The IF is an imperfect metric of the quality of a journal but, whether we like it or not, it is one of the most commonly used parameters for judging a journal.35 We live in times of uncertainty regarding the formula used to calculate the IF. Thus far, to determine the numerator (citations received by published articles) and denominator (number of citable articles published), the formula has considered only articles published in an issue with their complete citation. The previous year saw the beginning of a transition that will, in the coming years, culminate in the counting of all articles published in their ahead of print (AOP) version instead of the final paginated version. It is not known when this change, which already impacted other journals in 2021, will fully affect Rev Esp Cardiol because the Web of Science, the database used to calculate the IF, does not currently index the AOP content of Rev Esp Cardiol but rather waits until the article is included in a specific issue, in contrast to other platforms such as MEDLINE and ScienceDirect. This is common for journals published by Elsevier, which benefited less from the general increase in the IF published in 2021. During this transition period, we will have to wait to assess the final situation of the IF of Rev Esp Cardiol when all of these changes stabilize. Nonetheless, beyond IF, the objective of a scientific and medical journal should be to publish high-quality articles that are relevant for clinicians and researchers.

Paralleling the transition toward the use of the AOP version to calculate the IF, the way that scientific content is accessed and consumed has been changing in recent years. Initially, the printed version was the main medium. Subsequently, the focus shifted to websites, where the user periodically reviewed the online content of the new issues. Currently, newsletters with the most recent AOP articles are the main method of dissemination. This approach facilitates the immediate release of information. Consequently, the focus of journals has moved to these newsletters, which is why one of the objectives of the new editorial team is their redesign. In this regard, the bilingual nature of the journal represents a further challenge. The articles accepted in Rev Esp Cardiol are available AOP in the original submission language and then in the translated version. The wait to have both versions available for their dissemination in the newsletter constitutes an excessive delay. However, dissemination when only the first version of the article is ready means that the translation is not simultaneously available and, in addition, that each newsletter would mix Spanish- and English-language articles. We will consider the advantages and disadvantages of all factors when studying all of the options to create the most attractive newsletter possible.

The acceptance of an article is followed by 2 phases: a) from acceptance to publication of the AOP version; and b) from AOP publication to publication in an issue of Rev Esp Cardiol. In the first phase, we need to format and translate the article and apply the required corrections. This step takes about 2 months in each language, which means a total delay of 4 months until the AOP article is published in both languages. In the second phase, the publisher must prepare the article for its inclusion in an issue of Rev Esp Cardiol, which requires another 2 months. The issue of Rev Esp Cardiol in which the article will be published ultimately depends on the volume of articles awaiting publication. Thus, the actual time from the acceptance of an original article to its publication in a specific issue is 10 months. This delay has been falling in recent years due to the efforts of the editorial office, editors, and publisher. Our objective is to continue to reduce timelines, whenever it is possible to do so without compromising the excellent production quality of Rev Esp Cardiol. We believe that the critical period to shorten is the time from acceptance to AOP publication. The objective is to satisfy the general desire of authors to see their articles published as soon as possible, which is particularly important for articles reporting novelties.

The current team of editors considers the educational role of Rev Esp Cardiol to be essential. It is a genuine challenge to reconcile this objective with IF metrics. Nonetheless, IF should not be the only parameter guiding the journal's strategy. In addition to continuing with the policy of the previous team of publishing special articles on topics of particular interest,31,36–42 we are beginning a partnership with the League of Clinical Cases of the Spanish Society of Cardiology43 to publish clinical cases, which will be accompanied by an editorial comment with a largely educational focus. In addition, we will attempt to entice residents and young cardiologists to conduct research and to write scientific articles through in-person or online courses or seminars focused on how to design a scientific project and write an article.

In 2019, the REC Publications family of journals was created, which comprises Rev Esp Cardiol and 2 new journals, REC: Interventional Cardiology44 and REC: CardioClinics.45REC: Interventional Cardiology is focused on catheterization and interventional cardiology and their related heart diseases, whereas REC: CardioClinics addresses the entire cardiology spectrum.46,47 Both journals are currently in the difficult initial stages in which they are attempting to be indexed by the most important repositories. We must praise the tremendous efforts of their editorial teams in this launching phase. From this “Editor's page”, we would like to encourage authors to submit articles to both journals, either through direct submission or by accepting a transfer suggestion when an article unfortunately cannot be accepted in Rev Esp Cardiol. An overriding objective of Rev Esp Cardiol, and which we relay to all cardiologists, is to facilitate the submission of articles to REC: Interventional Cardiology and REC: CardioClinics as soon as possible.

In conclusion, in this first “Editor's page” of the new editorial team, we would like to express our enthusiasm for the new project and set as initial objectives the reimagining of newsletters, the optimization of publication times without compromising quality, the strengthening of the educational objectives of the journal, and the advancement of the REC Publications family. We hope that this project can count on your interest while also asking you for any suggestions that you might have.