World Journal of Hypertension: A new bench mark in the hypertension world

Abstract

This is the first issue of the World Journal of Hypertension (WJH), a bimonthly peer-reviewed, online, open-access (OA) journal. The WJH will emphasize basic and clinical research about hypertension. As the OA model provides free, full-text articles in PDF and other formats for experts and the public without registration, the WJH enhances the speed of propagation and communication of scientific research results. As Editor-in-Chief of the WJH, I and the other members of the editorial board wish to share new ideas and knowledge about basic, clinical research and epidemiology in hypertension. We believe that you will find the WJH as an important journal in which to publish your excellent works.

Key Words: Hypertension; Basic; Clinical; Peer-reviewed; Open-access; Journal

INTRODUCTION

This is the first issue of the World Journal of Hypertension (World J Hypertens, WJH, online ISSN 2220-3168, DOI: 10.5494), a bimonthly peer-reviewed, online, open-access (OA) journal. The preparatory work of the journal was initiated on January 23, 2011 and now the WJH Editorial Board has now been established and consists of 101 distinguished experts from 28 countries. I am Ryuichi Morishita, Professor at Osaka University, Graduate School, Osaka, Japan (Figure 1), and now the editor-in-chief of the WJH. It is my great honor to introduce the WJH as a new forum for exchanging thoughts and experiences about basic and clinical research to solve the problems of hypertension. I would like to say “Congratulations” to the publisher, members of the editorial board of the journal, all the authors and readers for the launch of the WJH!

Figure 1 Editor-in-Chief of the World Journal of Hypertension. Ryuichi Morishita, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Clinical Gene Therapy, School of Medicine, Osaka University 2-2 Yamada-oka, Suita 565-0871, Japan.

Hypertension is still the leading risk factor for morbidity and mortality throughout the world[1], although numerous anti-hypertensive drugs have been developed. Unfortunately, the pathogenesis of essential hypertension is still an enigma, although the genetic approach has highlighted the large contribution of genetic factors to hypertension. From the viewpoint of medical therapy, the guidelines for hypertension treatment from various countries have now focused on co-existing cardiovascular risk factors and subclinical end organ damage, in addition to optimal blood pressure control. However, there are still numerous questions about when and how to treat hypertensive patients in special circumstances. With this regard, the WJH offers a new cutting edge in the hypertension world.

Among the many journals related to hypertension, why choose the WJH? The role of academic journals is to exhibit the scientific levels of a country, a university, a center, a department and even a scientist, and to build an important bridge for communication between scientists and the public. As we all know, the significance of the publication of scientific articles lies, not only in disseminating and communicating innovative scientific achievements and academic views, and promoting the application of scientific achievements, but also in formally recognizing the “priority” and “copyright” of innovative achievements published, as well as evaluating research performance and academic levels. So, to realize these desired attributes of the WJH and create a well-recognized journal, the WJH is an OA journal and readers around the world can immediately download and read, free of charge, high-quality, peer-reviewed articles from the WJH official website.

SCOPE

WJH aims to rapidly report new theories, methods and techniques for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and nursing in the field of hypertension. The WJH covers topics concerning atherosclerosis, atrial fibrillation, blood pressure measurement, cerebrovascular diseases, clinical aspects and trials for hypertension, community cardiovascular practice, diabetes, hypertension education programs, endocrine hypertension, epidemiology of hypertension and metabolic disorders, experimental and renal hypertension, hypertension-related heart failure, hemodynamics, imaging procedures, implementation of guidelines, lifestyle changes, microcirculation, molecular biology, neural mechanisms, new therapeutic developments, obesity and metabolic syndrome, organ damage, pharmacoeconomics, public health, renin-angiotensin system, sleep apnea, therapeutics and clinical pharmacology, traditional medicine, and integrated Chinese and Western medicine. The journal also publishes original articles and reviews that report the results of hypertension-related applied and basic research in fields such as immunology, physiopathology, cell biology, pharmacology and medical genetics.

CONTENTS OF PEER REVIEW

In order to guarantee the quality of articles published in the journal, WJH usually invites three experts to comment on the submitted papers. The contents of peer review include: (1) whether the contents of the manuscript are of great importance and novelty; (2) whether the experiment is complete and described clearly; (3) whether the discussion and conclusion are justified; (4) whether the citations of references are necessary and reasonable; and (5) whether the presentation and use of tables and figures are correct and complete.

COLUNNS

The columns in the issues of the WJH will include: (1) Editorial: to introduce and comment on the substantial advance and its importance in the fast-developing areas; (2) Frontier: to review the most representative achievements and comment on the current research status in the important fields and propose directions for the future research; (3) Topic Highlight: this column consists of three formats, including (A) 10 invited review articles on a hot topic, (B) a commentary on common issues of this hot topic, and (C) a commentary on the 10 individual articles; (4) Observation: to update the development of old and new questions, highlight unsolved problems and provide strategies on how to solve the questions; (5) Guidelines for Clinical Practice: to provide guidelines for clinical diagnosis and treatment; (6) Review: to systematically review the most representative progress and unsolved problems in the major scientific disciplines, comment on the current research status and make suggestions on the future work; (7) Original Articles: to originally report innovative and valuable findings in hypertension; (8) Brief Articles: to briefly report novel and innovative findings in hypertension; (9) Case Report: to report a rare or typical case; (10) Letters to the Editor: to discuss and make reply to the contributions published in the WJH or to introduce and comment on a controversial issue of general interest; (11) Book Reviews: to introduce and comment on quality monographs of hypertension; and (12) Guidelines: to introduce consensuses and guidelines reached by international and national academic authorities worldwide on research in hypertension.

The mission of the WJH is to foster excellence in hypertension research, for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and stroke and the improvement of the management of hypertension. If you have not yet submitted to the WJH, now is the time to join. Together with the excellent editorial board members, I look forward to serving the readers of the WJH and to working with you over the next few years so that the objectives of the WJH will be successfully achieved.

So, if you want to share any new ideas, any basic research or any clinical experiences in hypertension, the WJH is happy to provide a space for you!