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In December 2020 I was re-elected for a second term as Editor-in-Chief of the <italic>Romanian Journal of Cardiology</italic>. I am deeply honored for the opportunity to be at the helm of this prestigious journal for the next 5 years.
<sec id="j_rjc.2021.31.1.1_s_001"><div>A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE JOURNAL HISTORY</div>
The journal, originally published in French, began publishing in 1947 under the leadership of Professor Bazil Teodorescu. However, its short-lived journey ended after only 3 issues in 1948, at the same time as the Romanian Society of Cardiology, followed by a long period of „silence” dictated by the communist regime...
The journal reemerged in 1991, as the scientific journal of the Romanian Society of Cardiology, under the leadership of professor Costin Carp. Since then, its publications have been uninterrupted. Initially, the journal was published in Romanian, as <italic>Revista Română de Cardiologie,</italic> and as of 2012, it began to publish in English under its current name – <italic>Romanian Journal of Cardiology</italic>.
In 1991, I was the secretary of the first editorial team, and had remarked the strong commitment of Professor Carp in making this journal an exquisite educational tool. He was a visionary, as he managed to steer the Romanian Society of Cardiology and its journal forward, with his calm, yet leading manner.
As Editor-in-Chief since 2005, Professor Eduard Apetrei has set the modern platform for the quarterly journal, establishing an electronic version as well, through its own online website. Professor Apetrei carved the journal structure into the present one, welcoming both Romanian and international researchers to submit their articles. He has also included prestigious, international cardiologists in the editorial board.
I started my mission as Editor-in-Chief in 2016, trying to continue the admirable work done by my predecessors.
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<sec id="j_rjc.2021.31.1.1_s_002"><div>ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE</div>
The first of my many goals was to increase the quality of the papers published in the journal, by attracting excellent research papers from Romania and from abroad.
Thematic issues helped focus the energy for having better scientific quality. This way, the number of original research papers has increased – as illustrated in the figure. This occurred at the same time as an increase in the total number of articles overall.
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<sec id="j_rjc.2021.31.1.1_s_003"><div>LOOKING AHEAD</div>
One area in which the journal is slightly lacking can be seen in its international impact, which needs to be increased along with its educational role.
This is my main goal for the new 5-year term as Editor-in-Chief.
In order to achieve the aforementioned goal we will implement the following steps:
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<list-item>A new editorial staff and a new editorial board, to refresh the perspective of the journal. The new board of the journal will bring together active, younger people and highly experienced people with excellent scientific background. The motto of our team remains „<bold>Working together we will succeed</bold>”.</list-item>
<list-item>To have a more user friendly and functional web-site.</list-item>
<list-item>To meet or exceed the standards for indexation in major international databases.</list-item>
<list-item>To implement a more rigorous peer-review process, which will lead to increased standards for acceptance of articles. I hope that the new editorial board, together with our hard-working peer-reviewers will partake in this task.</list-item>
<list-item>To improve communication with our readers, beyond that of the printed version and the journal site: contents sent by e-mail and widespread, strategic use of professional social media networks.</list-item></list>

I expect through the applications of these measures, the <italic>Romanian Journal of Cardiology</italic> will grow into one of the prestigious international cardiology journals, which will be read with great interest by both the Romanian and international public.
I would like to thank the previous collaborators, who have helped through offering generous advice and support, revising articles and sending their own works to the journal. I am very appreciative of them, and of course, I am looking forward to their future contributions to help the journal thrive and expand.
I would also like to thank the previous members of the editorial staff and editorial board for their important contributions, as they did a great job in supporting the journal.
Finally, I would like to welcome the new members of the editorial board and staff. I am looking forward to working with you.
<bold>Working together we will succeed!</bold>
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An extended tenure, new expectations and aspirations. A welcome editorial

„Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Department of Cardiology

„Prof. Dr. C. C. Iliescu” Emergency Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases

Romanian Journal of Cardiology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

An extended tenure, new expectations and aspirations. A welcome editorial

Article Category: Editorial

Published Online: Apr 30, 2022

Page range: 1 - 2

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47803/rjc.2021.31.1.1

© 2021 Carmen Ginghina, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.