History and Background

At the occasion of the ESC Congress 2005 in Stockholm, some of the National Societies Cardiovascular Journals (NSCJ) Editors-in-Chief gathered to discuss the possibilities of optimising the collaboration and spreading of info from the ESC (mainly Guidelines). A forum made up of the ESC NSCJ Editors-in-Chief, and initiated by Prof. Panos Vardas, the Editor-in-Chief of the Hellenic Journal of Cardiology, became a reality. It was decided the Editors would meet yearly at the occasion of the ESC Congress.

At their meeting in 2006 during the WCC in Barcelona a Task Force was created to ensure activities also in between congresses. Chaired by Prof. Ernst E. Van der Wall (NL), the initial Task Force also counted Professors Fernando Alfonso (ES), Giuseppe Ambrosio (IT), and Fausto J. Pinto (PT), all Editors-in-Chief of their national NSCJ.

An initial and important effort of the Task Force, was to collect information about the ESC NSCJ. This was done in close collaboration with the European Heart House National Societies Office team. All pertinent information about each journal was gathered via a comprehensive questionnaire and the national NSCJ Editorial offices put a considerable effort in sharing their details for the benefit of this networking initiative. 
 

Publication of the Constitution Document

The major outcome from the Task Force of the Editors' Club was the production of a “Constitution Document”, the Background, Rationale and Mission Statement of the “Editors’ Club”, written in order to set the basis of future collaboration among NSCJ Editors.

The target was to produce and issue a core document with fundamental principles upon which all NSCJ Editors would agree. Common goals have been identified and agreed-on measures will be pursued. This constitution document is therefore a formalisation of the NSCJ Editors´ Club Task Force.

During the summer of 2008 this constitution document was published simultaneous in the majority of the NSCJ in English and/or national language, so far in 37 journals. This is the first time a publication of this character has been carried out within the ESC, and with great success and interest.

Some NSCJ published in both the national language and in English, others chose a web-based publication supported by a comment article in their printed version, while others went to the extent of issuing a supplement entirely dedicated to the article. The Task Force is very grateful to the NSCJ Editors for the amount of involvement and dedication in the project!

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