Thank you— <i>Annals of Applied Biology</i>

This is my final editorial as Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of Annals of Applied Biology—Biosciences for Sustainability (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/17447348; see Parry & Azevedo, 2025, for more about the Annals rebrand with the new strapline). From January 2026, my dear fellow Senior Editor (SE), Professor Antonino Malacrinò, will take the role of EiC. Antonino has been on the board of editors since 2019 and has been fully involved in all activities. He has shown tremendous dedication to Annals, taking the role of SE for Reviews submitted to the journal. He has shown rigorous scientific analysis of manuscripts and contributed with ideas and ways to make Annals a better journal. His actions have undoubtedly contributed to the continued growth and reputation of Annals. No need to say that he has an excellent research record, and I am confident that he will make further significant contributions to Annals. I wish him the best and that his time as EiC is as enjoyable as it has been for me. I am glad we worked together; good luck, Antonino. I must also inform that I will stay on the board for one extra year as SE for Crop Improvement. The idea is to contribute and help with the transition that started in 2025 with the major changes introduced to the editorial board. If you followed my previous editorials, particularly those published in January 2024 and 2025 (Azevedo, 2024; Azevedo, 2025), I commented on a number of changes that have been discussed and introduced by the Association of Applied Biologists (AAB; https://www.aab.org.uk), Wiley (https://www.Wiley.com/en-us), and the SEs. These changes align with our priority of making Annals even more attractive to the authors and readers, with a wider range of subjects and types of publication, and a more friendly, faster, and easier way to submit the manuscripts. For instance, I can mention the new board structure introduced in July 2025. Annals has now several SEs divided into the main subject areas covered by the journal. These editors will be handling directly all submissions. This should make the experience better for the authors and ensure a faster editing process. We have also created the Annals of Applied Biology “Editorial Advisors”, which is composed over 20 new committed-reviewers. Thank you for accepting to work with us and I am sure your contribution will be essential for the success of the work we do together for Annals. As EiC since January 2021, we introduced several changes to Annals, and I must say that it was the busiest period I ever had as editor since I joined the board in 2006 as Associate Editor and, a year later, as SE. Taking the role of EiC added a lot more to my understanding of how a scientific journal works. Over these 20 years, I witnessed many changes in the editorial board and in the journal; I worked with three Editors-in-Chief, Martin Parry, Jari Valkonen (who passed away in December 2024), and Simon Leather (who passed away in September 2021—see special issue on Entomology—185, 2024; Azevedo et al., 2024), and they were all excellent scientists with a total commitment to the success of Annals. I could not have asked for better mentors. Now it is time to pass the baton to a new EiC. I have always been in favour of having new people with fresh new ideas taking key roles. I guess the only reason I stayed for such a long time with Annals was because I simply loved working with the editors and the AAB team. They made the work a lot easier, especially when problems were knocking at our door: fraud, plagiarism, predatory actions, and other issues were out there, but they were few and swiftly resolved. In this editorial, I want to express my thanks for these 20 years. Annals made me a much better scientist. Working with the authors, reviewers, publisher, and taking part in so many changes to scientific publishing that have happened over the years was really something special. Having my name associated with Annals is a great honour. Therefore, I would like to thank Professor Peter Lea (who passed away in June 2024; Azevedo et al., 2025) who proposed my name to Professor Martin Parry in 2005, and, of course, to Martin not only for giving me the opportunity but for mentoring me and helping me over the years; his friendship is something extra I gained and I value so much. I thank all editors I worked with, and the AAB and Wiley teams for the support. A special thanks to Carol Millman (Azevedo, 2021), former executive officer and editorial officer, who was, as I use to say, a “guardian angel” looking after the editors, authors, reviewers, and working colleagues. My gratitude goes especially to the authors, reviewers, and readers!—the journal is made by and for you. Finally, I would like to use this paragraph for some very personal comments: I must say Farewell! I will be soon retiring from all my scientific and academic activities. It has been wonderful! Magic! I often think about how lucky I have been—it seems that I have made the right choices and taken the right paths all the time! I had good people guiding me and serving as life references. It could not have been better. I could not have asked for more. No complaints, no regrets whatsoever! I honestly cannot put into words or express the feelings I have when I think about what I have done and achieved since I was an undergraduate student 46 years ago. So, a huge thank you to my students, close collaborators, to Dr Salete A. Gaziola, who has been working with me side by side since I got my position at the University of São Paulo (USP), the funding agencies that supported my research, the Department of Genetics—Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (Esalq)—USP, to Professor Paulo Arruda (Unicamp), Professor R. John Smith (Lancaster University), and to the best scientist I have ever met and my dearest and best friend, Professor Peter J. Lea (Lancaster University). My thanks are also due to my family, especially my parents (in memoriam) Cleuza and Dirceu, my daughter Juliana, my son Rogério, the youngest member and my little treasure, my granddaughter Alice, and to the most important person in my life, my wife Jacqueline—we did it together. What a journey it has been!