In 2018, the World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG) has published the 19^th issue which containing 8 articles including 4 reviews, 3 original articles, and 1 case report contributed by scientists worldwide. Among these comprehensive articles are (1) “Challenges in diagnosis of pancreatic cancer”, a review by Alina Stoita, MBBS, FRACP, Doctor, et al from Department of Gastroenterology, St. Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, Australia; (2) “Detection of hyper-conserved regions in hepatitis B virus X gene potentially useful for gene therapy”, a basic study by Maria Francesca Cortese, PhD, Research Scientist, et al from Liver Pathology Unit, Departments of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain; and (3) “Decreasing recurrent bowel obstructions, improving quality of life with physiotherapy: Controlled study”, a prospective study by Lawrence J Wurn, Research Associate, et al from Clear Passage Therapies, United States, etc. We invite you to peruse all 8 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.

This journal is an open-access journal which allows free immediate access to all full-text articles. For details, please visit: Volume 24, Issue 19, may 21, 2018.

Figure 1 The cover of the issue. Editorial board member of World Journal of Gastroenterology, Pilar Codoñer-Franch, PhD, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Dr. Peset University Hospital, Valencia 46017, Spain

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.