In 2017, the World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG) has published the 42^nd issue which containing 15 articles including 1 editorial, 2 reviews and 12 original articles contributed by scientists worldwide. Among these comprehensive articles are (1) “Intestinal epithelium, intraepithelial lymphocytes and the gut microbiota - Key players in the pathogenesis of celiac disease”, a review by Bożena Cukrowska, MD, PhD, Professor, et al from Department of Pathology, Laboratory of Immunology, The Children’s Memorial Health Institute, Poland; (2) “Nuclear heat shock protein 110 expression is associated with poor prognosis and hyperthermo-chemotherapy resistance in gastric cancer patients with peritoneal metastasis”, a basic study by Akiharu Kimura, MD, PhD, et al from Department of General Surgical Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan; and (3) “Vaccinations in immunosuppressive-dependent pediatric inflammatory bowel disease”, a systematic review by Patricia C Fulkerson, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, et al from Division of Allergy and Immunology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, United States, etc. We invite you to peruse all 15 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.

Figure 1 The cover of the issue. Editorial board member of World Journal of Gastroenterology, Zhao-Shan Niu, MD, Associate Professor, Laboratory of Micromorphology, School of Basic Medicine, Medical Department of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, Shandong Province, China

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.

We invited the readers to download and read the E-Journal of this issue.