ISSN: 1885-5857 Impact factor 2023 7.2
Vol. 73. Num. 5.
Pages 410-417 (May 2020)

Editor's page
Revista Española de Cardiología: annual report 2019

Revista Española de Cardiología: anuario de 2019

Ignacio Ferreira-GonzálezaÁngel Sánchez-RecaldebEmad Abu-AssibMiguel Ángel AriasbPastora GallegobIria del Ríoc

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INTRODUCTION

As is traditional, in this “Editor's Page”, the editorial team reviews the previous year of Revista Española de Cardiología (Rev Esp Cardiol) and reports its developments and future direction. The past October marked the fourth year of the current editorial team, which looks forward to the next stage in its activity with the same energy and enthusiasm.

In 2019, the journal achieved an impact factor (IF) of 5.078. This IF is slightly lower than that of the previous year, which, at 5.166, was a historic high for the journal.1 There are other positive data, such as the significant increase in the number of original articles received and the publication of the first volumes of REC: CardioClinics2 and REC: Interventional Cardiology.3 Although the early days of nascent journals in a highly-competitive environment such as cardiovascular research are always uncertain, we must congratulate the editors of these journals and thank the authors and reviewers who have contributed to the remarkable quality of each and every one of last year's issues. The activities of these journals are detailed in their corresponding Editor's pages.4,5

PUBLICATIONS OF REV ESP CARDIOL DURING 2019

As in every year, we begin by reporting the journal activity in terms of the numbers of articles published according to type vs previous years (figure 1). The total number of manuscripts published last year was similar to that of the previous year, with 297 in 2019 vs 294 in 2018. The numbers of original articles published were the same in 2019 and 2018 (n=59), with a slight decrease in scientific letters and a slight increase in letters to the Editor. In addition, the number of reviews6–9 decreased in 2019 to make room for 2 focus series on topical issues, namely beta-blockers and anti-inflammatory therapy for the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease.10–13 As reported in previous Editor's pages,14,15 we would like to point out that review topics are usually selected toward the middle of the year in a meeting of the entire editorial team. In addition to the topics proposed by the members of the editorial team, unsolicited proposals are also considered in this meeting. Interested authors should send a summary of the topic together with a proposed outline of their review to the editorial office. The authors should also highlight their previous publications and experience in the corresponding field.

Figure 1.

Manuscripts published from 2015 to 2019.

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The previous year's high demand for publication in Rev Esp Cardiol was maintained. Specifically, 997 manuscripts were received in 2019 vs 966 in 2018 (figure 2). In parallel, the demand for publication of original articles has markedly increased, reaching a historic high of 473 such manuscripts received and thereby slightly reducing the acceptance percentage (figure 3). This decrease is in line with the editorial policy, which establishes a stable number of original articles to be published each year. Nonetheless, the team does not rule out an increase in the publication of original articles in the coming year, although with the appropriate prudence and, of course, prioritization of manuscript quality, as determined by the reviewers and editors and weighted according to originality, potential impact, timeliness, and methodological quality. We must also mention that this is the first year with data on the REC Publications transfer policy, which enables manuscripts not accepted for publication in Rev Esp Cardiol to be transferred to REC: CardioClinics or REC: Interventional Cardiology. Thus, during 2019, a possible transfer was offered to 221 original articles; of these, 26 (slightly more than 10%) were transferred to one of the other 2 journals and considered for publication. We encourage authors to consider publication of their work in these journals, either through direct submission or consideration of a transfer when it is offered.

Figure 2.

Annual changes in the total numbers of manuscripts received from 2010 to 2019.

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Figure 3.

Numbers of original articles received and acceptance rates from 2010 to 2019. *At the time of press for this issue, a decision remains to be made on 23 original articles received in 2019.

