Readers of this important, information-packed journal will gain a more complete understanding of the activities associated with these plants by access to current information in a format that is readily available. Investigators generating new knowledge are able to easily share their information with interested colleagues. Managers of food companies, food processing facilities, medical research laboratories, government agencies, and others interested in new chemicals, food additives, international trade, patents, and other items will be able to easily review new findings. Currently, research and other literature on herbs, spices, and medicinal plants is widely scattered in several journals, reports, monographs, and patents. The Journal of Herbs, Spices & Medicinal Plants serves as a focus point through which investigators and others may publish material of importance to the production, marketing, and utilization of these plants and associated extracts. This refereed and peer-reviewed journal makes relevant and efficient information retrieval possible internationally. Original articles and book reviews provide information of interest to an international audience of researchers, teachers, technicians, and managers involved with production and/or marketing of herbs, spices, and medicinal plants on these general topics: growth, development, horticulture, ecology, physiology, genetics, chemistry, economics. The journal is a forum in which recent research and other information associated with herbs, spices, and medicinal plants is shared. It also begins to establish a centralized historical literature record accessible by investigators within the international community that work with or have an interest in herbs, spices, and medicinal plants.