Editorial Statistics and Best Reviewers Award for 2021

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Circulation Journal, I am pleased to announce the editorial statistics for 2021, and the recipients of the Best Reviewers Awards for 2021.

1. Editorial statistics for 2021

As shown in Figure 1, we received 1,075 manuscripts in 2021, for publication in the Journal, including 732 original papers (624 clinical and 108 experimental), 17 invited review articles, 96 invited editorials, 27 rapid communications, and 167 images in cardiovascular medicine. Approximately half were submitted from Japan, followed by China, Korea, USA, and Taiwan (Figure 2). The total number of submissions for the last 10 years is introduced in Figure 3. The above mentioned 5 countries have remained the top 5 countries in terms of paper submissions over that period (Figure 4).

Figure 1.

The details of manuscripts submitted in 2021.

Figure 2.

Countries submitting manuscripts in 2021.

Figure 3.

The total number of submissions for the last 10 years.

Figure 4.

The number of submissions for the last 10 years in top 5 countries.

2. Best Reviewers Awards for 2021

In 2021, a total of 914 reviewers kindly reviewed the manuscripts submitted. In appreciation of their valuable contributions, we have selected the 20 Best Reviewers of the Year 2021 as follows:

Hideki Ishii, MD (Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma) Number of reviews: 16 RPS: 102.0 Previous awards: 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020	Naohiko Takahashi, MD (Oita University, Oita) Number of reviews: 12 RPS: 70.0 Previous awards: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Koichi Inoue, MD (National Hospital Organization Osaka National Hospital, Osaka) Number of reviews: 13 RPS: 68.9 Previous awards: 2015, 2019	Eitaro Kodani, MD (Nippon Medical School Tama Nagayama Hospital, Tokyo) Number of reviews: 9 RPS: 64.0 Previous awards: 2017, 2018, 2020
Kazuhiro Satomi, MD (Tokyo Medical University Hospital, Tokyo) Number of reviews: 10 RPS: 60.0 Previous awards: 2011	Kenya Kusunose, MD (Tokushima University Hospital, Tokushima) Number of reviews: 10 RPS: 58.0
Shinsuke Miyazaki, MD (Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo) Number of reviews: 10 RPS: 56.0 Previous awards: 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020	Hiromasa Otake, MD (Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Hyogo) Number of reviews: 9 RPS: 54.7
Takao Konishi, MD (Hokkaido University, Hokkaido) Number of reviews: 11 RPS: 52.4	Seiji Takatsuki, MD (Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo) Number of reviews: 9 RPS: 52.2
Shinya Suzuki, MD (The Cardiovascular Institute, Tokyo) Number of reviews: 9 RPS: 51.0 Previous awards: 2020	Hidehira Fukaya, MD (Kitasato University School of Medicine, Kanagawa) Number of reviews: 8 RPS: 50.0
Eiichi Watanabe, MD (Fujita Health University Bantane Hospital, Aichi) Number of reviews: 8 RPS: 48.0 Previous awards: 2018, 2020	Toshiyuki Nagai, MD (Hokkaido University, Hokkaido) Number of reviews: 8 RPS: 48.0 Previous awards: 2020
Kazuhiro Nakao, MD (National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Osaka) Number of reviews: 9 RPS: 44.7	Hidekazu Tanaka, MD (Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Hyogo) Number of reviews: 8 RPS: 43.1
Koichi Kaikita, MD (University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki) Number of reviews: 6 RPS: 41.2 Previous awards: 2012, 2015	Keisuke Kida, MD (St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Kanagawa) Number of reviews: 11 RPS: 40.9
Shiro Nakahara, MD (Dokkyo Medical University Saitama Medical Center, Saitama) Number of reviews: 12 RPS: 40.8 Previous awards: 2018	Kaoru Ito, MD (RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, Kanagawa) Number of reviews: 9 RPS: 40.6

*The Reviewer Performance Score (RPS) is determined as follows for reviewers who made at least 6 reviews in 2021 (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.

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

In the year ahead in 2022, we expect a steady increase in the number of submissions, as well as an increase in the scientific impact of the Journal.

• Toshihisa Anzai, MD, PhD
• Editor-in-Chief
• Circulation Journal