The Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia (ABO) has been published for over eight decades, and has reached its zenith in the last 7 years in terms of several aspects. including readership, recognition, and impact factor. Access to authors' contributions is now possible from any of the five continents around the world. This is rea lity rather than a projected plan. Using the internet, web search engines, and open access tools, any reader can now download articles from this journal. Authors from all over the world have discovered the ABO, and can now easily submit their manuscripts, with a fast and fair review using Manuscript Central (https://mc04.manuscriptcentral.com/abo-scielo).

The impact factor of the ABO as measured by the Thomson Reuters Web of Science is increasing every year, and was listed at 0.494 in the last publication of the Journal Citation Report (2015).

These achievements and several others accomplished during these years were possible because of a great team following the leadership provided by Professor Wallace Chamon. He recruited the largest team of associate editors that the ABO has ever had. He also hired individuals and companies to provide the best format and content quality in every ABO issue.

Under the supervision of Prof. Chamon, the ABO was transformed into a big, fast train, in which each wagon works efficiently to transfer to the next wagon, the needed material to complete each issue. At every station, readers and authors are promptly provided with high-quality and timely scientific feedback.

All the associate editors who served the ABO during his tenure as the editor experienced companionship and gained novel insight. The associate editors, including Augusto Paranhos Jr., Bruno Machado Fontes, Eduardo Sone Soriano, Galton Carvalho Vasconcelos, Haroldo Vieira de Moraes Jr., Ivan Maynart Tavares, Jayter Silva de Paula, Jose Álvaro Pereira Gomes, Karolinne Maia Rocha, Luis Alberto S. Melo Jr., Mario Luis Ribeiro Monteiro, Michel Eid Farah, Norma Allemann, Rodrigo Pessoa Cavalcanti Lira, and Suzana Matayoshi, certainly helped to expand new vistas and achieve breakthroughs for readers, which has raised the standards of the ABO. Even more so than the editorial boards at other scientific journals, these associate editors worked exhaustively to evaluate and edit manuscripts with input from our reviewers. They also attended several different professional meetings each year and generated proposals on how to improve the quality and editorial process of the ABO. Further, they organized and gave educational seminars at scientific meetings sponsored by the Brazilian Council of Ophthalmology (Conselho Brasileiro de Oftalmologia, CBO).

Last October, Prof. Chamon announced his resignation, and a succession process was undertaken to renew the Editorial Board and part of the ABO Administrative Council.

This editor expresses his gratitude to Prof. Chamon and his team, and welcomes the new associate editors. The new editorial board is composed of André Márcio Vieira Messias, Antonio Augusto Velasco e Cruz, Caio Vinicius Saito Regatieri, Carlos Gustavo de Moraes, Cintia Sade de Paiva, Eduardo Ferrari Marback, Francisco Figueiredo, Jayter Silva de Paula, Joõa Marcello Fortes Furtado, Marcony Santhiago, Newton Kara José Jr., Peter Reinach, Rodrigo Pessoa Cavalcanti Lira, and Rosália Antunes-Foschini. I would also like to express my gratitude to these individuals for their commitment to maintaining the quality and ethical standards of the ABO. Moreover, they are donating their precious time to move forward and to provide now and in the future an internationally acclaimed vehicle of high-quality scientific information in vision sciences and ophthalmology for ABO readers. This is the second issue of the ABO to be published in 2017; however, the previous team contributed significantly to this issue. The transition has been smooth, and there are several remaining challenges to overcome before our goals are accomplished.

It is also worth mentioning that the publication of this journal would not be possible without the support of the CBO, and the support provided by the administrative personnel, particularly Mrs. Claudia Moral and Mrs. Claudete Moral, and the librarians Mrs. Edna Terezinha Rother and Mrs. Maria Elisa Rangel Braga. They coordinate a large group that works behind the scenes to deliver a well-presented scientific journal in both its printed and electronic versions every 2 months.

The CBO has sponsored the ABO for many decades, and has already renewed its support. The current CBO Directors reinforce the aims of continuous education and scientific diffusion not only with words but also with their clear actions.

On behalf of the new editorial board, we would like to thank all those who have contributed, and last but not least, we wish you well in all your endeavours and invite you to submit your manuscripts to the ABO and offer objective criticism by serving whenever possible as reviewers and/or active readers