Top 20 Cardiology Journals of 2022

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.

Interested in learning how to improve the quality of your manuscript? Consider reading “How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper” (affiliate link) by Robert Day and Barbara Gastel. This engaging text has been described as “[required reading] for anybody embarking on a career in science” and “important guidance” even for accomplished scientists.

Top 20 Cardiology Journals Ranked by Google (2022)

1. Circulation – h5-index: 176
2. Journal of the American College of Cardiology – h5-index: 175
3. European Heart Journal – h5-index: 159
4. Circulation Research – h5-index: 132
5. JAMA Cardiology – h5-index: 91
6. European Journal of Heart Failure – h5-index: 90
7. Journal of the American Heart Association – h5-index: 89
8. Nature Reviews Cardiology – h5-index: 88
9. JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging – h5-index: 78
10. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions – h5-index: 76
11. International Journal of Cardiology – h5-index: 73
12. Heart Rhythm – h5-index: 72
13. Cardiovascular Research – h5-index: 71
14. Heart – h5-index: 70
15. JACC: Heart Failure – h5-index: 66
16. European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation – h5-index: 65
17. The Annals of Thoracic Surgery – h5-index: 65
18. EP Europace – h5-index: 64
19. The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery – h5-index: 64
20. European Heart Journal: Cardiovascular Imaging – h5-index: 60

Top 20 Cardiology Journals Ranked by SCImago (2021)

1. Journal of the American College of Cardiology – Journal Ranking: 9.756
2. JAMA Cardiology – Journal Ranking: 8.324
3. Circulation – Journal Ranking: 8.281
4. Nature Reviews Cardiology – Journal Ranking: 6.721
5. JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging – Journal Ranking: 5.914
6. JACC: Heart Failure – Journal Ranking: 5.474
7. European Journal of Heart Failure – Journal Ranking: 5.231
8. Circulation Research – Journal Ranking: 4.709
9. European Heart Journal – Journal Ranking: 4.118
10. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions – Journal Ranking: 3.595
11. Circulation: Heart Failure – Journal Ranking: 3.463
12. Stroke – Journal Ranking: 3.245
13. Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions – Journal Ranking: 3.047
14. JACC: Back to Translational Science – Journal Ranking: 2.879
15. European Heart Journal Cardiovascular Imaging – Journal Ranking: 2.863
16. Cardiovascular Research – Journal Ranking: 2.711
17. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology – Journal Ranking: 2.679
18. American Heart Journal – Journal Ranking: 2.564
19. Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes – Journal Ranking: 2.520
20. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation – Journal Ranking: 2.472

Top 50 Cardiology Journals Ranked by Impact Factor (2022)

1. Nature Reviews Cardiology – Impact Factor: 32.430
2. European Heart Journal – Impact Factor: 29.983
3. Circulation – Impact Factor: 29.690
4. Journal of the American College of Cardiology – Impact Factor: 24.093
5. Circulation Research – Impact Factor: 17.367
6. Basic Research in Cardiology – Impact Factor: 17.165
7. European Journal of Heart Failure – Impact Factor: 15.534
8. JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging – Impact Factor: 14.805
9. JAMA Cardiology – Impact Factor: 14.676
10. JACC: Heart Failure – Impact Factor: 12.035
11. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions – Impact Factor: 11.195
12. Cardiovascular Research – Impact Factor: 10.787
13. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation – Impact Factor: 10.247
14. Cardiovascular Diabetology – Impact Factor: 9.951
15. Circulation: Heart Failure – Impact Factor: 8.846
16. JACC: Basic to Translational Science – Impact Factor: 8.648
17. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases – Impact Factor: 8.194
18. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology – Impact Factor: 7.804
19. Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging – Impact Factor: 7.792
20. European Heart Journal: Cardiovascular Imaging – Impact Factor: 6.875
21. Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine – Impact Factor: 6.677
22. European Heart Journal-Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy – Impact Factor: 6.617
23. Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology – Impact Factor: 6.572
24. Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions – Impact Factor: 6.546
25. EuroIntervention – Impact Factor: 6.534
26. JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology – Impact Factor: 6.375
27. Heart Rhythm – Impact Factor: 6.343
28. JACC: CardioOncology – Impact Factor: 6.250
29. Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine – Impact Factor: 6.054
30. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine – Impact Factor: 6.050
31. Heart – Impact Factor: 5.994
32. Journal of Nuclear Cardiology – Impact Factor: 5.952
33. Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes – Impact Factor: 5.882
34. Journal of Cardiac Failure – Impact Factor: 5.712
35. Journal of the American Heart Association – Impact Factor: 5.501
36. Clinical Research in Cardiology – Impact Factor: 5.460
37. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance – Impact Factor: 5.364
38. Canadian Journal of Cardiology – Impact Factor: 5.352
39. Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography – Impact Factor: 5.251
40. Europace – Impact Factor: 5.214
41. Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery – Impact Factor: 5.209
42. Current Problems in Cardiology – Impact Factor: 5.200
43. Atherosclerosis – Impact Factor: 5.162
44. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology – Impact Factor: 5.000
45. Revista Espanola de Cardiologia – Impact Factor: 4.753
46. American Heart Journal – Impact Factor: 4.749
47. American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology – Impact Factor: 4.733
48. European Heart Journal-Acute Cardiovascular Care – Impact Factor: 4.696
49. ESC Heart Failure – Impact Factor: 4.411
50. 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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