Dear ISLH members:

We would like to take this opportunity to make an exciting announcement on behalf of ISLH. Starting in January 2007, ISLH will be proudly launching a new official society journal, the International Journal of Laboratory Hematology (IJLH), formerly Clinical and Laboratory Hematology. The IJLH is already indexed by Index Medicus and will be published six times per year by Blackwell Publishing, a leader in hematology publishing. The IJLH will be sent to all ISLH members as part of their membership benefits. The new Editors-in-Chief of the IJLH will be Dr. William Finn (formerly Editor-in-Chief of Laboratory Hematology) and Dr. Steve Kitchen (formerly Editor-in-Chief of Clinical and Laboratory Hematology).

This message is being sent urgently to ISLH members to correct any misunderstanding that may have occurred due to a flyer inserted in the last issue of Laboratory Hematology by the publishers. The ISLH is not reducing its member benefits, rather expanding them to include a new journal that will be published six times per year instead of four times per year. As you may know, the ISLH contract with Carden Jennings ends at the end of December, 2006. In an effort to improve our society's scientific publications, the ISLH has chosen to employ a new publisher and to launch a new journal, International Journal of Laboratory Hematology, which has the potential to become a top-tier hematology journal. Contrary to Carden Jennings' insert, Laboratory Hematology will not be the "only journal devoted to information critical to laboratorians". Furthermore, future issues of Laboratory Hematology will no longer be endorsed or recognized by ISLH as an official society publication.

The ISLH was prevented from announcing this exciting development sooner due to contractual obligations, but we will be making a formal announcement at the upcoming American Society for Hematology meeting in Orlando and on our society web site, www.islh.org . I hope you will be as excited about this new publication as we are and that you will consider submitting a manuscript to the International Journal of Laboratory Hematology.


Sincerely yours,

Elkin Simson, MD
ISLH President


Kandice Kottke-Marchant, MD, PhD
ISLH Executive Secretary