About HNO

HNO

HNO is a monthly German-language specialist journal for otorhinolaryngology, head and neck surgery, published by Springer Medizin and serving as the publication organ of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie (German Society for Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery) and the German Academy for the same specialty. Founded in 1947, it is one of the leading German-language publications in ENT medicine, addressing all ENT specialists in practices and clinics. Its program combines peer-reviewed review articles, freely submitted original papers presenting important clinical studies, case reports, and a certified continuing-medical-education section, covering prevention, diagnostic methods, complication management, modern therapy strategies, and surgical procedures.

Overview

HNO appears monthly and is described by its publisher as an internationally recognized journal addressing all ENT specialists in practices and clinics dealing with all aspects of ENT medicine. Review articles provide overviews of selected topics, summarizing current findings from all fields of ENT medicine with an emphasis on evaluating scientific results in light of practical experience, giving readers concrete recommendations for clinical practice. Freely submitted original papers allow the presentation of important clinical studies and serve scientific exchange, while case reports feature interesting cases aimed at optimizing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

A distinctive pillar is the "CME Zertifizierte Fortbildung" (certified continuing education) section, whose contributions present verified results of scientific research and integrate them into daily practice; after reading, subscribers can test their knowledge online and earn CME points, with the section oriented to the specialty's continuing-education regulations. All articles are peer-reviewed, and manuscripts from human studies must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki. The journal carries the print ISSN 0017-6192 and the electronic ISSN 1433-0458, with coverage from Volume 45/1997 through Volume 74/2026 documented online.

History

The journal's title history is unusually straightforward for a publication founded in the turmoil of postwar Germany. Springer Verlag founded HNO in 1947, initially as a supplement to the Zeitschrift für Hals-Nasen- und Ohrenheilkunde, with a focus on practical topics. The founding reflected the difficult rebirth of German scientific publishing: in a 1947 letter, Ferdinand Springer complained about the American authorities' denial of licenses for his publishing house's most important journals, including the Archiv für Ohren-, Nasen- und Kehlkopfheilkunde, in the western occupation zones.

In 1958 the supplementary designation was dropped, and the title HNO has since appeared as the publication organ of the German Society for Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, and later also of the German Academy under the same name. In its early years the journal also carried the subtitle "Wegweiser für die fachärztliche Praxis" (Guide for Specialist Medical Practice), signaling the clinical-practical orientation intended by the publishers and the first editor, Hermann Frenzel (1895-1967), who had completed his habilitation in ENT medicine under Wilhelm Brünings in Greifswald in 1925 and was appointed full professor in Göttingen in 1942. Over the following decades the journal accompanied the specialty's expansion into head and neck surgery, microsurgery, implantology, and oncological and allergological subspecialties.

Coverage and Content

The journal's content spans the full breadth of modern ENT medicine. Prevention, diagnostic procedures, and complication management stand alongside modern therapy strategies including surgical techniques. Review articles take up selected topics and compile current knowledge from all areas of the specialty, evaluating evidence with practical experience to derive actionable recommendations. Original papers present clinical studies, contributing to the scientific discourse of the German-speaking ENT community.

The CME section translates research into practice in structured form, with each module allowing physicians to earn continuing-education credits, a function of growing importance as German medical education requirements have become more formalized. Case reports present unusual disease courses and treatment histories, serving the collegial exchange of clinical experience. Congress reports, such as coverage of the German Cancer Congress, keep readers informed about developments presented at major meetings. The journal thus serves simultaneously as a scientific publication, a continuing-education instrument, and a professional communication channel.

Institutional Role

As the organ of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Heilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie, HNO is embedded in the institutional structure of German ENT medicine. The society, a member of the Association of Scientific Medical Societies (AWMF) since 1962, holds an annual meeting, publishes the quarterly HNO Informationen, and develops medical guidelines within the AWMF program; its designated society journals include Laryngo-Rhino-Otologie (Thieme), HNO (Springer), and the European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology (Springer). The journal's organ status gives it a quasi-official function in communicating society positions, guidelines, and professional developments to the specialty.

This institutional anchoring distinguishes HNO from purely commercial journals: it is the medium through which the organized specialty speaks to its members, while its peer-reviewed scientific content maintains its standing in the international literature. The combination of society communication, scientific publication, and certified education in a single monthly journal makes HNO a central institution of German-speaking ENT medicine.

Organization and Ownership

HNO is published by Springer Medizin, part of Springer Nature, and presented through the SpringerMedizin.de portal, where issues from Volume 45/1997 to the current Volume 74/2026 are archived with article-level metadata and DOIs. The journal's editorial and customer-service contacts are provided through the publisher's portal. Detailed current information on the editorship is available through the publisher's journal pages.

The business model follows the specialist-journal pattern of institutional and individual subscriptions, with the electronic edition serving digital readers alongside print. The journal's articles are integrated into Springer Nature's discovery and citation infrastructure. The publisher also produces the sister title HNO Nachrichten, a practice-oriented journal reporting from practice for practice, with its own CME modules and coverage of billing, business-law, and professional-politics topics, complementing the scientific orientation of HNO.

The ENT Specialty and Its Media

Otorhinolaryngology is among the most diverse surgical specialties, spanning the ear, nose, paranasal sinuses, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, and neck, with interfaces to audiology, phoniatrics, allergology, sleep medicine, and head and neck oncology. This breadth gives the specialty's journals an unusually wide remit: a single issue of HNO might address cochlear implantation, endoscopic sinus surgery, and the management of head and neck tumors. The specialty's journals must therefore serve readers whose daily practice ranges from the microscopic surgery of the middle ear to the oncological care of throat cancers.

The German-language ENT media landscape reflects this diversity. Alongside HNO as the society's scientific organ, Thieme's Laryngo-Rhino-Otologie serves as another society journal with its own profile, while the European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology addresses the international research community in English. Practice-oriented titles like HNO Nachrichten serve the office-based ENT physician with business and billing topics. Within this landscape, HNO's profile is defined by its combination of peer-reviewed science, structured CME, and society communication in a monthly rhythm, a combination that has sustained it for nearly eighty years.

Digital Presence

The journal's digital home is its SpringerMedizin portal page, offering the archive from 1997 to the present, current-issue highlights, congress reports, and article pages with abstracts, metadata, and DOI links. The CME modules are completed online, integrating the journal's educational function into the digital workflow of physicians. The portal also presents the journal's aims and scope, review policies, and ethical standards, providing transparency about the publication process.

Through Springer Nature's digital ecosystem, the journal's content is discoverable via the publisher's search, alerting services, and cross-linking with related journals. For a specialty journal approaching eighty years of publication, the digital archive represents both a working clinical resource and a historical record of the specialty's development from postwar reconstruction to modern high-tech medicine.