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In 2019, there was a slight decrease in the number of scientific letters published (from 96 to 92). However, the update articles of the scientific sections of the Spanish Society of Cardiology were published in this format until 2018 and have since been collected in an independent REC: CardioClinics supplement.16 Regardless, the progressive decline in the number of scientific letters published in Rev Esp Cardiol is in line with the current editorial policy and is a response to a decrease in the number of unsolicited articles of this type received, which is possibly connected to the higher rejection rate. In addition, some believe that, because scientific letters are not included in the IF calculation (that is, they are not quantified in its denominator), they can spuriously distort this index. This is one of the points alluded to in a recent publication,17 which mentions Rev Esp Cardiol and which is discussed below.

Finally, we continue to publish the section “Atrium”, valuing its ability to succinctly inform readers of the essential contents of each issue. Similarly, we continue benefiting from the contributions of Fernando A. Navarro, a member of our Advisory Board, whose lighthearted and entertaining tone shines a light on the peculiarities of scientific language in each installment of “Viaje al corazón de las palabras” (“Into the heart of terminology”).

DIGITAL FORMAT AND SOCIAL MEDIA

In 2019, there were 2 developments related to the electronic format of Rev Esp Cardiol. First, midway through the year, a new design of the website was launched,18 with better structured and more visual and intuitive content. Second, in November 2019, the editorial submission system was transferred to Editorial Manager,19 which is the standard system used by our editorial team for all its journals.

With more than 6 million users in 2019, our website18 continues to be the main communication medium and one of the main worldwide references for information on cardiology in Spanish. The Rev Esp Cardiol blog20 has become a highly effective tool for authors, affording them the opportunity to explain, in a deeply personal manner, the entire research process leading to the publication of their work, as well as the main results. Our social media activity is also continually increasing. Our 15 500 Twitter21 followers and 9130 Facebook22 fans permit the dissemination of our developments to a wider and, above all, much more diverse audience. But the most important event of the year in the digital life of Rev Esp Cardiol has been the incorporation of the new journals from the REC Publications family: REC: CardioClinics and REC: Interventional Cardiology to our social media networks. These journals were launched in a largely digital format and are now beginning to meet the challenge of amassing their own communities of followers (figure 4).

Figure 4.

Changes in the activity of the websites of the 3 REC Publications journals.

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EDITORIAL ACTIVITY

As in each year, we have analyzed the mean times required for the editorial process. The mean time from manuscript submission to the first decision was 15.4 days in 2019 (figure 5), slightly longer than that of the previous year (12.9 days), although still within an acceptable timeframe. The annual quantification of the mean times required for the editorial process is highly valuable because it enables any significant deviations to be corrected. The stable and excellent mean reviewer response times are notable (figure 6). This situation has been maintained for several years. Perhaps this year more than ever, the reviewers deserve our deepest gratitude and strongest recognition, given that many of them work with the same enthusiasm with the other 2 journals of REC Publications, without compromising their fantastic response times and high-quality evaluations. The elite reviewers of 2019 deserve special mention (table 1) and we congratulate them on the excellence of their work, as well the reviewers who work with Rev Esp Cardiol despite not belonging to our Editorial Committee or Advisory Board (table 2).

Figure 5.

Mean manuscript processing time for initial submissions between 2016 and 2019. The line corresponding to the average time from Editor assignment to reviewer invitation includes only the articles submitted for evaluation.

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Figure 6.

Changes in response times for Rev Esp Cardiol reviewers for first drafts of original articles between 2016 and 2019.

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Table 1.

List of elite reviewers 2019

Nuria Fernández Hidalgo 
Luis Nombela 
Tomás Datino 
Ramón López-Palop 
Juan M. Ruiz-Nodar 
Juan Caro 
Juan Sanchis 
José A. Barrabés 
Eduardo Barge 
José M. de la Torre-Hernández 
Table 2.

