In 2016, the World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery (WJGS) has published the 11^st issue which containing 6 articles contributed by scientists worldwide. Among these comprehensive articles are (1) “Pre-operative clinical and instrumental factors as antireflux surgery outcome predictors”, a Review by S Salvatore Tolone, MD, PhD, et al from the Second University of Naples, Division of General and Bariatric Surgery, Italy; (2) “Critical analysis of the literature investigating urogenital function preservation following robotic rectal cancer surgery”, a Systematic Reviews by Sofoklis Panteleimonitis, MBChB, BSc, MRCS, et al from the School of Health Sciences and Social Work, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom; and (3) “Gallstone ileus associated with impaction at Meckel’s diverticulum: Case report and literature review”, a Case Report by Ajita Prabhu, MD, FACS, et al from the Department of General Surgery, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, United States, etc. We invite you to peruse all 6 articles in this issue, as they present the latest research progress/findings and provide insightful comments in gastrointestinal surgery 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 11, November 27, 2016.

Figure 1 The cover of the issue. Editorial Board Member of World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Masashi Ishikawa, MD, PhD, Doctor, Department of Surgery, Tokushima Red Cross Hospital, Tokushima 771-1192, Japan

The WJGS 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 gastrointestinal surgery. It was launched on November 30, 2009 and is published monthly (12 issues annually) by BPG, the world's leading professional clinical medical journal publishing company.

We encourage surgical specialists worldwide to submit manuscripts to the WJGS 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/1948-9366/e-journal.htm.