1) Properly equipped university departments and research institutes, where the young generation of researchers can develop by acquiring knowledge and new research technique.
2) Books, research periodicals, equipment and authentic study samples are available to systematic research work.
3) Scientific associations, periodicals and other publications, where the research results can be discussed via oral and written communications.
As one of these pillars is missing or becomes weaker, the scientific researches becomes weaker as well.
The Hungarian anthropology did not have its own scientific section, or its own independent periodical until the middle of the 1950s. The Hungarian researchers published their research results in the scientific periodicals of allied sciences. Therefore it is of high importance that the Anthropological Section was founded in the frame of the Hungarian Biological Society in 1952, and the periodical called Biológiai Közlemények Pars Anthropologica was initiated in 1954.
The lectures given in the scientific meetings of the Anthropological Section in the very first 4 years of the history of the section were published in Biológiai Közlemények Pars Anthropologica. The first three year of the periodical (between 1954 and 1956) was published as the 3rd and 4th issues of the volumes I, II and III of Biológiai Közlemények. The front page of the 1956/57 volume was published with the title Biológiai Közlemények - Pars Antropologica, Anthropologiai Közlemények (volume IV, 2nd issue).
The decree 1957 of the Hungarian Biological Society presidency gave the anthropologist a wider opportunity to publish, which decree ensured the publication of the independent scientific periodical, the so called Anthropologiai Közlemények of the Anthropological Section – as the other sections in the Society had their own periodicals.
In an unfortunate way the volume 1957 was published with the title Anthropologiai Közlemények volume I. The numbering of the forthcoming volumes has increased from the beginner volume I since 1957. This means that the periodical has two volumes IV (the volumes 1956 and 1960). Until the 11th volume the numbering of the volumes used Roman numbers, while from the 12th volume Arabic numbers. From the 15th volume the denotation of issues as issue 1st-2nd and issue 3rd-4th – which denotation had only theoretical significance – was changed to 1st and 2nd issue. Since that time the issue 1st-2nd has meant– as it was used before in the case of volumes 17, 18, 20, 21 and in the last decade – that the whole volume was published in only one issue.
The survival of our periodical in the last 50 years was not evidential at all. Until the second part of the 1980s it was published by the maintenance of the Akadémiai Kiadó. Because of financial difficulties the Book and Periodical Board of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences limited the financial sources for publications: the copyright fee was terminated and the possible publishing cost was reduced. The Hungarian Academy of Sciences could not ensure the publication of its three biological periodicals including the Anthropologiai Közlemények. This financial difficulty resulted in that the volumes 1987 and 1988 had to be merged, and the volume 31 was published with the 1987-1988 date indication. Since the financial situation did not improved, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences discarded the very expensive Akadémiai Kiadó, and from 1989 the so-called Plantin Kiadó és Nyomda Kft published the Anthropologiai Közlemények. The volumes 1989 and 1990 was also merged, which merged volume contained the lectures of the anthropological congress organized in Budapest in 1988.
The Hungarian Biological Society has become the owner of Anthropologiai Közlemények from 1990, however the Book and Periodical Board of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences supported its publication.
The first Editor of the Anthropologiai Közlemények was Professor Mihály Malán, whose main purpose was to achieve high quality in the content and appearance of the periodical in spite of the initial difficulties. Since there was not any technical editor that time in the editorial board, the early publishing could not be possible in the very beginning of the periodical. Therefore the Biological Department of the Hungarian Biological Society, the supervisory body of the periodical, wanted to terminate the periodical in 1965. However, grace to the intervention work of Professor Ottó Eiben, the General Secretary of the Hungarian Biological Society, this intention could not be achieved. Professor Mihály Malán remained the Editor, while the technical preparation was done by Professor Ottó Eiben. Mainly Hungarian articles, which written by anthropologists, were published at that time in the periodical, but publication of researchers also from the field of medicine, archaeology and other anthropology-associated fields of science from the very beginning.
After the death of Professor Mihály Malán, Professor János Nemeskéri was nominated to be the next Editor by the Biological Department of the Hungarian Biological Society in 1968. The technical editorial was continued by Professor Ottó Eiben. The authors pursued bilingual or multilingual publishing, and articles of foreign authors were also published from that time.
In 1977 the Biological Department of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences delegated Professor Ottó Eiben as the Editor of Anthropologiai Közlemények, and he performed this function until 1998. The editorial structure of the Közlemények, which we use actually, was formed in his Editor
ship. Namely, every Hungarian article starts with an English abstract, all of the Tables and Figures are published with Hungarian and English titles and captions. Beside its main mission, to look after and keep the Hungarian scientific language of biological anthropology, the periodical published and published more and more articles of foreign authors. The scientific level of this periodical was risen by the numerous selected articles, which were published in English and presented in the international congresses and symposia of biological anthropology organized in Hungary.
Although Professor Éva Bodzsár was nominated as the new Editor of Anthropologiai Közlemények by the Anthropological Section of the Hungarian Biological Society in 1999, she participated in the editorial work from 1997. She was the technical editor of the 38th volume of the periodical because of the illness of Professor Eiben, while the 39th volume in 1998 was edited by Professor Eiben and Professor Bodzsar together.
The need of being indexed and having impact factors emerged in connection with Anthropologiai Közlemények in recent times. The main criteria of this alteration are: to publish at least two volumes per year and the date of publication of these volumes must be fixed. To achieve these criteria we need two essential things, financial support and manuscripts in appropriate quality and quantity.
I started my report with the quotation of Professor Bartucz, and now let me close my words with the farewell words of Professor Eiben, which words were published in the 39th volume of Anthropologiai Közlemények. I agree his words absolutely, since “it is important to get more and more excellent manuscripts” to support Anthropologiai Közlemények in its main mission to serve the development of the national and international biological anthropology. “We hope that everyone in the field of biological anthropology or in associated research fields feels this responsibility of maintaining Anthropologiai Közlemények at a very high scientific level.”