Other professionals who collaborated with Revista Española de Cardiología in 2019

Alejandro Adsuar  Fernando Domínguez  María P. López  Xavier Rosselló 
Rosa M. Agra  Pinar Eduardo  José López-Aguilera  José M. Rubín 
Dimpna C. Albert  Laura Escolà-Vergé  José R. López-Mínguez  José R. Rumoroso 
Fernando Antoñanzas  Rodrigo Estévez-Loureiro  Gerard Martí-Aguasca  Anna Sabaté 
Eduardo Arana  Borja Fernández  Victoria Martín-Yuste  Adriana Saltijeral 
Elena Arbelo  M. Rosa Fernández-Olmo  Isaac Martínez-Bendayán  Pedro L. Sánchez 
Pedro Armario  Juan Fernández-Armenta  Efrén Martínez-Quintana  Laura Sanchis 
Ángel Aroca  Queralt Ferrer  Bernhard Meier  Marcelo Sanmartín 
Fernando Arós  Xacobe Flores Ríos  María Melendo-Viu  Ana Santurtún 
Felipe Atienza  María Gallego-Delgado  Ana Méndez  María P. Sanz-Ayán 
José Banegas  Alberto García-Lledó  Irene Méndez  Fernando Sarnago 
Antonio J. Barros  Juan C. García-Rubira  Dolores Mesa-Rubio  Georgia Sarquella 
Víctor Bazán  Arturo García-Touchard  Antonio J. Muñoz-García  Javier Suárez de Lezo 
Begoña Benito  Josebe Goirigolzarri-Artaza  Soledad Ojeda  Juan Tamargo 
J. Luis Bernal  Josep Gómez-Lara  Jordi Ordóñez-Llanos  Gisela Teixidó 
José R. Berrazueta  Esther González  Ana Pardo  Antonio Tello-Montoliu 
Michele Biscuola  Elvira González-Obeso  Isaac Pascual  Luis Teruel 
María Brión  Antonio González-Calle  Pablo Peñafiel  Jorge Toquero 
Pilar Cabanas  Herminia González-Navarro  María L. Peña-Peña  Leire Unzué 
José Á. Cabrera-Rodríguez  Francisco González-Vílchez  Juan L. Pérez-Navero  José Á. Urbano 
Victoria Cañadas  Nieves Gonzalo  Alberto Pérez-Castellanos  Aitor Uribarri 
Montserrat Cardona  Ferran Gran  Esther Pérez-David  Félix Valencia 
Pilar Cejudo  Antonio Grande-Trillo  Antonia Pijuan-Domènech  Israel Valverde 
Fernando Civeira  Federico Gutiérrez-Larraya  María Nazarena-Pizzi  José A. Vázquez de Prada 
Félix Coserria  Francisco J. Hernández-Pérez  Marta Pombo  Ricardo Vivancos 
José M. Cubero  Begoña Igual-Muñoz  Raquel Priet  David Vivas 
José I. Cuende  Javier Inserte  Elena Refoyo  Gilbert W. Michel Wijntjens 
José A. de Agustín  Carmen Jiménez  Francisco Ridocci-Soriano  Fernando Worner 
Jesús M. de la Hera  Justo Juliá  Ivo Roca-Luque  José Zamorano 
Irene R. Dégano  Javier Limeres  Sergio Rodríguez de Leiras  Carlos Zaragoza 
Leonel Díaz-González  Pere Llorens  Inmaculada Roldán   

In March 2019, a survey of various aspects was sent to all Rev Esp Cardiol reviewers. As can be seen in figure 7, the reviewers generally considered that the topics of the manuscripts evaluated matched their area of expertise, that the number of invitations was appropriate, that the time assigned was sufficient, and that it was useful to have access to the other reviewers’ assessments. However, a nonnegligible percentage of reviewers were not in favor of reviewing Images and also believed that the workshops imparted by Rev Esp Cardiol were of little value. Finally, some reviewers believed that their work was not sufficiently recognized, a concern predominantly expressed in the section of the survey allowing for suggestions. We are highly aware of this issue at Rev Esp Cardiol and recognize that granting access to the Elsevier Reviewer Recognition Platform,23 awarding training credits, and including elite reviewers in the Editorial Committee or inviting them to write editorials does not fully compensate reviewers for the effort required for manuscript review, the undoubted foundation of the success of Rev Esp Cardiol. We wish to express our thanks to all of the reviewers who responded to the survey because their answers will help us to redefine our future path.

