In 2018, the World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG) has published the 2^nd issue which containing 16 articles including 1 review, 11 original articles, 3 case reports and 1 letters to the editor contributed by scientists worldwide. Among these comprehensive articles are (1) “Drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma: Current state of the art”, a review by Antonio Facciorusso, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, et al from Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Foggia, Italy; (2) “Metabolic and hepatic effects of liraglutide, obeticholic acid and elafibranor in diet-induced obese mouse models of biopsy-confirmed nonalcoholic steatohepatitis”, a basic study by Kirstine S Tølbøl, MSc, Research Scientist, et al from Gubra Aps, Denmark; and (3) “Genetic variants of interferon regulatory factor 5 associated with chronic hepatitis B infection”, a case control study by Thirumalaisamy P Velavan, PhD, Professor, et al from Molecular Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Germany, etc. We invite you to peruse all 16 articles in this issue, as they present the latest research progress/findings and provide insightful comments in gastroenterology and hepatology that will guide basic research and clinical practice in these fields.

Figure 1 The cover of the issue. Editorial board member of World Journal of Gastroenterology, Gianluca Pellino, MD, Research Fellow, Surgeon, Unit of General and Geriatric Surgery, Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Naples 80138, Italy

We encourage gastroenterologists and hepatologists worldwide to submit manuscripts to the WJG 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.