
Whether you are trying to decide where to publish your research findings, searching for a thought-provoking publication to share at journal club, or simply interested in exploring the latest literature, this article is likely to help you to achieve your aims. We have outlined the rankings of the best journals from the field of Cardiology according to impact factor, Google’s h5-index, and the scoring system of the research group SCImago.
Note that this article focuses on the “general” rankings of scientific journals related to Cardiology. If you would prefer to consider the rankings of journals dedicated to particular sub-topics within the field, such as interventional cardiology or cardiac electrophysiology, then this article may not satisfy your needs.
If the accessibility of a journal is of importance to you, keep in mind that the journals we have listed may not have open access status.
Historically, quantitative metrics such as impact factor have provided an objective method for comparing the relative influence and prestige of competing journals. However, the quality of a journal should be assessed holistically and not be based on metrics alone.
In addition to considering the data in this article, we encourage you to visit the website of each journal where you can learn about its purpose and scope, editorial board and practices, and detailed metrics beyond impact factor, which will better inform your search.
Google ranks scientific journals using the h5-index, an index that considers publications in the journal over the past 5 years and that is intended to take into account both the number and quality of publications.
Google’s h5-index value is calculated to maximize both the number of published papers and the number of citations. According to wikipedia, the “h-index is defined as the maximum value of h such that the given author/journal has published h papers that have each been cited at least h times.”
SCImago, a data science and visualization research group from Spain, has also ranked the top journals in Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine. Their most recent release is for the year 2021.
The SCImago Journal Ranking (SJR) considers not only the number of citations but also the relative prestige of the citation sources, with greater rank enhancement provided by citations from high prestige journals. The SJR is normalized to 1 with an SJR greater than 1 indicating “above average” citation potential.
Data regarding the impact factor of each journal represents the current two-year impact factor as identified by the Journal Citation Reports. Check out our article on the history, definition, and implications of impact factor for more information on the metric.
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Top 20 Cardiology Journals Ranked by Google (2022)
- Circulation – h5-index: 176
- Journal of the American College of Cardiology – h5-index: 175
- European Heart Journal – h5-index: 159
- Circulation Research – h5-index: 132
- JAMA Cardiology – h5-index: 91
- European Journal of Heart Failure – h5-index: 90
- Journal of the American Heart Association – h5-index: 89
- Nature Reviews Cardiology – h5-index: 88
- JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging – h5-index: 78
- JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions – h5-index: 76
- International Journal of Cardiology – h5-index: 73
- Heart Rhythm – h5-index: 72
- Cardiovascular Research – h5-index: 71
- Heart – h5-index: 70
- JACC: Heart Failure – h5-index: 66
- European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation – h5-index: 65
- The Annals of Thoracic Surgery – h5-index: 65
- EP Europace – h5-index: 64
- The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery – h5-index: 64
- European Heart Journal: Cardiovascular Imaging – h5-index: 60
Top 20 Cardiology Journals Ranked by SCImago (2021)
- Journal of the American College of Cardiology – Journal Ranking: 9.756
- JAMA Cardiology – Journal Ranking: 8.324
- Circulation – Journal Ranking: 8.281
- Nature Reviews Cardiology – Journal Ranking: 6.721
- JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging – Journal Ranking: 5.914
- JACC: Heart Failure – Journal Ranking: 5.474
- European Journal of Heart Failure – Journal Ranking: 5.231
- Circulation Research – Journal Ranking: 4.709
- European Heart Journal – Journal Ranking: 4.118
- JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions – Journal Ranking: 3.595
- Circulation: Heart Failure – Journal Ranking: 3.463
- Stroke – Journal Ranking: 3.245
- Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions – Journal Ranking: 3.047
- JACC: Back to Translational Science – Journal Ranking: 2.879
- European Heart Journal Cardiovascular Imaging – Journal Ranking: 2.863
- Cardiovascular Research – Journal Ranking: 2.711
- Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology – Journal Ranking: 2.679
- American Heart Journal – Journal Ranking: 2.564
- Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes – Journal Ranking: 2.520
- Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation – Journal Ranking: 2.472
Top 50 Cardiology Journals Ranked by Impact Factor (2022)
- Nature Reviews Cardiology – Impact Factor: 32.430
- European Heart Journal – Impact Factor: 29.983
- Circulation – Impact Factor: 29.690
- Journal of the American College of Cardiology – Impact Factor: 24.093
- Circulation Research – Impact Factor: 17.367
- Basic Research in Cardiology – Impact Factor: 17.165
- European Journal of Heart Failure – Impact Factor: 15.534
- JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging – Impact Factor: 14.805
- JAMA Cardiology – Impact Factor: 14.676
- JACC: Heart Failure – Impact Factor: 12.035
- JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions – Impact Factor: 11.195
- Cardiovascular Research – Impact Factor: 10.787
- Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation – Impact Factor: 10.247
- Cardiovascular Diabetology – Impact Factor: 9.951
- Circulation: Heart Failure – Impact Factor: 8.846
- JACC: Basic to Translational Science – Impact Factor: 8.648
- Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases – Impact Factor: 8.194
- European Journal of Preventive Cardiology – Impact Factor: 7.804
- Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging – Impact Factor: 7.792
- European Heart Journal: Cardiovascular Imaging – Impact Factor: 6.875
- Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine – Impact Factor: 6.677
- European Heart Journal-Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy – Impact Factor: 6.617
- Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology – Impact Factor: 6.572
- Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions – Impact Factor: 6.546
- EuroIntervention – Impact Factor: 6.534
- JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology – Impact Factor: 6.375
- Heart Rhythm – Impact Factor: 6.343
- JACC: CardioOncology – Impact Factor: 6.250
- Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine – Impact Factor: 6.054
- Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine – Impact Factor: 6.050
- Heart – Impact Factor: 5.994
- Journal of Nuclear Cardiology – Impact Factor: 5.952
- Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes – Impact Factor: 5.882
- Journal of Cardiac Failure – Impact Factor: 5.712
- Journal of the American Heart Association – Impact Factor: 5.501
- Clinical Research in Cardiology – Impact Factor: 5.460
- Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance – Impact Factor: 5.364
- Canadian Journal of Cardiology – Impact Factor: 5.352
- Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography – Impact Factor: 5.251
- Europace – Impact Factor: 5.214
- Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery – Impact Factor: 5.209
- Current Problems in Cardiology – Impact Factor: 5.200
- Atherosclerosis – Impact Factor: 5.162
- Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology – Impact Factor: 5.000
- Revista Espanola de Cardiologia – Impact Factor: 4.753
- American Heart Journal – Impact Factor: 4.749
- American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology – Impact Factor: 4.733
- European Heart Journal-Acute Cardiovascular Care – Impact Factor: 4.696
- ESC Heart Failure – Impact Factor: 4.411
- European Heart Journal-Quality of Care and Clinical Outcomes – Impact Factor: 4.370
Interested in learning about the rankings of journals from other fields? Consider checking out our other journal rankings.
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