Announcements

Our portfolio of journals available for publishing up-to-date research in immediate open access format has been further expanded. In June 2026, eleven new journals released their inaugural issues and two transferred journals released their first issue as part of MDPI, covering the subjects of environmental & earth sciences, chemistry & materials science, public health & healthcare, engineering, medicine & pharmacology, and biology & life sciences. 

We extend our gratitude to the Editors-in-Chief, Associate Editors, and Editorial Board Members who will shape the future course of these new journals. Each journal is dedicated to upholding strong editorial standards through a thorough peer review process, enabling impactful open access scholarship. 

Please feel free to browse and discover more about the new journals below. 

We would like to thank everyone who has supported the development of open access publishing. If you would like to create a new journal, you are welcome to send an application here or contact the New Journal Committee (newjournal-committee@mdpi.com).

Peer review is the invisible foundation of academic progress. The 2025 MDPI Top Reviewers are some of the key experts who helped build it.

We are honored to recognize 1000 individuals from our global community of 210,000 reviewers across 67 countries and territories—chosen for their commitment to rigorous, constructive peer review and the consistency of their contributions throughout 2025.

The Top Reviewers provided constructive and impartial feedback that makes research stronger and more impactful, and we are grateful for it.

The names of these reviewers are listed below in alphabetical order by first name:

(Note: we respected all privacy preferences, with part of nominees opting for limited attribution.)

Dear colleagues,

As the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease (JCDD, ISSN 2308-3425), I am pleased to announce the winners of the Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease 2026 Travel Award. The award has been granted to Ms. Hyeryeong Lee, a PhD student at the Konkuk University, Republic of Korea, and Dr. Luca Arcari, a Postdoctoral fellow at the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.

Ms. Hyeryeong Lee will be awarded CHF 600 to attend the AHA Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Scientific Sessions 2026 (13–16 July), which will be held in Boston, USA. Dr. Luca Arcari will be awarded CHF 600 to attend the ESC Congress 2026 (28 - 31 August), which will be held in Munich, Germany. As awardees, they will each receive an honorarium of CHF 600 and an electronic certificate.

With so many high-quality applicants, the evaluation process and final decision were challenging. We would like to thank all the applicants for submitting a wide and fascinating range of research topics.

On behalf of the assessment committee, I congratulate the winners on their accomplishments.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Brand
Editor-in-Chief of JCDD
On behalf of the JCDD 2026 Travel Award Evaluation Committee

A range of MDPI journals will be attending International Congress Center Messe München in Munich, Germany from 28 to 31 August 2026.

Furthermore, 2026 marks MDPI’s third year of partnering with ESC Congress. Centered on the theme “Spotlight on Artificial Intelligence”, the conference explores AI as an auxiliary clinical tool that improves accuracy, workflow speed and patient safety. More than 32,000 delegates joined last year’s event, and MDPI secured 122 valuable contacts on-site.

The following open access journals will be represented at the ESC Congress 2026:

• JCDD;
• JCM;
• Antioxidants;
• Cardiogenetics;
• Cardiovascular Medicine;
• Hearts;
• IJERPH;
• Medicina;
• AI;
• Biomedicines;
• Clinics and Practice;
• EJIHPE;
• JPM;
• JVD;
• Tomography.

If you are planning to attend the above conference, please do not hesitate to drop by our booth and start a conversation with us; we look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit https://www.escardio.org/Congresses-Events/ESC-Congress# or contact the Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease Editorial Office at jcdd@mdpi.com.

We are delighted to share the highly cited papers published in Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease (JCDD, ISSN 2308-3425) in 2025. Below is a list of relevant articles in which you may be interested.

The full list of highly cited articles can be viewed at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jcdd/most_cited.

1. “Gender-Specific Differences in Diastolic Dysfunction and HFpEF: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Therapeutic Strategies”
by Francesca Coppi, Gianluca Pagnoni, Francesca Grossule, Ashraf Nassar, Arianna Maini, Giuseppe Masaracchia, Francesco Sbarra, Elisa Battigaglia, Enrico Maggio, Daniela Aschieri et al.
J. Cardiovasc. Dev. Dis. 2025, 12(6), 213; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd12060213
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3425/12/6/213

2. “The Role of Non-HDL Cholesterol and Apolipoprotein B in Cardiovascular Disease: A Comprehensive Review”
by Vasiliki Katsi, Nikolaos Argyriou, Christos Fragoulis and Konstantinos Tsioufis
J. Cardiovasc. Dev. Dis. 2025, 12(7), 256; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd12070256
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3425/12/7/256

3. “MAPK, PI3K/Akt Pathways, and GSK-3β Activity in Severe Acute Heart Failure in Intensive Care Patients: An Updated Review”
by Massimo Meco, Enrico Giustiniano, Fulvio Nisi, Pierluigi Zulli and Emiliano Agosteo
J. Cardiovasc. Dev. Dis. 2025, 12(7), 266; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd12070266
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3425/12/7/266

4. “Exercise Intervention in Autonomic Function, Immunity, and Cardiovascular Health: A Precision Medicine Approach”
by Jianyu Li, Junbei Bai, Guochun Liu, Ziyan Zhu and Chunmei Cao
J. Cardiovasc. Dev. Dis. 2025, 12(7), 247; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd12070247
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3425/12/7/247

5. “Navigating Cardiotoxicity in Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: From Diagnosis to Long-Term Management”
by Simone Nardin, Beatrice Ruffilli, Pietro Costantini, Rocco Mollace, Ida Taglialatela, Matteo Pagnesi, Mauro Chiarito, Davide Soldato, Davide Cao, Benedetta Conte et al.
J. Cardiovasc. Dev. Dis. 2025, 12(7), 270; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd12070270
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3425/12/7/270

