Happy 25th Anniversary – ASNC

Ami E. Iskandrian, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Nuclear Cardiology

The American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2018. It feels like an appropriate time to reflect on the JNC, the official publication of ASNC, and to note how we’ve grown and changed over the years (Figure 1).

Figure 1

ASNC 25th Anniversary-September 7, 2018. Sitting (left to right): Gregory Thomas, Kathy Flood, Jennifer Mieres, Prem Soman, Leslee Shaw, Frans J. Th. Wackers. Standing (left to right): Myron Gerson, Manuel Cerqueira, Rob Beanlands, Jeff Leppo, Gary Heller, Robert Hendel, Ami E. Iskandrian, Timothy Bateman, William van Decker, James Udelson, David Wolinsky, Gordon DePuey, James Arrighi, Raymond Russell, Brian Abbott

The first Editor’s Page of the JNC in 1994 by our first Editor, Barry L. Zaret, MD, started with these words, from the Ethics of Fathers some 2000 years earlier: ” If I am not for myself-who will be? If I am for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” The first published Original Article was entitled “The effects of afterload reduction on myocardial carbon 11-labeled acetate kinetics and non-invasively estimated mechanical efficiency in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy”. The first author was Rob Beanlands and the senior author was Markus Schwaiger. The paper was submitted in June 1993 and published in December 1994. Dr. Zaret served 2 terms of 5 years each.

In the January issue of 2004, the Editor’s Page by George A. Beller, MD was entitled “The Passing of the Baton”. Dr. Beller also served 2 terms of 5 years each.

In the January issue of 2014, the editor’s page by Ami Iskandrian, MD was entitled “The Journal of Nuclear Cardiology and the Changing Guards”. I am starting my second term of 5 more years.

During this time- period, many changes have occurred in the JNC in terms of both style and content. Few things have not and will not change; our emphasis will always be to provide new information in the form of original articles, educational material, guidelines and position papers, and articles dedicated to practical and technical issues. The Journal fosters an inclusive attitude (from within and outside the United States) in terms of submissions, reviewers’ selection, editorialists, and all other contributions. Our philosophy remains unchanged, fairness, respectfulness, helpfulness, and timeliness.

There are currently 6 major imaging journals (Table 1), but of those, only JNC deals solely with the use of nuclear imaging in the cardiovascular system (CV); the others either deal with imaging the entire body or with the use of multi-modality imaging (nuclear, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging [CMR], echocardiography [Echo], and computed tomography angiography [CTA]). The number of nuclear cardiology publications of any type in the JNC during a one- year period (2017-2018) far exceeds those in the other journals combined (Figure 2).

Table 1 The major imaging journals have different playing fields

Figure 2

Number and type of Manuscripts July 2017-July 2018

The number of submissions to JNC has increased (Figure 3) and yet we have managed to keep the turn-around time (submission to decision-making) short (Figure 4). The number and type of manuscripts reflect the many changes over the years (Table 2). More than half of the papers are original articles; the abstract of the lead article in each issue is translated into Chinese, French, and Spanish. Almost all original papers have a set of power point slides for easy reference, and increasingly, we are offering audio interviews. Almost half of the submissions come from outside the United States. The increased number of submissions is accompanied by an increased full-text article requests and downloads, again on a world-wide basis (Figure 5). We often publish a poem, memorable quotes, and photos in each issue, and acknowledge our predecessors who paved the way to our current status. These individuals are selected carefully by our history committee. We also award the authors in five different categories: best clinical original paper, best basic research paper, best technical paper, best reviewer, and best editorial. We extend help to authors when needed by out mentoring at distance committee.

Figure 3

Number of submissions

Figure 4

Number of days from submission to first decision 2017-2018

Table 2 Types of publications in JNC

Figure 5

Full-text Article Requests

We strive to make JNC the primary resource of information to the practitioners and scientists in our field and provide the resources that impacts patient care and physicians’ education. We are less concerned about the impact factor which is an artificial yardstick! Ironically the impact factor of the journal has increased and it is at its highest level since the start of the Journal!

As an editor, I wear two hats; one is my commitment to JNC, and the other to my commitment to my field of nuclear cardiology. Thus, publishing in imaging journals other than JNC is a healthy feature and is good for the field. As the fields grow, we are the beneficiaries.

None of these advances would have been possible without the support of my Associate Editors, Guest Editors (whose photos now appear regularly in each issue), Managing Editor, committee members, Editorial Board members, ASNC leadership and administration, our publisher, and last but not least our readers.

Happy 25th Anniversary ASNC! Onward and upward as always.