Journal of Gastric Cancer ’s Ascent and the Enduring Contributions of Dr. Keun Won Ryu

As the official journal of the Korean Gastric Cancer Association (KGCA), the Journal of Gastric Cancer (JGC) has sought to disseminate rigorous, clinically meaningful advances across the spectrum of gastric cancer-from prevention and early detection to multimodality treatment, surgical innovation, and survivorship.In April 2024, JGC reached a major milestone by being indexed in MEDLINE, widely regarded as the most authoritative biomedical bibliographic database curated by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.The journal's trajectory has become increasingly visible to the global community: JGC now reports a 2024 Journal Impact Factor (JIF) of 3.8 and a 5-year JIF of 2.9, positioning the journal firmly within the competitive landscape of both gastroenterology/hepatology and oncology.While a journal's influence cannot be reduced to a single metric, it is still worth reflecting on what drove this upward movement-particularly because the reasons are directly aligned with what readers most need: trustworthy evidence synthesis, transparent methodology, and practice-changing data anchored in real-world clinical contexts.Among multiple contributors and initiatives, one figure stands out for sustained, structurally transformative impact: Dr. Keun Won Ryu, former KGCA Chairman and former Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of JGC.This editorial is written to recognize how his academic life's work-spanning evidencebased guideline leadership and national-level data initiatives-helped JGC mature from a respected society journal into a globally consulted reference point.A defining feature of JGC's recent evolution has been the journal's role as the primary publication platform for the Korean Practice Guidelines for Gastric Cancer, created through a multidisciplinary and explicitly evidence-based process.The 2018 guideline-