The smoking epidemic started in the Western world and later spread to low- and middle-income countries. Accordingly, it is not surprising that most researchers and papers published in Tobacco Control from 1998 to September 2011 were from high-income countries. The prevalence of smoking is increasing in low- and middle-income countries while it is declining in high-income nations.1 This publication trend may change in the future. A few words of caution about interpreting the results of this paper: there is no information about rejected papers. Keeping in view the acceptance rate of 22% in 2009, this information is contextually important. An online search of PubMed limiting years (1998–September 2011) and using the combined words ‘smoking and tobacco’ retrieved 103 863 articles spread across 5194 pages, so the papers published in Tobacco Control are not representative of all researchers and papers published in international journals worldwide, including the Eastern world. However, the papers published in Tobacco Control have been useful for worldwide policy initiatives, resulting in tremendous benefits to smokers and non-smokers.