CCLM award for the most cited paper recently published.

Walter de Gruyter publisher is delighted to announce the introduction of the ‘‘Award for the most cited paper recently published’’ for the journal Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM). The Award was presented for the first time during ‘‘IFCCWorldLab Fortaleza 2008 – 20th International Congress of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine’’ in September this year, in the presence of the IFCC President Jocelyn Hicks (see picture). The selection of articles for receipt of the CCLM distinction is based solely on the highest number of citations. The Award will be given out every 3 years and the awarding ceremony will take place during the IFCC World Congresses. The next Award will be presented during ‘‘IFCC WorldLab Berlin 2011’’ in May 2011 for the paper with the highest number of citations received out of all articles published in CCLM between 2008 and 2010. CCLM’s editors and the publisher have voted for the most cited paper award as solely the number of citations reflects the quality, innovative value, and practical significance of an article. We hope that the ‘‘Award for the most cited paper recently published’’ will encourage scientists and experts in the field of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine worldwide to present the innovative results of their scientific work in high-class articles. The 2008 winning paper is ‘‘Determination of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) using a novel ELISA assay’’ by Friedrich Schulze, Reinhard Wesemann, Edzard Schwedhelm, Karsten Sydow, Jennifer Albsmeier, John P. Cooke and Rainer H. Böger published in CCLM 2004;42(12):1377–1383. It has been 15 years since ADMAwas first described as an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase in human plasma and urine. Since that time, we have gained a detailed understanding of the biosynthesis and metabolism of ADMA, and we have learned about its role in determining endothelium-dependent vasodilation in several cardiovascular diseases. Recent clinical studies published by Prof. Böger and his group have added interesting data suggesting that ADMA might be a novel cardiovascular risk factor, allowing the prospective identification of patients at cardiovascular disease or death. With this novel ADMA ELISA assay, Prof. Böger and his team developed an easy and quick analytic method to determine ADMA levels in patients in order to evaluate the detailed cardiovascular risk in addition to classical cardiovascular risk markers. We congratulate Prof. Böger and his team on their achievements in this field and their outstanding and excellent work.