Abstract
Five years! In this short time, Pulmonary Circulation has achieved its three major goals and exceeded expectations in our ever-expanding sphere of influence in the laboratory and in the clinic.
When this journal began in 2011, we had three major goals: (1) to provide a unique venue of communication exclusively to those conducting clinical, translational, and basic research in the field of pulmonary circulation and pulmonary vascular disease; (2) to provide a medium of communication that would reach and include clinicians and scientists in all parts of the world; and (3) to encourage translational science, connecting both researchers and physicians in the field.
Our readership is growing. Last year, web access to the journal totaled 84,569 hits for full-text articles in both the PDF and HTML formats. In just the first 7 months of 2016, Pulmonary Circulation received 74,707 individual hits to access Review Articles, Original Research, and Case Reports. If the hits keep coming, online access will increase almost 50% from 2015 to 2016, and online access will double compared with 2014.
The Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute (PVRI) has helped increase the journal's visibility through its website, redesigned this year for easy navigation and visual appeal. In addition, PVRIs meetings and congresses provide critical face to face opportunities for scientists and clinicians, leading to new collaborations.
Manuscript submissions continue to increase. With our outstanding editorial board, we are committed to shortening the time for review of manuscripts and to publishing research and clinical findings as soon as possible. Earlier this year, we brainstormed with the editorial board about potential comprehensive Review Articles on novel and “hot” topics in the field of pulmonary vascular disease and pulmonary vascular pathobiology. Top researchers have committed to write these articles, so the field can take advantage of these reviews when published in 2017.
With growth comes change. We have enjoyed working with University of Chicago Press (UCP) for the past 2 years, and they have streamlined many processes between manuscript submission and publication. But this is our final issue with UCP.
We are excited to have a new publisher for the journal: SAGE Publishing. SAGE is the fifth largest journal publisher in the world. The publisher has 50 years of experience publishing journals in medicine, science, technology, social sciences, and the humanities. Pulmonary Circulation will benefit from their wealth of knowledge and their commitment to scholarship and innovation.
Publishing a professional journal requires a revenue to cover costs, and for this reason we instituted an Article Processing Charge (APC) in 2015 to generate income. For 2 years, our APC has been low in comparison to those of other open-access journals, at $1,000 for a research paper and with lower fees for other article types. With the increasing success of our journal, the costs of running an efficient and professional editorial office have increased, and we need to cover these costs to ensure that we are self-sustaining, in the same way that other successful journals operate. For new manuscripts submitted after January 1, 2017, we will increase the APC for research articles to $2,000. This increase is essential to enable us to continue publishing our journal, and the fees remain lower than those of the majority of open-access journals publishing in our field. However, any manuscript submitted before January 1, that is later accepted, will still be charged the 2016 APC.
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Kurt R. Stenmark as Deputy Editor. Dr. Stenmark is Director of the Cardiovascular Pulmonary Research Lab at the University of Colorado and a world-leading clinician scientist in innovative, multidisciplinary research in cardiovascular and pulmonary science. His research and clinical interests include pulmonary hypertension, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and pediatric critical care medicine. Along with the Editors-in-Chief, Dr. Stenmark will invite review article authors, guide manuscripts through the reviewing process, and participate in strategic leadership and planning for the journal's future.
We also have new staff in the editorial office, with Mary E. Reynolds joining us as Editorial Associate. Mary brings 20 years of writing experience and 7 years of editing experience to the journal. Before joining Pulmonary Circulation, she worked for medical and scientific journals, education journals, university alumni magazines, sports magazines, and weekly newspapers. Mary looks forward to working with PVRI to cross-promote journal articles and PVRI's educational opportunities.
In 2017, Pulmonary Circulation will receive its first impact factor. We have had a solid 5 years of publishing this quarterly journal, but we still need your help. For the journal to succeed, we encourage you to cite articles published in the journal in your papers and to submit high-quality manuscripts to the journal. And please don't be shy: introduce Pulmonary Circulation to your colleagues so they can learn from the articles and submit their own research for fast publication.
We again say thank you to our loyal readers, contributors, and editorial board members. Starting a new journal is not like running a sprint. It is not even like running a marathon. Rather, it is like climbing one of the seven summits. This autumn, we have enjoyed reading the biography of scientific advisory board member Robert F. Grover, Always a Quest, by Norma Elise Wäälen. Bob Grover was one of the first to study acute mountain sickness in Mount Everest climbers. At the Himalayan Rescue Association medical aid station, Bob saw young, healthy climbers taken down by high-altitude pulmonary edema and high-altitude cerebral edema.
He also did a bit of trekking himself, with Sherpas and Sherpanis and yaks, but you'll have to read the book (available in 2017) for that story.
As Pulmonary Circulation climbs higher, we will follow the model of Bob trekking in the Himalayas. Bob knew how to avoid acute mountain sickness. He planned carefully and walked slowly. The journal started slow and steady, taking time to acclimatize as we climbed higher up the mountain, growing in readership year by year. As we enter our sixth year of publication, the journal is stronger, and we are ready to move faster.
Like mountain climbers, we depend on a solid team to plan the route, carry heavy gear, and encourage us as we soar to new heights. We know we can count on your enthusiastic support in the future. As always, we welcome your suggestions, feedback, and ideas regarding all aspects of the journal. We look forward to working with more of you in 2017.