With cardiovascular diseases continuing to be the number one cause of death worldwide, the need for health care professionals to continue to learn and change based on the latest scientific evidence is critical – and filling this need is one of the top priorities for ACC’s JACC Journals.

For the third year in a row, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) was ranked #1 among all 124 cardiovascular journals worldwide, according to the 2015 Impact Factor. Additionally, JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions and JACC: Heart Failure rank among the top 10 cardiovascular journals worldwide.

"Encouraging free-flowing scientific discourse and serving our readers with the highest-quality papers that will help them improve patient treatment worldwide, is our main goal. — Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, MACC

Continuing to propel the quality of the science published within the journals remains a priority for JACC Editor-in-Chief Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, MACC, and the editors of the other JACC Journals. Fuster has made several key additions to the journal over the last several years to make it easier for cardiovascular professionals to make use of the science presented within its pages, including weekly audio summaries of each JACC article, central illustrations visually summarizing research highlights and a newly updated website that makes it quicker and easier to access JACC content and resources.

Access to JACC and the other JACC Journals continues to rank among the top ACC member benefits, particularly among the growing numbers of International Fellows and Associates. Regular Early Career and Fellows in Training features, focused issues on topics like population health promotion, special state-of-the-art review series on subjects like statistical principles, and perspective pieces authored by ACC’s sections, councils and, more recently, international chapters are only serving to increase this value.

Fuster has also worked to further broaden JACC’s global reach. “The Editors and I have actively chosen content that will have relevance to the global clinical community,” says Fuster. “Encouraging free-flowing scientific discourse and serving our readers with the highest-quality papers that will help them improve patient treatment worldwide, is our main goal.” Most recently, eight International Advisors from key institutions throughout Europe, China and Brazil were selected in September to serve on the JACC Editorial Board as part of efforts to further international engagement.

Looking to the future, the JACC Journals will only continue to grow in stature and presence. JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging and JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions continue to see growth in reach and impact. Y.S. Chandrashekhar, MD, DM, FACC, and David J. Moliterno, MD, FACC, were recently announced as the new editors-in-chief of these publications, respectively, replacing Jagat Narula, DM, MD, PhD, MACC, and Spencer B. King III, MD, MACC, who have been in their roles since 2008. In addition, JACC: Heart Failure led by Christopher M. O’Connor, MD, FACC, earned its first Impact Factor rating with this latest release of scores. JACC’s newest journals – JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology led by David J. Wilber, MD, FACC, and JACC: Basic to Translational Science led by Douglas L. Mann, MD, FACC – continue to build solid reputations of their own. JACC: Basic to Translational Science, ACC’s first open-access journal, debuted last year as a leading forum for advancing the field of translational cardiovascular medicine.

Visit the newly revamped JACC Journals website at OnlineJACC.org.

Keywords: ACC Publications, ACC Scientific Session Newspaper, ACC Annual Scientific Session, Cardiovascular Diseases, Electrophysiology, Goals, Health Promotion, Heart Failure, Journal Impact Factor, Translational Medical Research