Dear colleagues, We can claim that we have an influential and worthy past as a medical journal on forensic sciences in our country, and also we declare that we shall have an hopeful future with great expectations. This journal has been published for five years. Although publishing process has been painful from time to time, it is congenial for a periodic publishment in general. Academic milieu of our country developed a consent for the scientific content of this journal, and now we must aim international approval. This is our duty to bring our journal forth to be accepted in citation indexes, and we need the help of our international advisory board members in this context. The Society of Forensic Medicine Specialists together with the Department of Forensic Medicine of Istanbul University Istanbul Medical Faculty succeeded in the organization of the 4th Congress of Forensic Sciences. The team work of forensic scientists together with forensic physicians was the main objective of this congress, and the majority of our forensics community participated in an intense program. We have come to an end of publishing the manuscripts of the poster presentations of the 3rd Congress as a supplement to the Bulletin, and the oral presentations will follow these in the first issue of 6th volume. We have enjoyed a pleasing event in the year of 2000. The Journal of Forensic Medicine has been revived, and a new journal on clinical forensic medicine is on the way. We wish a successful period of publication for these journals.

Şebnem Korur Fincancı