Figure 7.

Survey responses of Rev Esp Cardiol (REC) reviewers in March 2019.

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BIBLIOMETRIC ASPECTS

As in each year, it is useful to comment on the latest published IF, that for 2018 (published in the 2019 edition of Journal Citation Reports [JCR]24). Two comments are necessary this year. First, as already mentioned, the stability of the IF in recent years is notable, which places Rev Esp Cardiol in a position of prominence among journals in this field. Figure 8 shows the bibliometric changes over time for Rev Esp Cardiol. The data from the 2019 edition of JCR place the journal at position 27 of a total of 136 cardiovascular publications, a slight improvement in relative terms vs the previous year, when it was placed at number 28 of a total of 128. Thus, the “bibliometric boom” era of Rev Esp Cardiol is confirmed, with the journal being situated for the second consecutive year in the first quartile of cardiovascular journals and for the sixth consecutive year in the first tertile. The second comment refers to an irregularity that had previously not affected Rev Esp Cardiol. It concerns an IF modification several months after its initial publication in JCR, which is usually in June. This year, surprisingly, the initial IF estimate published in June was subsequently modified for various journals in the cardiovascular field. In the case of Rev Esp Cardiol, the initially published IF of 5.128 was updated in October and reduced to its current level of 5.078. Although it is not a substantial change in either absolute or relative terms, another cardiovascular journals showed a more consequential modification, which even resulted in a change in publication quartile. Thus, all of this indicates that, in contrast to what we had previously believed, the initial IF estimate released midway through the year should not be considered definitive.

Figure 8.

Changes in the impact factor of Rev Esp Cardiol according to Journal Citation Reports from 2010 to 2018.

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As is tradition for the latest Editor's pages, we have analyzed the articles with the highest dissemination and scientific visibility in recent years. The publications of 2016 and 2017 influence the impact factor for 2018, whereas those published in 2017 and 2018 influence the impact factor for 2019, which will be published in JCR in 2020; those published in 2019 influence the immediacy index, a reflection of the speed of the scientific visibility of a publication. Table 3 shows this information, extracted from the Web of Science of the Institute for Scientific Information25 at the start of 2020. As always, the editorial team congratulates the authors of these articles. Finally, as in every year, we would also like to commend the authors of the publications receiving the awards conferred by the Spanish Society of Cardiology based on their scientific impact and quality (table 4).

Table 3.

Research articles and reviews published in Revista Española de Cardiología in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 receiving the most citations in 2019

