Introduction and objectives: This study was designed to determine the opinion of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SSC) members on the quality of the contents and of the editorial procedures, and the impact of the Revista Española de Cardiología.
Methods: A random sample of 500 SSC members was chosen to answer a structured questionnaire. The participants' confidentially was guaranteed.
Results: The response rate was 70.9% (344 questionnaires). 79.9% of respondents were clinical cardiologists, and 89.4% (Confidence Interval [CI] 95%: 85.8-93.0) regularly read the Journal. The most preferred, read and better scored were revisions and update sections. Among clinical cardiologists, 76.6% (IC 95%: 71.6-81.6) had submitted at least one manuscript to the Journal, and 71.7% (IC 95%: 65.5-77.9) stated having received a good quality review, although 26.1% (IC 95%: 20.1-32.1) found it slow. The acceptance rate was 75.9% (IC 95%: 70.1-81.5). Among the 35 cardiologists who sent their manuscripts as a second option, 20.0% (IC 95%: 9.4-42.4) did so because of the low impact of the Journal. All the editorial issues received a good score. Finally, 94.7% (IC 95%: 92.3-97.1) of participants stated the Journal was at least useful.
Conclusions: These results show the SSC members' opinions of the Journal with an appropriate confidence level. The participants' opinions suggest that the scientific and editorial quality, as well as the usefulness of the Journal satisfy most readers.