HeartRhythm Journal: Share Your Thoughts September 1, 2010
Posted by Heart Rhythm Society in Science & Research.Tags: HeartRhythm Journal
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Editor’s Note: Dr. Douglas P. Zipes, Editor-in-Chief of the HeartRhythm Journal, Past President of the Heart Rhythm Society, and a world-renowned EP, will serve as a guest blogger on EP Insights. First up: He would like your thoughts on the direction of the Journal.
As editor of HeartRhythm Journal, I strive to publish not only the most meritorious articles submitted, but also those that will appeal to our readers. I think most times we do get it right and, from the feedback I’ve received, most subscribers read or at least scan the issue from cover to cover. I am well aware that many clinicians are not interested in basic studies, and many basic scientists do not read the clinical publications, but I think there is sufficient overlap in the topics that some part of each can be of interest to most of you. With that said I welcome your views about HeartRhythm and have outlined several new features below. Tell me what you like and don’t like, what topics you would like to have discussed that have not been covered, and any new ventures that you think we should consider. For example, would you like to access the Journal on your iPad or Kindle?
The Journal continues to grow, despite the increasing competition from new journals. We receive four or five new submissions every day, for a total of over 1,400 annually. Because we have added more pages, we are able to keep the acceptance rate at approximately 20%. I am sure you will notice that the September issue is thicker than previous issues. Despite the increased load, we have maintained our review times so that the time from submission to editorial decision is less than 10 days, the time for electronic publication after acceptance is 3-5 days, and print publication occurs 3-4 months after that.
Beginning this month, we are going to publish focus issues, two of which feature topics highlighted by the Heart Rhythm Society. This month’s issue will focus on atrial fibrillation, in conjunction with AF National Awareness Month. Next month, the Journal will focus on Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA), selected to coincide with National SCA Awareness Month. The November issue will focus on implantable devices. The latter two focus issues of the Journal have more variety than the AF issue because we had fewer focus articles to publish. The importance of all of these topics goes without saying, but do you like the idea of having so many articles on a single topic in one issue? Tell me your thoughts.
In January, we began producing Rhythms in Review podcast interviews. Each month I interview two authors, one of a basic and one of a clinical article, that I think would be of interest to you. I also broadened this effort by launching a Rhythms in History podcast series that features interviews of the “senior greats” who have made major contributions to our EP world. For the latter, I try to keep the interview as personal as possible so that you can get to know the individual outside of their professional contributions to the field. You can listen to the podcasts during your leisure time or while driving to work. Please listen to them and let me know if they interest you.
In the six years of its existence, HeartRhythm has become not only the number one EP journal, but the number one subspecialty journal in cardiology. I plan to keep it that way, so let me know your thoughts on how I can do just that!
With best wishes,
Douglas P. Zipes, MD
Editor-in-Chief, HeartRhythm
Heart Rhythm Society
Laurie Racenet, RN, MSN, ANP
Michael Giudici, MD, FACC, FACP, FHRS
Heather M. Ross, DNP, ANP-BC, CCDS, CEPS, FHRS
Anne Dubin, MD, FHRS
John D. Day, MD, FHRS
Andrea M. Russo, MD, FACC, FHRS
Joshua M. Cooper, MD, FACC
Amit J. Shanker, MD, FHRS, FACC
Bruce Stambler, MD
David Wiggins, RN, BS BME, CEPS
Fred M. Kusumoto, MD, FHRS
Leonard Ganz, MD, FHRS
christinechiuman
Craig Delaughter, MD, PhD
Ariana Del Negro, Heart Rhythm 2010 Quality
Peng-Sheng Chen, MD, FHRS
MSKremers MD,FHRS
Ann C. Garlitski, MD, FACC, FHRS
Alan Cheng, MD, FHRS
Ulrika Birgersdotter-Green, MD
Christopher Clyne, MD, FHRS
Kathleen Blake, MD, MPH, FHRS
David Scher, MD, FHRS
Sanjay Deshpande, MD, FHRS
[Editor's note: Below is a comment on the post by Dr. Zipes which was made in the Society's LinkedIn group. As that group is for members only, the name of the author has been removed.]
“I would like to see a section (which could only be published on-line) on case reports for all forms of arrhythmia and the way they were managed. There could be more than one case presentation for each type of arrhythmia just to present that there are more than one way to resolve certain hearth rhythm disturbances.
I think that this would be important because it would help to educate and refresh our knowledge and certainly show us that there are more than one way to do electrophysiological studies.”
Thanks for the suggestion, but no, it won’t fly. Case reports have the lowest acceptance rate, less than 5%. They must show a new phenomenon and be quite important. Case reports add to the denominator of the impact factor equasion, and, since they are infrequently cited in other papers, lower it. We publish interesting arrhythmias in a section edited by Fred Morady and that will have to suffice.
D. Zipes