JAHA: The American Heart Association's Open Access Journal

I am pleased to introduce the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA), the American Heart Association’s new Open Access journal. The Scientific Publishing Committee created JAHA to align the American Heart Association with recent trends in the publishing industry as readers have moved away from the print version of journals and increasingly seek rapid electronic access to scientific articles. In addition, JAHA was conceived as a novel publication forum to represent the collective interests of the 16 Scientific Councils (Table 1). JAHA publishes original articles, editorials, and reviews of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular science in an online-only format. Articles undergo rigorous peer review by a group of editors, statistical consultants, and reviewers representing the full breadth and strength of the American Heart Association. Because articles are published exclusively in electronic form, we have no need to place limits on article length or the number of references. Authors have unrestricted use of color images and video to present all aspects of their work. Furthermore, the online-only format allows us to prepare articles for publication more rapidly than print journals. The editorial team will strive to process submissions and post accepted papers on our web page and in PubMed Central as quickly as possible, while maintaining the integrity of the peer review process. Most importantly, readers of JAHA have unrestricted subscription-free access to all journal content from any device connected to the Internet. In contrast to the other American Heart Association journals, JAHA does not depend on subscription revenue. Publication costs are borne by the author, their institution, and/or the sponsor of the work, with a substantial discount for Professional Members of the American Heart Association. The Open Access publishing model has many advocates because it facilitates the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Available evidence suggests that the Open Access format leads to more downloads and may increase citations