This issue of the journal inaugurates another innovation, to be tried over the next year: the rapid communication. Despite or perhaps partly due to the explosion of biomedical journals in the last 20 years, timeliness can still be a problem for authors and editors alike. With the journal's turnaround and publication schedules now on track, attention has been turned to the need to publish timely data that can inform-or provoke-current controversies; and that can allow for the publication of novel findings likely to stimulate and improve patient care, teaching, or research.