Adios Pigment International! Reflections and acknowledgments

With this issue, I hereby complete my term as Editor‑in‑Chief (EIC) of the Pigment International (PI) journal. The journey over the past 5 years (2021–2025) has been both fulfilling and deeply enriching.1 PI, an official publication of the Pigmentary Dermatology Society (PDS), is completing 11 years since its inception (2014). I must acknowledge the unswerving trust and support that I received from members of PDS, especially Dr. Rashmi Sarkar, president of PDS, for always supporting the PI with financial and administrative matters throughout my tenures. I am thankful to PDS EIC for the trust and faith bestowed on my team and me, and for giving us complete freedom to uphold the sanctity of editorial work and the journal. I am indebted to my teachers and mentors, notably Prof. Bhushan Kumar, Prof. Sunil Dogra, and Prof. Rashmi Sarkar, for their guidance and support over the years. As I reflect upon this tenure, I am reminded that a journal is far more than a repository of manuscripts—it is a living, evolving platform that mirrors the scientific rigor, creativity, and aspirations of its community. One of the most rewarding aspects of this tenure had been the collaborative spirit shared with the editorial board members. A journal thrives on this collective effort. When I took over as EIC in 2021, I had the proud privilege of working with leading experts in the field of Pigmentary Dermatology and young, dynamic colleagues to form a formidable editorial team who delivered with utmost sense of responsibility, efficiency, and impartiality, upholding high editorial standards. Dr. Rashmi Sarkar and Prof. D.M. Thapa, my predecessors, had done a herculean task of starting this journal and taking it up to high standards. I was fortunate to have had with me Dr. Vinay Keshavmurthy as Associate Editor, an indispensable editorial team core member, who made my EIC job easy, delightful, for which I am always indebted. I am confident that my successor EIC, Dr. Anupam Das, who has ample experience in editorial work, shall further elevate the academic profile of PI, keep up its performance graph, editorial standards, to which I am positively looking forward. Expert colleagues as Deputy Editor, Dr. Mala Bhalla and a few rising stars as assistant editors were the strength of my editorial team, who never failed to deliver as per my intentions. I am grateful to my entire editorial team, authors from India and world over, and most importantly, reviewers, the unsung heroes who relentlessly and with dedication have put time, knowledge, and expertise into reviewing the numerous papers submitted to the journal. During my tenure, PI journal, which was initially conceived as a biannual journal, became three issues per year journal. The journal’s success depends on its popularity among readers, which is evident by one of the highest numbers of monthly downloads of PI’s popular articles and citations among dermatology journals from India. I, along with my editorial team, sincerely thanks readers and authors for their unstinting support for making this possible. All the professional support from the vibrant Wolters Kluwer‑Medknow publishing team was crucial for us to tide over the technical hurdles and bring journal issues on time. I wish to thank all of them, especially our industrious production editors Ms. Varsha, Mr. Bilal Khan, Ms. Pallavi Narsale, Ms. Sheetal Hodge, and Mr. Chetan Darne and editorial quality managers Ms. Swetha Veluri, Ms. Mamta Java, and Ms. Cynthia Soans who helped steer the journal to the highest standards of publication and indexation. I express my heartfelt gratitude to the Almighty for giving me the strength to walk resolutely through this arduous path, with a special word of thanks to my family for bearing with me and to all my dear friends, colleagues, and mentors who kept me motivated all along to do my best for the PI journal. The ultimate goal of PI is to promote science and advance the knowledge and clinical skills of readers to further the development of the specialty and better care of our patients with pigmentary dermatosis. On behalf of my editorial board, I personally express regret to any author if ever editorial decisions were perceived as harsh or unpleasant while we tried to uphold high editorial standards. In closing, the experience of serving as Editor-in-Chief of PI has reaffirmed a simple yet profound truth: journals do not merely publish science—they shape it. It has been a privilege for me to be part of this endeavor. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.