Abstract
The first issue of World Journal of Hepatology (WJH), whose preparatory work was initiated on September 23, 2008, will be published on October 31, 2009. The WJH Editorial Board has now been established and consists of 213 distinguished experts from 29 countries. Our purpose of launching WJH is to publish peer-reviewed, high-quality articles via an open-access online publishing model, thereby acting as a platform for communication between peers and the wider public, and maximizing the benefits to editorial board members, authors and readers.