Year  Title  Type of publication  Total citations 
2016Prevalence of General Obesity and Abdominal Obesity in the Spanish Adult Population (Aged 25-64 Years) 2014-2015: The ENPE Study26  Original  29 
Update on Myocarditis and Inflammatory Cardiomyopathy: Reemergence of Endomyocardial Biopsy27  Review  15 
Prevalence, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Control of Hypertension in Spain. Results of the Di@bet.es Study28  Original  12 
Transitions of Care Between Acute and Chronic Heart Failure: Critical Steps in the Design of a Multidisciplinary Care Model for the Prevention of Rehospitalization29  Review 
Microparticle Shedding by Erythrocytes, Monocytes and Vascular Smooth Muscular Cells Is Reduced by Aspirin in Diabetic Patients30  Original 
Iron Status in Chronic Heart Failure: Impact on Symptoms, Functional Class and Submaximal Exercise Capacity31  Original 
Trends in Risk Factors and Treatments in Patients With Stable Ischemic Heart Disease Seen at Cardiology Clinics Between 2006 and 201432  Original 
2017Cardio-Onco-Hematology in Clinical Practice. Position Paper and Recommendations33  Position paper  16 
The Ratio Between Visceral and Subcutaneous Abdominal Fat Assessed by Computed Tomography Is an Independent Predictor of Mortality and Cardiac Events34  Original  12 
Burden of Recurrent Hospitalizations Following an Admission for Acute Heart Failure: Preserved Versus Reduced Ejection Fraction35  Original  10 
Impact on Mortality of Different Network Systems in the Treatment of ST-segment Elevation Acute Myocardial Infarction. The Spanish Experience36  Original  10 
Spanish Heart Transplant Registry. 28th Official Report of the Spanish Society of Cardiology Working Group on Heart Failure (1984-2016)37  Special article  10 
Mid-range Ejection Fraction Does Not Permit Risk Stratification Among Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure38  Original 
Three-dimensional Printed Cardiac Models: Applications in the Field of Medical Education, Cardiovascular Surgery, and Structural Heart Interventions39  Review 
2018Perioperative and Periprocedural Management of Antithrombotic Therapy: Consensus Document of SEC, SEDAR, SEACV, SECTCV, AEC, SECPRE, SEPD, SEGO, SEHH, SETH, SEMERGEN, SEMFYC, SEMG, SEMICYUC, SEMI, SEMES, SEPAR, SENEC, SEO, SEPA, SERVE’, SECOT and AEU40  Position paper  14 
Challenges and Controversies in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Clinical, Genomic and Basic Science Perspectives41  Editorial 
Nonvitamin K Oral Anticoagulants in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Severe Renal Dysfunction42  Review 
Tricuspid but not Mitral Regurgitation Determines Mortality After TAVI in Patients With Nonsevere Mitral Regurgitation43  Original 
Number of Patients Eligible for PCSK9 Inhibitors Based on Real-world Data From 2.5 Million Patients44  Original 
Spanish Cardiac Catheterization and Coronary Intervention Registry. 27th Official Report of the Spanish Society of Cardiology Working Group on Cardiac Catheterization and Interventional Cardiology (1990-2017)45  Special article 
Factors Influencing the Phenotypic Expression of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in Genetic Carriers46  Original 
Association Between a Healthy Lifestyle Score and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in the SUN Cohort47  Original 
2019Invasive Versus Conservative Strategy in Frail Patients With NSTEMI: The MOSCA-FRAIL Clinical Trial Study Design48  Original 
Recommendations of the Geriatric Cardiology Section of the Spanish Society of Cardiology for the Assessment of Frailty in Elderly Patients With Heart Disease49  Position paper 
Direct Oral Anticoagulants Versus Vitamin K Antagonists in Real-life Patients With Atrial Fibrillation. A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis50  Original 
Vasoactive Inotropic Score as a Predictor of Mortality in Adult Patients With Cardiogenic Shock: Medical Therapy Versus ECMO51  Original 
High-intensity Interval Training Dosage for Heart Failure and Coronary Artery Disease Cardiac Rehabilitation. A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis52  Original 
Colchicine Administered in the First Episode of Acute Idiopathic Pericarditis: A Randomized Multicenter Open-label Study53  Original 

Source: Clarivate Analytics Web of Science, 5/1/2020.

Table 4.

