The Lancet is a world-leading source of clinical, public health, and global health knowledge. It was founded in 1823 by Thomas Wakley and has been an independent, international weekly general medical journal since then. The journal has an Impact Factor of 168.9, ranking first among 167 general and internal medicine journals globally. It also has a Scopus CiteScore of 133·2, ranking it second among 830 general medicine journals. The Lancet's mission is to make science widely available to serve and transform society, positively impacting people's lives. Throughout its history, The Lancet has been dedicated to addressing urgent topics, initiating debate, providing context for scientific research, and influencing decision makers worldwide.