In 2016, the World Journal of Hepatology (WJH) has published the 31^st issue which containing 5 articles contributed by scientists worldwide. Among these comprehensive articles are (1) “Alcohol use disorder and its impact on chronic hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus infections”, a Review by Daniel Fuster, MD, PhD, et al from Department of Internal Medicine, Addiction Unit, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Spain; (2) “Liver resection for early hepatocellular cancer: Comparison of centers in 3 different countries”, an Original Article by Linda L Wong, MD, Professor, et al from Cancer Center, Department of Surgery, John A Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, United States, etc. We invite you to peruse all 5 articles in this issue, as they present the latest research progress/findings and provide insightful comments in hepatology that will guide basic research and clinical practice in these fields.

This journal is an open-access journal which allows free immediate access to all full-text articles. For details, please visit: Volume 8, Issue 31, November 8, 2016.

Figure 1 The cover of the issue. Editorial Board Member of World Journal of Hepatology, Dr. Yu-Bao Zheng, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Chief Doctor, Teacher, Department of Infectious Diseases, the Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510630, Guangdong Province, China

The WJH is a leading academic journal devoted to reporting the latest, cutting-edge research progress and findings of basic research and clinical practice in the field of hepatology. It was launched on October 31, 2009 and is published three issues per month (36 issues annually) by BPG, the world's leading professional clinical medical journal publishing company.

We encourage hepatologists worldwide to submit manuscripts to the WJH describing their original basic or clinical research findings that are of high academic value and which report new diagnostic techniques or summarize their treatment experiences.

We invited the readers to download and read the E-Journal of this issue, at: http://www.wjgnet.com/1948-5182/e-journal.htm.