EP Europace: going from strength to strength

According to its Editor-in-Chief, Professor Gerhard Hindricks (University of Leipzig, Germany), EP Europace is growing in stature. “I was privileged to take over the reins from Professor John Camm two years ago and I am pleased to report that we have continued to improve the visibility, reach and quality of the journal,” he says. “In 2019, we had the highest rate of manuscript submissions in the history of the journal, reaching almost 1,500 from all over the world. The biggest increases were in submissions from North America and Asia, indicating that international recognition of the journal has grown substantially.”

A marker of excellence

“To ensure that the quality of the journal’s output remains high,” continues Prof. Hindricks, “we have reduced the number of manuscripts accepted. Only one in five of the manuscripts submitted will be published. This means that investigators and readers can be confident that publication in EP Europace is a marker of excellence.” Some of the success must also be attributed to the greater noise created about the journal, thanks to the efforts of the dedicated social media coordinator, Professor Andreas Bollmann (Heart Centre Leipzig, Germany).

 “In terms of citations, we are in the top three electrophysiology journals in the world. The benefits of the high citation rate and impact factor, and the wide global reach make EP Europace the journal of choice for authors wanting to publish high-quality science and education in arrhythmia research”
Professor Hindricks

The journal’s content covers a wide range of publications on science and clinical trials, answering key questions in interventional electrophysiology, cardiac implantable electronic devices and drug therapy. “In addition to original clinical research studies, the journal publishes interesting cases representative of the clinical realities of electrophysiology today,” says Prof. Hindricks. “We also feature high-quality, state-of-the-art review articles, both commissioned and non-commissioned, which summarise current knowledge on different aspects of arrhythmia research.” The review process is particularly stringent for these types of articles and is co-ordinated by the journal’s specially nominated Review Editor, Professor Angelo Auricchio (Fondazione Cardiocentro Ticino, Lugano, Switzerland).

Professor Hindricks is keen to mention that the journal is the ideal platform for investigators wanting to share their high-end basic science in arrhythmia research. “EP Europace is also the place to publish EHRA documents, such as position papers and consensus documents,” he states. “These documents are usually written in collaboration with our North American, South American and Asian partner organisations. EHRA-endorsed publications, along with the ESC guidelines, both full-text versions and summary or discussion papers, are the backbone of the journal – figures show that they are very frequently downloaded and cited by the electrophysiology community.”