Eduard Apetrei1,2
1 Cardiology Department, Emergency Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases “Prof. Dr. C. C. Iliescu”, Bucharest, Romania
2 University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila”, Bucharest, Romania
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10 years ago on this time, I was elected by the board of the Romanian Society of Cardiology Editor- in-Chief of Romanian Heart Journal meanwhile become Romanian Journal of Cardiology. I have been honored by this choice especially as I came to this position after Professor Costin Carp who led the journal since 1991. The first issue of the journal was published in 1947, having the title Revue Roumaine de Cardiologie (editor in-chief: Basil Teodorescu). The journal was edited in French by the Romanian Society of Cardiology, led at that time by Daniel Danielopolu. During the communist times, between 1948 and the 1990, the journal was interrupted. At the same time, the Romanian Society of Cardiology self-dissolved. The journal has continuously been issued ever since 1991. At that time, C. Carp was editor-in-chief and the editorial team was formed of E. Apetrei, C. Macarie and C. Streian – as editors and Carmen Ginghina – as secretary. The editorial board comprised 22 cardiologists from all over the country. In the first issue’s editorial, the Editor-in-Chief noted the following: “We wish this journal to be a forum that would generate a powerful and open exchange of ideas, a tight connection between the fundamental knowledge and clinical medical care”. For the first years, the journal had 1 to 3 issues per year. In 2005, a new editorial staff was elected. The editorial staff was formed by E. Apetrei editor-in chief, Carmen Ginghina (deputy editor-in-chief), C. Macarie, R.
Capalneanu (editors) and coeditors: Ruxandra Jurcut, C. Matei, B. Popescu, Mihaela Rugina. A number of changes have occurred to the Journal over the last 10 years The Romanian Journal of Cardiology issues now regularly 4 times per year, plus 2-3 supplements, is a peer-re reviewed journal with an editorial board formed of 49 members, 26 of them being prominent cardiologist from European countries and USA. To increase its level of visibility and to become accessible to international scientifi c communities, the Romanian Journal of Cardiology has been publishing all the articles in English beginning with the 2012 (www.romanianjournalcardiology.ro). A digital online submission and review system for all manuscripts, a technology that is now standard. We tried implementing case presentation and attempted to capture the highlights of papers published in individual fields in our Updates in Cardiology, both
of which had varying degrees of success. We have published in RJC all ESC guidelines translated in Romanian language.
We have also published from 2012, by the name ALMANAC, the reviews that was first published in HEART, reproduced with permission. The Romanian Journal of Cardiology’s award was initiated in 2009, for an original paper published in the
journal. The 6 awards are offered following the rules published in the journal. We also exchange journals with the French Society of Cardiology and the Portuguese Society of Cardiology. Since 2009, Romanian Journal of Cardiology has been enclosed in EBSCO international data base and in August 2012 Index Copernicus. In 2012 the Romanian Journal of Cardiology was chosen to be indexed in the European Journal of Cardiology search engine. The estimated time from receiving the article until it is accepted for publication is 1.8 months and the estimated time until publication – 3.2 months. These data and put down in the journal, for every article, starting with the 3rd issue of 2010. Each issue contains an editorial, 1-2 reviews, original articles, case reports, images in cardiology (Echo, IMR, Angio, Doppler), updates in cardiology. The journal is sent free of charge to all members of the Romanian Society of Cardiology, to all foreign members of the editorial board and to 17 national libraries. A subscription is open for institutions and individuals. I wish to thank all those who made efforts in terms of RJC appearance. The Associate editors (Costel Matei, Ruxandra Jurcut, Bogdan A.Popescu, Mihaela Rugina) have provided the core function of the peer-review process, and they have left their imprint on the Journal. The reviewers are, of course, a requisite component of the medical literature, and our elite reviewers are especially deserving of thanks. I have very good collaboration throughout the 10 years directly with Mihaela Salagean, editorial secretary for each item sent by publishers associates responsible number. The small number of articles received did not require working more closely with all members of editorial staff except the deputy editor-in-chief. I think that this weakness can be overcome in the future. Finally I am pleased to say that our publisher, Media Med Publicis, has been a great partner throughout
the years, and its representatives could not have been more dedicated to our success if they had been part of the Romanian Journal of Cardiology itself. For the future the editorial has to plane to publish more original papers and to make the journal more attractive. We hope to have more foreign authors publishing their articles in the journal and to make proposals for the new members of the editorial board. It has been an enormous honor and privilege to serve as the Editor-in-Chief of Romanian Journal of Cardiology, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. There is no doubt
that I will miss a great many things about the position. I leave the Journal serene in the knowledge that it is in excellent hands. Carmen Ginghina is certainly one of the most accomplished and respected cardiologists of our lifetime here in Romania.
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