In response to a review recently carried out by the Royal College of General Practitioners, the British Journal of General Practice is soon to be issued in a new and expanded format. While continuing to develop its primary role as a leading scientific journal of record, the journal will accommodate a monthly selection of integrated news, information and features. The editorial board welcomes the opportunities provided by these changes, but wishes to emphasize the continuing importance of general practice as a scientific discipline in its own right and to reaffirm its commitment to the publication of high-quality, peer-reviewed original research papers. It is hoped that the newlook journal will have a wide appeal. But, as the first-and still the foremost-journal of general practice in the world, it will continue to be a journal of record serving both its authors and the academic community worldwide.