Journal profile · CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS
IJC Heart & Vasculature
ISSN 2352-9067 · Elsevier · Netherlands
IJC Heart & Vasculature: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.9 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 3,400; median 80 days to acceptance (97 articles, last 24 months); 251 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
IJC Heart & Vasculature is published by Elsevier and is in Zone 3 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Atrial Fibrillation Management and Outcomes, Cardiovascular Function and Risk Factors and Cardiac Imaging and Diagnostics, together about 31.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Companion journal to International Journal of Cardiology, International Journal of Cardiology Congenital Heart Disease, and International Journal of Cardiology Cardiovascular Risk and PreventionIJC Heart & Vasculature is an online-only, open-access journal dedicated to publishing original articles and reviews (also Editorials and Correspondence) which report on structural and functional cardiovascular pathology, with an emphasis on imaging and disease pathophysiology.Articles must be authentic, educational, clinically relevant, and original in their content and scientific approach.The journal publishes topics including:Basic & Translational ResearchCardio-oncologyCardiomyopathiesHeart FailureCardiovascular ImagingIschemic Heart DiseaseRhythm Disorders & ElectrophysiologyThrombosis and HaemostasisValvular Heart DiseaseVascular diseases
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS
Editor-in-chief Dobromir DobrevPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 2%); most named Germany 13, Italy 11, United States 10, Japan 8, Romania 5 (66 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Atrial Fibrillation Management and OutcomesMedicine12.2%
- Cardiovascular Function and Risk FactorsMedicine9.8%
- Cardiac Imaging and DiagnosticsMedicine9.1%
- Cardiac Valve Diseases and TreatmentsMedicine6.6%
- Acute Myocardial Infarction ResearchMedicine6.5%
- Coronary Interventions and DiagnosticsMedicine5.9%
- Cardiac Arrhythmias and TreatmentsMedicine5.7%
- Heart Failure Treatment and ManagementMedicine4.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
PubMedPublisher website
Other: Crossref
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 4.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.76LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.84LetPub ·
- h-index
- 48OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 532OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.94OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 17.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.82%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 213LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,027 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 164 | 164 | 19 |
| 2025 | 251 | 251 | 320 |
| 2024 | 249 | 249 | 949 |
| 2023 | 160 | 160 | 1,090 |
| 2022 | 221 | 221 | 1,964 |
| 2021 | 229 | 229 | 2,588 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with PubMed · to
80 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 48 days – 111 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 6 days (97 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 88 days
- Sample
- 97 articles with submission and acceptance dates (490 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 9 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 3 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 37 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 63 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 7 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 11 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | USD 3,400 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,330 / EUR 3,040 / GBP 2,670 / JPY 413,020 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 2,490 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 3,400 | — | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
What to prepare6 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- 1–7
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Highlights
- Optional
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
Article types accepted12, with length limits
- case reportTYPES OF MANUSCRIPT The journal invites Original Articles, Reviews, Editorials and Correspondences. Case Reports might be considered only in the form of Corresp…Length not stated
- case reportsCase Reports might be considered only in the form of Correspondence.Length not stated
- correspondenceTYPES OF MANUSCRIPT The journal invites Original Articles, Reviews, Editorials and Correspondences. Case Reports might be considered only in the form of Corresp…Length not stated
- correspondencesThe journal invites Original Articles, Reviews, Editorials and Correspondences.Length not stated
- editorialTYPES OF MANUSCRIPT The journal invites Original Articles, Reviews, Editorials and Correspondences. Case Reports might be considered only in the form of Corresp…main text ≤ 1,500 words
- editorialsThe journal invites Original Articles, Reviews, Editorials and Correspondences.Length not stated
- letterbe considered if formatted as a letter. Letters may include up to 1000 words, 2 figures/tables and 15 references. These should have no amain text ≤ 1,000 words
- original articleTYPES OF MANUSCRIPT The journal invites Original Articles, Reviews, Editorials and Correspondences. Case Reports might be considered only in the form of Corresp…Length not stated
- original articlesThe journal invites Original Articles, Reviews, Editorials and Correspondences.Length not stated
- original researchTYPES OF MANUSCRIPT The journal invites Original Articles, Reviews, Editorials and Correspondences. Case Reports might be considered only in the form of Corresp…Length not stated
- reviewTYPES OF MANUSCRIPT The journal invites Original Articles, Reviews, Editorials and Correspondences. Case Reports might be considered only in the form of Corresp…Length not stated
- reviewsThe journal invites Original Articles, Reviews, Editorials and Correspondences.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI use
Authors must declare the use of generative AI tools in the manuscript preparation process upon submission of the paper.Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI tools”) have been rapidly adopted in research and scholarly publishing, offering significant benefits while requiring clear standards for responsible and transparent use.Authors preparing a manuscript for this journal may use AI tool…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Group authorship
Group authorship refers to the attribution of an article to a defined and named group of authors whose members have contributed to the work. Examples include research consortia, clinical trial groups, collaborative networks, task forces or working groups, expert panels or consensus groups, and participatory research groups. Group authorship must be declared on the title page at submission. When av…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interests
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential competing interests include:EmploymentConsultanciesStock ownershipHonorariaPaid expert testimonyPatent applications or registrationsGrants or any other fundingAffiliation with the journal as an Editor or Advisory Board …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
Elsevier Publishing Ethics Policy Model summary
Authors must follow ethical guidelines stated in Elsevier's Publishing Ethics Policy.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright License options
Authors will be offered open access user license options which will determine how you, and third parties, can reuse your open access article. We advise that you review these options and any funding body license requirements before selecting a license option.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
We refer you to our open access information page to learn about open access options for this journal.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Single anonymized review process Model summary
This journal follows a single anonymized review process. Your submission will initially be assessed by our editors. If your submission is deemed suitable, it will typically be sent to be reviewed by a minimum of two reviewers for an independent expert assessment of the scientific quality. The decision as to whether your article is accepted or rejected for publication will be made by our editors.Re…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprint sharing allowed Model summary
Preprint sharingAuthors may share preprints in line with Elsevier's article sharing policy. Sharing preprints, such as on a preprint server, will not count as prior publication.We advise you to read our policy on multiple, redundant or concurrent publication. In support of Open Science, this journal offers its authors a free preprint posting service on SSRN, Elsevier’s preprint and early research …
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Country or region
- Netherlands
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2352-9067
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about IJC Heart & Vasculature
What CAS zone is IJC Heart & Vasculature in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, IJC Heart & Vasculature is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of IJC Heart & Vasculature?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 2.9; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 4.2, h-index 48.
How long does peer review take at IJC Heart & Vasculature?
Based on the dates recorded on 97 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 80 days (interquartile range 48–111 days); authors report an average review time of about 9 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of IJC Heart & Vasculature?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: 1–7; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Highlights: Optional; Graphical abstract: Optional. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of IJC Heart & Vasculature based?
Of the 66 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 2%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Germany (13), Italy (11) and United States (10). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index IJC Heart & Vasculature?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, IJC Heart & Vasculature is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists PubMed; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is IJC Heart & Vasculature open access, and what is the APC?
IJC Heart & Vasculature is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,400.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .