%A Kayser, Klaus %D 2018 %T www.diagnosticpathology.eu: 2018 Reflections – Perspectives 2019 %K %X   Basics: The peer reviewed open access journal www.diagnosticpathology.eu remains the only peer reviewed scientific journal that publishes virtual slides. Several innovative procedures have been implemented too which can only be performed and distributed in an electronic environment. These include for example annotations of text and images, and visual / acoustic display of animations. www.diagnosticpathology.eu is a non - profit oriented and financially autonomous journal. It is supported by volunteers and only obliged to science and medicine. These features permit a flexible and fast implementation of recently developed publication tools. It is part of a scientific communication network and consists of different service nodes which act in a cloud. Compartments: The nodes include the closed PHP forum Virtual International Pathology Institute (VIPI, www.diagnomx.eu/vipi ), an automated image measuring system (EAMUS), a lexicon of air borne hazards such as natural and synthetic mineral fibers, fine granulate and air pollutants (Natural and Synthetic Mineral Fibers affecting Man), an anatomy training course, and a collection of sixty rare and common lung diseases. All articles of the worldwide first solely electronically distributed journal of pathology (Electronic Journal of Pathology and Histology) are herein accessible without any fee for the readers. Short report of 2018: In focus have been the implement of virtual slides (VS) and the publication of articles which address theoretical and practical issues of digital pathology. A ‘general pathologist’ might not be familiar with these issues; however, they are already waiting at the horizon. These include discussions on a ‘potential replacement’ of a diagnostic pathologist by an autonomous computerized diagnosis system as well as basic principles of scientific communication and ‘work distribution’. The guidelines of digital pathology presented by the Professional Association of German Pathologists have been included as well. VS are included in the articles in close collaboration with smartinmedia GmbH & Co KG www.smartinmedia.com using the image visualization and annotation system www.easyzoom.com. Five characteristic examples of virtual slides are included in this editorial. They exemplarily demonstrate completely digitized routine glass slides of a rare case (pulmonary Morbus Castleman, hyaline vascular type, HE stain, DAB antibody immune histochemical stains, CD3, CD20, CD21, Factor VIII). The reader might check the image quality, navigate, and annotate the VS. The details of VS image evaluation are described in detail in the appendix I. All published articles are now open for text annotations by the author and / or reader too, either in a private section or in an environment open for all readers. The details of adequate annotation by the open access system www.hypothes.is are described in appendix II. Oral presentations have been equipped with a bar code and provided with a DOI reference. We consider them a bridge between the ‘classic review performance’ and a potential new publication performance which neglects reviews. It will hold on or to delete the article after a certain time dependent on specific ‘article hold on’ measurements (which might include conventional rewire statements too). The number of published articles remained limit, and stayed at the low level of publications in 2017. The main reasons have been mentioned in 2017 already and include a missing Scientific Citation Index and listing in journal data banks such as PubMed. Both issues primarily focus on financial issues (the higher the SCI the more expensive is the publication fee). They are of limited scientific value and do not really promote innovative ideas or experiments to our opinion.     %U https://www.diagnosticpathology.eu/content/index.php/dpath/article/view/271 %J Diagnostic Pathology %0 Journal Article %R 10.17629/www.diagnosticpathology.eu-2018-4:271 %V 4 %N 1 %@ 2364-4893 %8 2018-12-23