Academic journal
Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering all aspects of cardiology and vascular medicine in 20 sections. It was established in 2014 and is published by Frontiers Media. The editors-in-chief are Masanori Aikawa (Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School) and Hendrik Tevaearai Stahel (Berne University Hospital).
Abstracting and indexing
The journal is abstracted and indexed in Embase/Excerpta Medica,[1] Science Citation Index Expanded, and Scopus.[2]
According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal had a 2021 impact factor of 6.050.[3]
Controversy
On the 7th of May 2015, Frontiers removed 31 editors across Frontiers in Medicine and Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, after a dispute with the editorial board.[4] The editors complained that the company was interfering in editing decisions and acting in a way that violated core principles for medical publishing in general. In a document sent to management, editors (including three editors in chief) cited multiple unethical issues with how Frontiers handles manuscripts, including that editors in chief are only notified of acceptances after an associate editor or guest editor has accepted a paper for publication. On the other hand, rejection of papers requires editor in chief approval. This, the editors allege, is a violation of the World Association of Medical Editors's guidelines. The editors also argued numerous other issues, such as the use of special issues (known as research topics) with no notice given to the editor in chief, violate editorial independence, and that the editors are often revoked from editing with no notice. This system, according the former editor in chief at these journals (Matthias Barton) maximizes profit over ethical publishing quality. After these editors made their concerns public, Frontiers fired and removed 31 editors. The editors said that Frontiers refused to make even small changes in response to their letter.
In the same year, Frontiers Media was classified as a possible predatory publisher by Jeffrey Beall.[5]