Articles receiving an award from the Spanish Society of Cardiology in 2019

1. Prizes awarded by the Spanish Society of Cardiology for articles published in Rev Esp Cardiol 
First prize 
Loma-Osorio et al. The Girona Territori Cardioprotegit Project: Performance Evaluation of Public Defibrillators. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2018;71:79-85. 
Second prize 
Pérez Sánchez et al. Factors Influencing the Phenotypic Expression of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in Genetic Carriers. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2018;71:146-154. 
2. Prizes awarded by the Spanish Society of Cardiology for the articles published in Rev Esp Cardiol with the greatest international impact 
Most-cited articles, long-term 
First prize 
Sánchez Cruz et al. Prevalence of Child and Youth Obesity in Spain in 2012. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2013;66:371-376. 
Second prize (ex aequo) 
Dégano et al. Epidemiology of Acute Coronary Syndromes in Spain: Estimation of the Number of Cases and Trends From 2005 to 2049. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2013;66:472-481. 
Sayago-Silva et al. Epidemiology of Heart Failure in Spain Over the Last 20 Years. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2013;66:649-656. 
Most-cited articles, midterm 
First prize 
Aranceta Bartrina et al. Prevalence of General Obesity and Abdominal Obesity in the Spanish Adult Population (Aged 25–64 Years) 2014–2015: The ENPE Study. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2016;69:579-587. 
Second prize 
Domínguez et al. Update on Myocarditis and Inflammatory Cardiomyopathy: Reemergence of Endomyocardial Biopsy. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2016;69:178-187. 
3. Prizes awarded by the Clinical Cardiology Section for articles published in Rev Esp Cardiol (awarded to 2 articles) 
Cordero et al. Prevalence and Postdischarge Incidence of Malignancies in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2018;71:267–273. 
Díaz-Gutiérrez et al. Association Between a Healthy Lifestyle Score and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in the SUN Cohort. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2018;71:1001-1009. 
4. Prize awarded by the Pediatric Cardiology and Congenital Heart Disease Section for the best article published in Rev Esp Cardiol 
Téllez et al. Fontan-associated Liver Disease. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2018;71:192–202. 
5. Prize awarded by the Ischemic Heart Disease and Acute Coronary Care Section for the best article published in Rev Esp Cardiol 
Loma-Osorio et al. The Girona Territori Cardioprotegit Project: Performance Evaluation of Public Defibrillators. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2018;71:79-85. 
6. Prize awarded by the Electrophysiology and Arrhythmias Section for the best article published in Rev Esp Cardiol 
Wangüemert Pérez et al. Flecainide Reduces Ventricular Arrhythmias in Patients With Genotype RyR2-positive Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2018;71:185-191. 
7. Prize awarded by the Cardiac Pacing Section for the best article published on cardiac pacing 
Akerström et al. Estimation of the effects of multipoint pacing on battery longevity in routine clinical practice. Europace. 2018;20:1161-1167. 
8. Prize awarded by the Vascular Risk and Cardiac Rehabilitation Section for the best publication 
Palau et al. Inspiratory Muscle Training and Functional Electrical Stimulation for Treatment of Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: The TRAINING-HF Trial. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2019;72:288-297. 
10. Seventh Magda Heras prize for the best article published in an Iberoamerican cardiovascular journal 
First prize 
Loma-Osorio et al. The Girona Territori Cardioprotegit Project: Performance Evaluation of Public Defibrillators. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2018;71:79-85. 
Second prize 
Massardo et al. Endothelial dysfunction, left ventricular function, and chronic heart failure with complete left bundle branch block: effect of resynchronization therapy. Rev Chil Cardiol. 2018;37:183-193. 
Third prize 
Arias et al. Clinical Features and Outcomes of Takotsubo Syndrome at a University Hospital. Rev Argent Cardiol. 2018;86:90-95. 

As mentioned above, 2019 saw the publication of an article on bibliometric matters related to IF, which mentions Rev Esp Cardiol as one of the cardiovascular journals with the most IF growth and indicates that this increase is due to the level of self-citation in Rev Esp Cardiol, a factor that is additionally correlated with the number of “noncitable” elements published, such as editorials and letters.17 Nonetheless, this editorial team would like to emphasize that the IF growth achieved by Rev Esp Cardiol and verified in recent years has exclusively been due to a sustained increase in the level of external citations (not from Rev Esp Cardiol). Moreover, the number of citations that have contributed to the IF generated by articles published in the same journal has continually decreased in recent years. In this regard, although it is true that the relative number of self-citations in Rev Esp Cardiol is higher than that of the cardiovascular journals in our environment, this finding needs to be placed in context. The duality of Rev Esp Cardiol—international but also national—needs to be underlined because it may significantly influence the level of self-citation. This may be particularly impactful because Rev Esp Cardiol is the official publication of the national society of our speciality. The journal is thus much more likely to receive scientific material and editorials from Spain itself (about 70% of all published) and thereby probably more references to material in the journal itself. In addition, the editorial content (noncitable items) has grown in recent years due to authors’ increased demand for publication. Regardless, the next year will see a reduction in the number of articles with these characteristics in order to devote more space to original articles. Nonetheless, we believe that, given the inherent idiosyncrasy of Rev Esp Cardiol, the number of self-citations generated will always be somewhat higher than that of a purely international journal and, moreover, its status as the official publication of the Spanish Society of Cardiology obligates us to continue publishing editorial material with educational and institutional value.

