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The editor, in this article, presents his views on various issues related to health and social behavior. The editor argues that according to figures provided by the previous two editors of the "Journal of Health and Social Behavior," (JHSB) this journal has had and continues to have an impact just under the "American Sociological Review" and the "American Journal of Sociology. " In fact, JHSB's impact factor has been almost double that of "Social Forces" for a number of years. The editor promises to continue the outstanding work of prior JHSB editors in selecting and publishing high quality, theory-driven, empirical papers across a wide range of topics in health and illness, the sociology of medicine, and the organization of medical care. JHSB is the journal. In the editor's view , a good editor, with the help of the editorial board and a bevy of careful reviewers, publishes the very best papers that are submitted for consideration and trusts that these reflect the cutting edge of the field.

The article presents Michael Hughes' introduction, the editor of the "Journal of Health and Social Behavior." When he applied for the post of editor he pledged that he would encourage the submission of more articles with an institutional or organizational focus on health care and health care delivery. During his editorship, the journal did not receive an inordinate number of submissions on health care, and from March 2001 through June 2004, the "Journal of Health and Social Behavior," published health care organization and delivery articles at about the same rate as it had over the previous six years. Most papers submitted to and published in the journal continued to be on the etiology and epidemiology of health problems, including a very high proportion of studies on mental health and the stress process. As his background is in social psychological approaches to mental health, he had to lean heavily on those with the appropriate expertise. He thanks Ann Flood, deputy editor, who was immensely helpful in initial planning for the issue and in helping him work through the problem of identifying an editor.