odibo Robin Kjerstin Ohls Bryan L Ohning David Osborn Gary Overturf John Paris Anjali Parish Davina Patel David Andrew Paul Nathaniel R Payne Ron Perez Jeffrey M Perlman Max Perlman Matei Petrescu Janet Pettit Christian M Pettker M Kathleen Philbin Richard A Polin Nicolas FM Porta Arun Pramanik JoAnn Prause Karen Pridham Gail Prins Joanne Quinones Heike Rabe Paula G Radmacher Lisa Rahangdale Khodayar Rais-Bahrami Tonse NK Raju David Randolph Sukhvinder S Ranu Rini Ratan Rivka H Regev Virender K Rehan Brian Reichman Michael Repka Fred Rescorla Miguel Reyes-Mugica Anne Marie Reynolds William Rhine Elizabeth Rogers Mario Augusto Rojas Roberto Romero VJ Rooks Warren Rosenfeld Shannon Ross Andrea Rossi Henry Rozycki Rita Marie Ryan Sanjeev Sanjeev Koravangattu Sankaran Subrata Sarkar Judy Saslow Ola Didrik Saugstad Matthew Saxonhouse Yechiel Schlesinger Sanford Schneider Michael D Schreiber Joseph Schulman Nadav Schwartz Arvind Sehgal Kris C Sekar Istvan Seri Brian Shaffer Prakesh S Shah Seetha Aravind Shankaran Mardelle Shepley Eric Stuart Shinwell Tomas Silber Bob Silver Jean M Silvestri Judith Simpson Sunil Sinha Robert A Sinkin William B Slayton Anthony Slonim Lamia Soghier Gregory Sokol Augusto Sola Roger Soll Michael E Speer Joseph A Spinnato Alan Richard Spitzer Sindhu K Srinivas Avrahim Steinberg Robin H Steinhorn Bonnie Stevens Barbara J Stoll Brian Stone Barbara Stonestreet Naomi Stotland KN Siva Subramanian Jonathan Swanson Jonathan M Tan Rob Taylor Robert Glenn Tefft Bradley Thach Marianne Thoresen Suzanne Thoyre Filiz Tiker R Trochez-Martinez David Tudehope Mark Underwood Adam Urato U Felderhoff-Müser Meera Varman Rita Prasad Verma Rose Viscardi Michele Walsh William F Walsh Frans J Walther Alan Anson Wanderer Clara Ward Jon F Watchko Leonard Weisman Sunshine Weiss Stephen Welty Joseph W Werthammer Robert D White John A Widness Sharon Wiener Nancy Wight Dominic J Wilkinson Rodney Willoughby Deborah A Wing Martha S Wingate David D Wirtschafter Paul Wise Janet Wojcicki Ashley Wood Linda Wright Danny Wu Shu Wu James L Wynn Bradley A Yoder Thomas EE Young Hongbo Zhai Ekhard Ziegler Marya Zlatnik Joel Zlotogora