End of the first decade of EHJ CVP

Looking back, it feels a bit like herding cats-but we actually did it.When I joined the ESC Working Group on Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy board back in 2010, none of the ESC working groups had their own journal.Many were affiliated with other publications, but we wanted to be pioneers-to create something that was truly ours.The idea took shape in 2013, and with a small but determined crew, we began sketching out what would become European Heart Journal-Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy.We worked closely with the ESC and Oxford University Press (OUP), and I still remember the countless meetings, long evenings, and endless email chains.With the steady support of Michael Alexander from ESC and the tireless OUP team, our dream slowly materialized into reality.When I was elected Editor-in-Chief in 2014, I felt equal parts honored and terrified.My first companions on this editorial adventure were Basil Lewis, Dan Atar (who later stepped down when he became EiC of Cardiology in 2019), and Keld Kjeldsen.Over time, we built a diverse editorial board, spanning continents, subspecialties, and genders-truly a global family.After a flurry of paperwork, we decided to print a promotional issue.I reached out (perhaps too eagerly!) to the biggest names in cardiology, hoping they'd lend credibility to our fledgling journal-and to my great relief, many of them said yes.We received contributions from TF Lscher, E Braunwald, GYH Lip, GMC Rosano/C Ceconi, and F Zannad.Not a bad lineup for a newborn journal without an impact factor or indexing.Our first official issue launched in 2015 as part of the ESC journal family, proudly published by OUP.The early challenge was obvious-how do you convince top researchers to submit to a journal that is not indexed nor has an impact factor?I must have written to every familiar name in cardiology (and perhaps a few tried to avoid eye contact with me at conferences to not get the question if they had some paper to submit).Yet, slowly but surely, submissions came in, and we began to grow.Having 'European Heart Journal' in our title certainly didn't hurt!A new journal typically needs 2-3 years of consistent publication before even being considered for indexing in major databases such as SCI Expanded or Medline.We made it in just 2 years.Our first Impact Factor arrived in 2019 (for 2018 data), which is remarkably fast for a niche cardiovascular pharmacotherapy journal.Today, our Impact Factor remains stable at 6.1-a testament to the quality of work our authors deliver and our reviewers help uphold.