Circulation Research. 2003;92:121-123
doi: 10.1161/01.RES.0000056971.54305.F5
(Circulation Research. 2003;92:121.)
© 2003 American Heart Association, Inc.
Circulation Research Editors’ Yearly Report: 2002
Eduardo Marbán,
Roberto Bolli,
Gerda Breitwieser,
Rudi Busse,
Hal Dietz,
Masao Endoh,
Toren Finkel,
David Kass,
Charles Lowenstein,
Marlene Rabinovitch,
Gordon Tomaselli,
Kara Hansell Keehan
From the Editor in Chief, Associate Editors, and Managing Editor, Circulation Research.
Correspondence to Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD, Editor in Chief, Circulation Research, 2700 Lighthouse Point East, Suite 230, Baltimore, MD 21224. E-mail circulation.research{at}circresearch.com
Key Words: Online First • fiftieth anniversary • thematic review series • impact factor
More than three and a half years after taking on the editorship of Circulation Research, we are pleased to put forth this edition of our yearly state-of-the-journal report. Manuscript submissions continued to increase, albeit modestly; nevertheless, the 1488 manuscripts received in 2002 set yet another yearly record (Figure 1). Despite increasing submissions and a static page budget, our acceptance rate of 21.7% (Figure 2) was comparable to that of the journal since 1993.
Having pioneered online manuscript submission and peer review tracking among the American Heart Association journals, Circulation Research continued to see the fruits of its efforts in the time to first decision for original research articles (Figure 3). For Original Contributions, a first decision was rendered in an average of 3.2 weeks, while decisions were recorded on UltraRapid Communications and Reports in 1.9 and 1.8 weeks, respectively. The time to first decision for Review and MiniReview articles was also brief at 3.4 weeks. As Figure 4 describes, accepted manuscripts appeared in print at a fast pace. Online First, the online publication initiative whereby original research articles appear in a proof form online 5 to 9 days after acceptance, was successfully implemented in 2001. Year 2002 witnessed a full year of Online First, and the Editors are pleased with the public support and positive author feedback this process has received. Rapid online publication has become the standard rather than the exception, and Circulation Research continues to be at the forefront of new publishing initiatives.
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Figure 3. Times to first decision by manuscript category for the calendar year 2002, including the weighted average of all three categories.
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Figure 4. Times from submission to publication by manuscript category for the calendar year 2002, including the weighted average of all three categories. Each bar shows the time from submission to acceptance (unshaded) above the publication lag (ie, the time from acceptance to publication; dark gray). The latter is presently determined almost entirely by the time required by the publisher for the final production process.
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Figure 5 delineates the cumulative 2002 final decision breakdown. Again, we see here the 12-month acceptance rate, which was largely composed of revisions and resubmissions. In fact, only 0.34% of manuscripts were accepted without any revision. Submissions that were considered "inappropriate" at the editorial level comprised only 4.6% of final decisions; another 13.8% were rejected in an accelerated triage process. We would like to take the opportunity to thank our dedicated Editorial Board, many of whom assisted considerably in the accelerated triage review process. A note of thanks is also extended to our reviewers-at-large, without whose expertise the review process would surely suffer.
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Figure 5. Final decision breakdown for the calendar year 2002, comprising Original Contributions, Reports, UltraRapid Communications, and Research Commentaries.
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In 2001, the Circulation Research impact factor increased to 9.213 over year 2000 (Figure 6A). The "shelf-life" or citation half-life of Circulation Research—6.7—was again in year 2001 a testimony to the longevity of published articles in the journal (Figure 6B).
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Figure 6. A, Rising trend in impact factor for Circulation Research over the past 10 years, as determined by ISI.1 B, Citation half-life for Circulation Research and four other major cardiovascular journals for 1995–2001, as determined by ISI.1
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The journal and the Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences have formed a strong bond in recent years, a relationship that will certainly continue well into the future. The Circulation Research Symposium, which premiered at the 2001 Scientific Sessions on the theme of proteomics, was well-attended and the talks well-received. The 2nd Annual Circulation Research Symposium at Sessions 2002 featured the theme of Stem Cells—an of-the-moment field, often ripe with controversy but certainly one of the hottest areas in biology. The symposium was, by all measures, a success. For Sessions 2003, the Circulation Research Symposium will be held on Sunday morning November 9 and will focus on "unanswered questions in heart failure." Serving as genesis for symposium topics, the journal’s Thematic Review Series continued in 2002 to be a popular recurring feature in the journal. The Table lists the review series topics currently underway. The Editors continue to seek out exciting areas of wide interest to readers and contributors, as new topics emerge and unanswered questions present themselves.
In looking forward to the year ahead, we cannot help but mention again, as has been announced in various ways, that Circulation Research celebrates her 50th anniversary in 2003. A momentous occasion for any publication, the Editors have commissioned personal reflection pieces from prominent scientists in the field to consider and reflect upon the past 50 years of Circulation Research and cardiovascular science. In addition, we are pleased that the current editorship has been renewed by the American Heart Association for an additional 5-year term. Thus, our editorial team will remain at the helm of the journal until 2009. It has been and will continue to be a pleasure and a privilege to serve the scientific community in this manner. Finally, as always, we welcome your suggestions and feedback at circulation.research@circresearch.com.
References
- SCI®Journal Citation Reports®: a bibliometric analysis of science journals in the ISI® database. Philadelphia, Pa: Institute for Scientific Information, Inc®; 2001.
