As of January 2021, Pflügers Archiv – European Journal of Physiology became the official journal of the German Society of Physiology (DPG). On this occasion, the president of the society, Markus Hecker, and the editor, Armin Kurtz, wrote an editorial which we have linked below.

They point out, that “….the ties between physiological research in Germany and Pflügers Archiv have a long history. In fact, it is the longest one possible since, worldwide, it was the first publication dedicated to this field when it was founded by the German physiologist Eduard Pflüger in 1868. Renamed in his honour in 1910, it is published under its present name [i.e. including “European Journal of Physiology”] since 1968…”

They also write that “…..looking back on close to 120 years of history, the German Physiological Society (DPG) is a youngster by comparison. Today, though, its name is almost more an indication of its linguistic rather than strictly national focus since its membership also includes scientists from Austria and Switzerland. And while its basis lies in this geographic region, the DPG is also firmly rooted in Europe…”

Both authors further emphasize that..” joining forces with a reputed journal that unmistakably sees itself as an international publication makes perfect sense… this new partnership will not affect the management and general scope of the journal …It will welcome manuscript sub-missions from any country and on any area and aspect of physiology, including translational research….”

(Citations taken from Hecker, M., Kurtz, A. Pflügers Archiv – European journal of physiology becomes the official journal of the German Physiological Society. Pflugers Arch – Eur J Physiol 472, 1657 (2020) by permission of the authors). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-020-02493-z

IUPS congratulates!