REV ESP CARDIOL: A COMMITMENT TO THE MEDICAL VERNACULAR

As our readers well know, one of the traditional missions of Rev Esp Cardiol is its commitment to the use of high-quality medical language, both Spanish and English. Our editorial office maintains close contact with the team of translators and proofreaders, both for Spanish and English, to ensure a standardized style through all stages of the production, resolve doubts, standardize terminology, and reconcile corrections. The result is high-quality material in a format that makes the work clear, accurate, and accessible for the target audience. We also pride ourselves on being a reference not only for cardiologists and physicians, but also for other professionals, such as translators, medical writers, and university professors for nonmedical disciplines, who use our journal as a touchstone. We are convinced that this attention to language, which has gradually become a hallmark of Rev Esp Cardiol, is how we can remain competitive in the cardiovascular field and fulfill the needs of most of our readers, despite occasionally being a vexation for authors and reviewers in relation to the review process of the galley proofs.

This commitment of Rev Esp Cardiol to the use of the most refined medical-scientific language possible was recognized in 2019 by the MEDES 2019 Prize.54 The Spanish Society of Cardiology was awarded “Best Institution” for its promotion of the Spanish language as a language of biomedical knowledge through its official publication Rev Esp Cardiol. We must congratulate all involved, with special mention of the editorial office (particularly our indefatigable linguistic coordinator, María González Nogal), translators, and proofreaders, essential for maintaining the high quality of both the Spanish and English versions of the journal.

CONCLUSIONS

Rev Esp Cardiol is the official scientific publication of the Spanish Society of Cardiology and is one of its vehicles of expression. During 2019, the bibliometric level was maintained, publication demand increased—particularly that of original articles—and the commitment of the journal to the use of the highest-quality medical language possible recognized. In addition, the journals REC: CardioClinics and REC: Interventional Cardiology have completed their first years as full members of REC Publications and show a promising future.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

No conflicts have been declared in relation to this article. The individual conflict of interest documents of the members of the editorial team of Rev Esp Cardiol can be consulted at https://www.revespcardiol.org/en-comite-editorial.

Acknowledgments

Once again, we wish to highlight the efforts of the translation and proofreading teams, whose meticulous work, attention to detail, and perceptive comments raise the standard of Rev Esp Cardiol. In particular, we appreciate the diligence of the team composed of Simon Bartlett, Helen Casas, Celine Cavallo, Kevin Clayton, Simon Coxon, Jane Marshall, Greg Morley, and Anne Murray, with Gail Craigie as copy-editor; thanks to them, our first-rate English-language edition boosts the international visibility of Spanish cardiology.

Here, we would like to once again recognize the tireless work of Dr. José Juan Gómez de Diego, who has been in charge of the social media accounts of Rev Esp Cardiol as an ICT Consultant since 2016. His efforts have been indispensable for the modernization of the journal and the dissemination of the research that we publish beyond our pages. His eager replacement, Dr. Pablo Avanzas, will continue his predecessor's work in the complex and demanding project that is REC Publications, with the valuable support of the ICT team of the Spanish Society of Cardiology.

We sincerely thank Eva M. Cardenal, María González Nogal, Helena Gómez-Lobo, and Belén Juan for their excellent work, effort, and dedication to all of the journals of the REC Publications group.

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