Heart Rhythm O2 (HRO2) has successfully completed its first year of publication. HRO2 joined the platform of Heart Rhythm journals as a “gold” open access and online-only journal, publishing its first issue on April 27, 2020 and bimonthly thereafter. In our first year, we received 154 submissions, 37% from locations outside of the United States. The total number of articles published in 5 issues was 58. In addition to original articles (27 clinical and 8 experimental), the journal published 8 invited articles. These included 4 Topics in Review and 4 Perspectives in Contrast articles broadly covering the subjects of cryoablation for atrial fibrillation (AF), physiologic pacing, atrial remodeling in AF, the wearable cardioverter-defibrillator, His-bundle vs left bundle branch pacing, secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death, and digital health during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Coming up in 2021 are invited articles focused on long QT syndrome, the recent randomized trials of AF ablation, ventricular tachycardia ablation in cardiac sarcoid, and premature ventricular contraction ablation.
One of our objectives was to welcome Design papers, of which we have published 3 in this first year. We consider these articles to be important contributions, providing the background and justification for clinical trials. We encourage authors to submit their Design papers to HRO2.
Our articles are complemented with summary Editor-in-Chief podcasts with each issue. In addition, selected publications are highlighted with editorial commentaries, narrated PowerPoint presentations, or live author interviews.
Our Twitter presence is growing, with over 1,550 followers. We are thankful to our Social Media Editor, Joshua Cooper, MD, FHRS, for his excellent leadership promoting Twitter conversations. Popular articles on Twitter have included “His-bundle pacing is the best approach to physiological pacing,”1 “Atrial remodeling and atrial fibrillation in acquired forms of cardiovascular disease,”2 and “Atrioventricular junctional ablation: The good, the bad, the better.”3 We encourage you to participate in these conversations, which often help to clarify knowledge gaps and opportunities for further investigations.
This past year has seen the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. As health care providers, we have had to adapt rapidly to the unique restraints of providing safe health care. The Heart Rhythm Society partnered with the American College of Cardiology and the Electrocardiography and Arrhythmias Committee of the Council on Clinical Cardiology, American Heart Association to provide a “Guidance for Cardiac Electrophysiology During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic.”4 Our August 2020 issue included a thoughtful editorial summarizing the Guidance document, highlighting strategies to manage invasive and noninvasive electrophysiology procedures, clinic visits, and cardiac implantable electronic device interrogations.5
Expanding our global presence continues to be an important goal of the journal, and we invite our international colleagues to submit to HRO2. We recognize the rapid globalization of arrhythmia science and realize the critical role of our editorial board to ensure a fair review of submitted science from diverse geographical areas. Of our 53-member editorial board, 38 represent North America, 8 Europe, 4 Asia, and 3 Australia.
Open access publishing is now an option for many journals. HRO2 is well positioned to meet the Plan S initiative in Europe, which mandates nationally funded research to be published only in “gold” open access journals. Whether other funding institutions will follow suit is unknown, but having both subscription-based and open access provides flexibility and promotes broad visibility and rapid availability of scientific research.
The success of this first year of publication could not have been accomplished without the support of our extraordinary and seemingly indefatigable HRO2 Journal staff—Brianna Gallagher, Jeremy Rosenberg, Kristin Murray, and Lori Monteleone. We have an outstanding board of Associate Editors, with strengths spanning the electrophysiology field. I want to thank them for their commitment to the journal and the endless hours of work managing the submitted manuscripts. Similarly, I express my gratitude to the members of the Editorial Board, whose contributions will help to shape the future of the journal.
It has been my privilege as Editor-in-Chief to launch HRO2, and I look forward to a successful 2021.
Funding Sources
The author has no funding sources to disclose.
Disclosures
The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.
References
- 1.Upadhyay G.A., Razminia P., Tung R. His-bundle pacing is the best approach to physiological pacing. Heart Rhythm O2. 2020;1:68–75. doi: 10.1016/j.hroo.2020.03.001. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Jansen H.J., Bohne L.J., Gillis A.M., Rose R.A. Atrial remodeling and atrial fibrillation in acquired forms of cardiovascular disease. Heart Rhythm O2. 2020;1:147–159. doi: 10.1016/j.hroo.2020.05.002. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
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