Founded in 1957, the DEZ is one of the oldest active entomological journals in the world. A total of 30 editors have steered the journal throughout this period and the end of this issue ushers in a new holder of the post of Editor-in-Chief. Nine years have passed since the transition of the DEZ to the publisher Pensoft, a timespan in which the journal has opened up to scientists from all over the world employing the wide range of tools offered by the Pensoft platform. The generous waivers granted by the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin allowed many authors to publish their research in Platinum Open Access - free of charge for both authors and readers. The journal has maintained and expanded its internationality through these years: 133 articles were published with corresponding authors from all continents. Their contributions to taxonomy and systematics are of fundamental importance. Specifically, ninety-seven taxa new to science have been published since 2014, including one subtribe, fourteen genera and subgenera and eighty-two new species and subspecies. While the focus on comprehensive taxonomic and systematic contributions has been maintained, articles on the anatomy and biology of species have also been among the publications. As a result of all these changes, the journal’s impact factor more than doubled since 2014 and now stands at 1.174, making the DEZ a very attractive bulletin for amateur, and even more so for academic entomologists.

With the handover of the Editor-in-Chief position, the journal embraces a fresh look and a renewed focus, which will hopefully contribute to its visibility and attractiveness to authors. While the head of the journal changes, its backbone, an excellent team of subject editors and editorial staff from Pensoft, will remain to guarantee a dependable continuity. Together we hope to maintain the positive trends while further growing and diversifying the journal.

Matthias Seidel and Dominique Zimmermann