On June 28, 2022, Clarivate Analytics (formerly Thomson Reuters) announced the newest Journal Impact Factors (IF) of all periodicals indexed in Web of Science Core Collection. In line with our estimations, the 2021 IF of Kardiologia Polska (Kardiol Pol, Polish Heart Journal), the official journal of the Polish Cardiac Society, is 3.710, and^n it has substantially increased as compared to the value released last year (IF 3.108). Despite well-known limitations of the two-year IF as the most widely used metric of the journal’s prestige, without a strong correlation between an average citation count and the actual scientific relevance of the content, we ought to celebrate this success, which should be perceived as an indirect proof of the potential in clinical science of all Polish cardiologists and researchers dealing with cardiovascular disorders. If we believe in the power of evidence, this IF proves the high standing of our journal among Polish periodicals (Table 1).

Regardless of the unprecedented effect of COVID-19 on the current ranking, with a huge increase in this metric, in our case the citation counts of the top cited articles of Kardiol Pol from 2019–2020 (Table 2) demonstrate a quite well-balanced distribution among various types of published items and diverse topics, even if COVID-19 appears in the titles of 3 of the 9 articles with the highest number of citations recorded in 2021.

On behalf of Associate Editors, I express our gratitude to all the authors, reviewers, and supporters. The journal is an example of teamwork, and contributions of all sizes matter. All of them are as much appreciated as every single citation of any published material from 2019 or 2020, which was included in the latest IF calculation. The top citing authors who contributed to the largest extent to the 2021 IF of our journal have been listed in Table 3.

We wish to acknowledge the excellent work of committed and prompt reviewers whose contribution to our standing cannot be overrated, and the researchers who wrote the largest number of reviews submitted in 2021 are presented in Table 4.

We are aware of the fact that our journal faces an uphill struggle to sustain the IF above 3.5. At this level of IF, a monthly should not exceed the two-year denominator of 200 in the IF calculation. The decision to review and finally accept a manuscript, especially original articles and reviews or expert opinions (so-called citable items), should be made following in-depth analysis with emphasis on the unquestionable novelty for international scientists and on sound research methodology. The journal is for other researchers who seek stimulating ideas and valuable confirmation of their own concepts, so citation counts of Kardiol Pol represent a measure of the actual crosstalk of Polish cardiology with other research groups all over the world. Analyses pertinent to Poland, still of value from a local perspective, will be suitable for publication in following issues of our journal only if they advance the field and may attract the interest of peers; the list of articles without a single citation (even by their own authors!) over more than 2 years is of key importance to decide what to accept and what to reject. This publishing strategy is needed in a highly competitive world of cardiology journals. We wish to enter the first quartile (Q1, 25% top cardiology journals), which means the IF above 5, so there is a lot of work to do ahead of us.

In a situation uncertain in various ways, in particular, no financial support from the Ministry of Education and Science and the change of our publisher with new editorial staff, several scheduled activities aiming at increasing our current standing have been implemented slowly, or with delay. Everyday editorial activities are more and more time-consuming. We hope that the recent introduction of open-access article processing charges in mid-March 2022 will make our situation more stable and foreseeable.

We have further plans and ambitions to enhance the standing and visibility of Kardiol Pol. We have decided to continue the last year’s project to rename the journal to make the title of Kardiol Pol easier to understand worldwide, i.e. Polish Heart Journal (Pol Heart J). Given the present strategy of Clarivate Analytics, the change might lead to the appearance of 2 journals on PubMed, with the translation of the original title, Pol Heart J, considered a new periodical without any IF in the first year. I will do my best to minimize this risk, and negotiations with Clarivate are underway; there have been a few precedents of smooth transitions in similar journals, without a gap of a year with no IF for a new title. We cannot avoid this seminal change, and we truly believe that postponing it is harmful to the further growth of the journal.

The journal site should also be updated based on the best examples of cardiology journals with images, brief films presenting the latest best articles, and solutions to facilitate interactions with the readership. The current rapid editorial processing times should improve especially at the first stage; our aim is to reach 2 days from submission to the first decision, and 20 days from submission to the first reviews.

We would like to announce that as of August 1, 2022, Dr. Farkowski. MD, PhD, from the National Cardiology Institute in Warsaw, will serve as Editor of Educational Issues of Kardiol Pol. Broad dissemination of knowledge among all physicians interested in cardiovascular disorders is our duty, and the Polish version of the European Society of Cardiology guidelines and expert opinions prepared by Associations and Working Groups of our Society along with translations of some articles from Kardiol Pol will be available.

We sincerely invite you to submit your high-quality research to our journal. As a team, the editors still have the energy and passion to strengthen the position of Kardiol Pol.

Article information

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Funding: None.

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