Editorial Statistics and Best Reviewers Award for 2017

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Circulation Journal, I am pleased to announce the editorial statistics for 2017, and the recipients of the Best Reviewers Awards for 2017.

1. Editorial statistics for 2017

As shown in Figure 1, we received 1,444 manuscripts in 2017, for publication in the Journal, including 1,108 original papers (982 clinical and 126 experimental), 17 invited review articles, 38 invited editorials, 44 rapid communications, and 190 images in cardiovascular medicine. Approximately half were submitted from Japan, followed by Korea, China, Taiwan, and USA (Figure 2). For the last 12 years, the number of submissions has been steadily increasing even after we terminated publication of case reports in October 2008 and the East Japan Earthquake Disaster (Figure 3). The abovementioned 5 countries have remained the top 5 countries in terms of paper submissions over that period (Figure 4). The acceptance rate for original manuscripts in 2017 was approximately 24.9%.

Figure 1.

The details of manuscripts submitted in 2017.

Figure 2.

Countries submitting manuscripts in 2017.

Figure 3.

The total number of submissions for the last 12 years.

Figure 4.

The number of submissions for the last 12 years in top 5 countries. Asia (All): all Asian countries except Japan.

2. Best Reviewers Awards for 2017

In 2017, a total of 992 reviewers kindly reviewed the manuscripts submitted. In appreciation of their valuable contributions, we have selected the 20 Best Reviewers of the Year 2017 as follows:

Hiroshi Asanuma, MD 　(Meiji University of Integrative Medicine, Kyoto) 　Number of reviews: 26 　RPS: 166.0 　Previous awards: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016	Osamu Tsukamoto, MD 　(Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka) 　Number of reviews: 21 　RPS: 120.0 　Previous awards: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
Hideki Ishii, MD 　(Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Aichi) 　Number of reviews: 20 　RPS: 118.0 　Previous awards: 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016	Shin Ito, MD 　(National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Osaka) 　Number of reviews: 17 　RPS: 99.0
Hirohiko Ando, MD 　(Aichi Medical University, Aichi) 　Number of reviews: 15 　RPS: 88.0	Yoshihiro Seo, MD 　(University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki) 　Number of reviews: 13 　RPS: 86.6 　Previous awards: 2012, 2015, 2016
Shoji Sanada, MD 　(Osaka University Hospital, Osaka) 　Number of reviews: 14 　RPS: 84.0 　Previous awards: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016	Naohiko Takahashi, MD 　(Oita University, Oita) 　Number of reviews: 14 　RPS: 78.0 　Previous awards: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016
Shinsuke Miyazaki, MD 　(University of Fukui, Fukui) 　Number of reviews: 13 　RPS: 78.0 　Previous awards: 2015	Yutaka Okita, MD 　(Kobe University, Hyogo) 　Number of reviews: 15 　RPS: 75.4 　Previous awards: 2014, 2015
Tetsuya Matoba, MD 　(Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka) 　Number of reviews: 15 　RPS: 71.0 　Previous awards: 2016	Shiro Uemura, MD 　(Kawasaki Medical School, Okayama) 　Number of reviews: 15 　RPS: 65.9
Yoshio Kobayashi, MD 　(Chiba University, Chiba) 　Number of reviews: 12 　RPS: 64.0	Junya Ako, MD 　(Kitasato University, Kanagawa) 　Number of reviews: 12 　RPS: 63.0 　Previous awards: 2014, 2015, 2016
Yasuko K. Bando, MD 　(Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Aichi) 　Number of reviews: 14 　RPS: 62.8	Kenichi Fujii, MD 　(Higashi Takarazuka Satoh Hospital, Hyogo) 　Number of reviews: 13 　RPS: 62.6 　Previous awards: 2014, 2015
Kenichi Tsujita, MD 　(Kumamoto University, Kumamoto) 　Number of reviews: 9 　RPS: 62.0	Koichiro Kinugawa, MD 　(University of Toyama, Toyama) 　Number of reviews: 13 　RPS: 60.6 　Previous awards: 2013, 2014, 2016
Eitaro Kodani, MD 　(Nippon Medical School Tama-Nagayama Hospital, Tokyo) 　Number of reviews: 9 　RPS: 60.0	Yasunori Ueda, MD 　(Osaka National Hospital, Osaka) 　Number of reviews: 14 　RPS: 56.6

*The Reviewer Performance Score (RPS) is determined as follows for reviewers who made at least 6 reviews in 2017 (review time limit, 14 days): *RPS = [(Number of reviews completed within 1 week) × 2 + (number of reviews completed within 2 weeks) × 1 + (number of reviews completed within 3 weeks) × 0.2] × quality of review (average) – (number of declined reviews) + (number of editorial comments published in the Journal) × 10. The review quality of reviewers was evaluated for each manuscript by an Associate Editor who was in charge of the manuscript (range: 1~3) and the average score used.

The above Reviewers will be awarded by the Japanese Circulation Society with a Certificate of Achievement and an honorarium.

In the year ahead in 2018, we expect a steady increase in the number of submissions, as well as an increase in the scientific impact of the Journal.

• Toyoaki Murohara, MD, PhD
• Editor-in-Chief
• Circulation Journal