Heart Rhythm Case Reports is now entering its ninth year in publication. As one of four official journals of the Heart Rhythm Society, this open-access journal continues to grow and evolve with the aim of publishing high-quality case reports that improve the care of patients with heart rhythm disorders by advancing research, education, and procedural skill and efficacy.
The journal underwent several changes this year. First, we introduced a new page, “Focus on Allied Health Professionals,” specifically to highlight allied health professionals, who are a critical part of the heart rhythm team. Dr Aileen Ferrick, a nurse practitioner and the Assistant Director of Electrophysiology Research at White Plains Hospital, in White Plains, New York, edits this page. Her impact and vision have already been felt, with several highly educational articles published this year and many more in press or under review.
We said goodbye to Dr Mohita Singh, who was our talented inaugural Section Editor for the new series “Focus on Fellows and Early-Career EPs.” Her time with the journal included an innovative interactive case presentation with Dr Melvin Scheinman. We welcomed Dr David Chang, a fellow from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, as our new editor of this focus section. He has brought tremendous enthusiasm to our editorial team and has edited articles that discuss topics such as applying to an electrophysiology fellowship, professional resiliency, and imposter syndrome.
A priority of the journal is to share divergent viewpoints that allow us to see challenges and problems differently and, in doing so, improve our approach to heart rhythm disorders. To this end, we have started to invite editorial commentaries on interesting cases. We hope to provide additional insight and educational content by bringing you these unique perspectives.
The journal remains very healthy. At the time of writing this editorial, we have issued disposition on 3053 manuscripts. The overall acceptance rate has been between 42% and 47% annually and remains stable, with the primary goal of publishing high-quality case reports. As an online journal, we are not constrained by page limitations, and we can accept all articles felt to have merit as an educational resource. Like many other journals, we experienced a profound increase in submissions during the COVID pandemic; however, in 2022 our submission rate will be higher than pre-COVID numbers, indicating sustained journal growth and health. To accommodate our growing volume of submissions, we have expanded our editorial staff to include two new Associate Editors to improve our editorial review efficiency and response times. Dr Piotr Futyma, from St. Joseph’s Heart Rhythm Center, Rzeszow, Poland, and Dr Chirag Rashmi Barbhaiya, from the NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, New York, bring needed expertise and insight into novel ablative approaches and techniques, as well as emerging technologies for cardiac implantable devices.
The journal continues to enjoy a strong national and rich international readership and broad social media impact. The top countries for submissions are, in order, the United States, Japan, China, United Kingdom, Canada, and Italy. Our social media outlets have been a consistent and strong way for us to share and disseminate knowledge. The journal’s Twitter account has grown from approximately 10,056 followers last year to 11,900 by November 2022. A corresponding Facebook page, which grew significantly this year from 2030 followers to 4100, is used to reach a different audience and to allow dynamic conversations that may require longer commentary than allowed by Twitter. We also launched an official Instagram account for the journal, as many of our cases have appealing images that work well with its visual platform. We will continue to look at additional novel methods to share our articles and contributions to the understanding of heart rhythm disorders broadly.
As I conclude the year 2022 and nearly a decade in this role, I remain very grateful for the opportunity to serve all of you as Editor-in-Chief of Heart Rhythm Case Reports. It is a great pleasure for me to learn from each of you, the talented people who work diligently to improve the quality and quantity of life in those impacted by heart rhythm disorders. The Journal remains healthy through the support of the Heart Rhythm Society and the oversight of the Heart Rhythm Society publications committee. I am thankful for a dedicated editorial staff and Editorial Board who make this journal possible. The journal and I, are indebted to the reviewers who sacrifice their time to help others improve their manuscripts and to help our field grow and develop. We have many fellows and early-career colleagues who submit manuscripts, and your time and direction help guide their development and personal academic growth. I remain hopeful that our product will continue to meet your expectations and needs and, if not, I welcome your suggestions for improvement and direction (e-mail: jared.bunch@hsc.utah.edu, tweet: @tjaredbunch), and I look forward to another year of learning from each of you.