An analysis of the research topics and countries of origin of the 276 papers published since 2008, which was when the KJO was listed in the SCI, revealed that 244 papers were original articles, 29 were case reports, and 3 were review articles. Approximately 24% of the publications dealt with topics related to three-dimensional diagnostic techniques, followed by 21% that dealt with orthodontic appliances and biomaterials. In addition, skeletal-anchorage-related topics accounted for about 12% of the publications. We were able to confirm the major research areas of the papers published in the KJO from these data. Other published topics included orthodontic diagnosis, epidemiology, orthodontic biology, orthodontic physiology, molecular biology, orthognathic surgery, and temporomandibular disorders. Based on the country of origin, 85% of the studies were from Asia including Korea, 7% from Europe, 3.4% from the Americas, and another 3.4% from the Middle East. These data reflected the role of the KJO as a regional journal in Asia.

Nevertheless, the KJO could publish only 36 papers per year, and this created numerous time and space constraints on introducing the latest research. Therefore, the Journal has recently increased its publication capacity to 42 or more papers and is making efforts to publish a greater variety of papers, including brief reports and review papers. However, a waiting period of 4 to 6 months limits timely reporting of the latest research, and this has led to continuous requests for improvement from many researchers. For publishing delayed papers promptly, it is necessary to have professional English supervision and manuscript editing work as international journals.

A recent trend in academic publication has been a shift from print publication to online publication. Online publication allows for quick editing of manuscripts as PDF and XML-linked files after the final approval of the paper, as well as rapid publication on the KJO website and indexing by PubMed Central. This would allow us to strengthen our capabilities as an open-access journal. Therefore, the KJO has launched an ahead-of-print system in January 2017 to expedite the publication of accepted papers. I request your support and thank you for your interest in improving the KJO as both a print and online publication.