Issue EuroReference 4
Editorial
Dear Readers and Authors,
After a two-year absence, we give you the latest issue of Euroreference. It is the 4th issue and will unfortunately be the last.
The new Euroreference format, launched in 2016 by ANSES with the support of 19 other institutions from 10 EU Member States, and dealing specifically with reference activities in the areas of animal & plant health, and food & drinking water safety, aimed to facilitate the sharing of experience and the development of scientific knowledge in the field of analytical reference work, both at the European and international levels.
After a healthy start and the active participation of scientific colleagues from several Member States, mobilisation has unfortunately dried up since 2018, despite the strong commitment of the directors of all the institutions involved. This new and last issue with only four articles (three of which are from ANSES) bears witness to this drop in contributions!
Driven entirely by a handful of ANSES staff with limited availability, and without any additional financial resources, the journal had set up a very simple editorial system to make it attractive to authors whose reference works were not eligible for inclusion in international scientific journals. Unfortunately, this model did not function, probably because many colleagues prefer to publish their research in journals that are more visible to the scientific community and therefore more rewarding for themselves and for their institutions.
We regret this, especially with regard to the reference activities in Europe, whose excellence is internationally recognised and which we remain convinced are essential to achieving a more robust and efficient system of health protection not only in Europe but also globally.
ANSES is therefore discontinuing this publication, at least temporarily. However, our conviction remains and we hope that new initiatives can be taken very soon so that a new network of institutions with reference mandates in the areas of animal & plant health and food & drinking water safety, can be set up and obtain sufficient resources to work and in doing so to stimulate European and international exchanges and collaboration in this field.
In the meantime, we sincerely thank all those who, at ANSES and at several other institutions, have strived since 2016 to make this experience work.
Gilles SALVAT, Editor-in-Chief
ANSES Managing Director General in charge of
Research & Reference Division
Bruno GARIN-BASTUJI, EuroReference Executive Editor,
ANSES Strategy & Programmes Department
Scientific and regulatory outcomes of the CEN Mandate in the microbiology of the food chain