The 5 American Heart
Association (AHA) journals—Circulation;
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular
Biology; Circulation Research; Hypertension;
and Stroke—are resolved to further an ambitious and
formidable goal of the AHA, which is to become the best communicator of
scientific information to the public at large. The journals exemplify
the very nature of the AHA's primary objective of "fighting heart
disease and stroke" by publishing the work of the pioneers and
visionaries of medicine and science. Their breakthrough research, use
of innovative technologies, experiments, and discoveries are the core
substance of the AHA journals. Irrefutable evidence gives testimony to
the realization of the goals of the AHA within the scope of the AHA
journals—the 1997 Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) impact
factors (source: ISI. 1997 Journal Citation Report
[JCR]).
Stated simply, the AHA journals reign at the very top of the field of
cardiology, according to the ISI JCR. This annual
publication of the ISI tracks the impact factor of scientific journals
each year, and each year, the AHA journals dominate their competitors
in the areas of cardiology,
cardiovascular disease, and vascular biology.
A balanced mix of components in the content, production, and
distribution of the AHA journals has been tested and proved successful
in maintaining the journals' leading impact factors: publish the best
articles; reduce time to publication; and expand distribution.
The first two elements cooperate in a mutually beneficial cycle. By
reducing the time from manuscript submission to publication in the AHA
journals, new breakthroughs in science and medicine are swiftly
communicated to cardiologists, researchers, and health professionals.
This reduction in time to publication also then acts to draw in the
best papers on breakthrough research and reports, papers that the
authors can feel assured will be presented to the community
rapidly. During the past 5 months, the AHA and Lippincott Williams &
Wilkins, the official publisher of the AHA journals, have implemented a
condensed production schedule for all 5 AHA journals. The
result: the most critical papers, editorials, reviews, and images are
publicized quickly and directly.
Expanded distribution of the AHA journals is focused in two domains:
increased publication frequency and the World Wide Web. Beginning in
January 1998, Circulation proudly became the only weekly
cardiology journal. Also celebrated in January was a
frequency change for Circulation Research, which moved from
a monthly to biweekly publication. This milestone frequency change
links back to the expeditious publication of papers in AHA journals and
thus the ability of the journals to attract more substantial works.
Second, the AHA will formally launch the journals on the World Wide Web
in full text and graphics in August 1998. Although more detailed
information on this project will be forthcoming in future
announcements, the power of internet access to the AHA journals is
already clear.
The goal of this cycle is to constantly attract exceptional papers to
the AHA journals. This is what has driven the steady increase in AHA
journal impact factors. Superior articles accumulate numerous
citations. Increased citations and an increased number of articles
published, as a result of increased frequency and reduced
production time, are the favorable components of the impact
factor calculation.
Calculation of the impact factor produces a figure that indicates how
often a journal's content is cited in relation to the amount of work
published (ISI. Journal Impact Factor and Half-Life.
Website.). Therefore, the impact factor illustrates the influence a
journal has on its audience. Impact factors are calculated by taking
the number of total citations in a given year and dividing by the
combined number of articles published in the journal in the previous
two years (see Figure
A short history lesson illustrates how tenaciously the AHA journals
have upheld their top standings in impact factor.
Circulation, the AHA flagship publication, has been No. 1 in
the Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems category since
the inception of the ISI JCR in 1975. In 1997, each of the AHA journals
enjoyed an increase in impact factor over 1996 numbers and the impact
factors of competitive journals. This is entirely
representative of the superior quality of articles
published and the number of citations this notable body of work
garners.
Those of you who closely follow the impact factor performance
of the AHA journals may have noted that the journals were removed from
the Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems category in
1996. After discussions with the AHA and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins,
the ISI agreed to return the AHA journals to the Cardiac and
Cardiovascular Systems category in 1997. The ISI
prereleased the 1997 impact factor data for the AHA journals to
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins on June 2, 1998.
The AHA and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins are extremely pleased to
present here the 1997 impact factors, which serve as an irrefutable
testimony to the powerful influence of the AHA journals on the medical
community.
© 1998 American Heart Association, Inc.
Cardiovascular News
AHA Journals at the Forefront of Cardiology
A Report on Excellence
) (Garfield E. The
impact factor. Current Contents. 1994;3–7.).
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Figure 1. Calculation of journal impact factors. If A=1997 citations to
articles published in 1995–1996 (this is a subset of total citations
in 1997), and B=number of articles published in 1995–1996, then
C=A/B=1997 impact factor.
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