In 2016, the World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery (WJGS) has published the 9^th issue which containing 9 articles contributed by scientists worldwide. Among these comprehensive articles are (1) “Update on medical and surgical options for patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis: What is new?”, a Minireviews by Rachel E Andrew, MD, et al from the Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, the Pennsylvania State University, United States; (2) “Fibrinogen-thrombin collagen patch reinforcement of high-risk colonic anastomoses in rats”, an Original Article by Juan Manuel Suárez-Grau, MD, PhD, et al from the Department of General and Digestive Surgery, Riotinto Hospital. Av. la Esquila, Spain; and (3) “Eosinophilic ascites: A diagnostic and therapeutic challenge”, a Case Report by Shefali Agrawal, MD, MS, FACS, Senior Consultant, et al from the Department of Surgical Oncology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, India, etc. We invite you to peruse all 9 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 9, September 27, 2016.

Figure 1 The cover of the issue. Editorial Board Member of World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Dr. Ansgar Michael Chromik, MD, Department of General and Visceral Surgery, St Josef-Hospital, University of Bochum, 44791 Bochum, Germany

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.