6. “Homocysteine in the Cardiovascular Setting: What to Know, What to Do, and What Not to Do”
by Saverio D’Elia, Mariarosaria Morello, Gisella Titolo, Valentina Maria Caso, Achille Solimene, Ettore Luisi, Chiara Serpico, Andrea Morello, Lucia La Mura, Francesco S. Loffredo et al.
J. Cardiovasc. Dev. Dis. 2025, 12(10), 383; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd12100383
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3425/12/10/383

7. “Lifestyle and Pharmacological Interventions to Prevent Anthracycline-Related Cardiotoxicity in Cancer Patients”
by Luigi Spadafora, Francesca Maria Di Muro, Chiara Intonti, Ludovica Massa, Mauro Monelli, Roberto Franco Enrico Pedretti, Edvige Palazzo Adriano, Pasquale Guarini, Gaia Cantiello, Marco Bernardi et al.
J. Cardiovasc. Dev. Dis. 2025, 12(6), 212; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd12060212
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3425/12/6/212

8. “Systematic Review on HRV Reference Values”
by Maximillian Brozat, Irina Böckelmann and Stefan Sammito
J. Cardiovasc. Dev. Dis. 2025, 12(6), 214; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd12060214
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3425/12/6/214

9. “Artificial Intelligence-Guided Neuromodulation in Heart Failure with Preserved and Reduced Ejection Fraction: Mechanisms, Evidence, and Future Directions”
by Rabiah Aslam Ansari, Sidhartha Gautam Senapati, Vibhor Ahluwalia, Gianeshwaree Alias Rachna Panjwani, Anmolpreet Kaur, Gayathri Yerrapragada, Jayavinamika Jayapradhaban Kala, Poonguzhali Elangovan, Shiva Sankari Karuppiah, Naghmeh Asadimanesh et al.
J. Cardiovasc. Dev. Dis. 2025, 12(8), 314; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd12080314
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3425/12/8/314

10. “Feasibility, Added Value, and Radiation Dose of Combined Coronary CT Angiography and Stress Dynamic CT Myocardial Perfusion Imaging in Moderate Coronary Artery Disease: A Real-World Study”
by Marco Fogante, Enrico Paolini, Fatjon Cela, Paolo Esposto Pirani, Liliana Balardi, Gian Piero Perna and Nicolò Schicchi
J. Cardiovasc. Dev. Dis. 2025, 12(7), 241; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd12070241
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2308-3425/12/7/241

We are pleased to share that the Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease (JCDD, ISSN 2308-3425) was awarded an increased Impact Factor of 2.6 in the 2025 Journal Citation Reports™ released by Clarivate™ in June 2026. The Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease ranks in Q2 (115 among 237 titles) in the “Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems” category.

The 2025 Journal Impact Factor is calculated by dividing the number of citations received in 2025 to all publications in the journal from 2023 and 2024 by the total number of citable publications from those same years.

To learn more, visit our journal statistics website for detailed metrics or check out our news article for general information.

The support and dedication of all the editors, reviewers, authors, and readers are an integral part of the journal’s performance. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have contributed to the journal.

To develop different research areas and continue to attract high-quality papers, Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease (JCDD, ISSN 2308-3425) is recruiting Section Editors-in-Chief. At present, the following Sections have not yet found suitable scholars to lead them:

• “Cardiac Development and Regeneration”;
• “Acquired Cardiovascular Disease”;
• “Genetics”;
• “Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disease”;
• “Cardiac Surgery”.

We are now recruiting Section Editors-in-Chief (SEiCs) for these Sections. If you are an active researcher in one of the aforementioned fields and passionate about publishing cutting-edge research, please do not hesitate to contact us at jcdd@mdpi.com. You can find more information on our homepage: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jcdd/sections.

A Section Editor-in-Chief has the following responsibilities:

• Promoting JCDD and increasing its visibility at related academic conferences;
• Making scientific decisions about the Journal's scope;
• Inviting distinguished scientists to join the Editorial Board;
• Suggesting topics for Special Issues;
• Assisting Guest Editors in the setup of Special Issues;
• Overseeing the editorial process for individual manuscripts (mainly by making the final decision on whether a paper can be published after peer review and revisions).

JCDD is an online open access journal that is published monthly by MDPI. For more information about the Editorial Board, please see the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jcdd/editors.

We believe that by combining our rigorous editorial policies with your expertise, we can build a high-quality Journal. We thank you in advance for your interest and look forward to collaborating with you.

JCDD Editorial Office

Impact Factors measure how often articles in scientific journals are cited—specifically, the average number of citations received in a given year by articles published in that journal over the previous two years, as tracked in the Web of Science. For researchers, the number answers a practical question: how often is work published in this journal being picked up and built upon?

The metric is assigned to the journal as a whole, not to individual articles. A high Impact Factor tells you something useful about a journal's place in its field; it tells you less about any single paper within it.

For a complementary, article-level view, MDPI lists an Altmetric score on each article page. Where the Impact Factor tracks academic citations, the Altmetric score captures broader online attention: how an article is being shared, discussed, and referenced beyond the journal literature. Together, they offer two different ways of asking the same question: is this research reaching people?

With 2025 CiteScores from Scopus published a few weeks ago, Clarivate has now released this year's Journal Impact Factors in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR).

254 MDPI Journals Saw a Rise in Impact Factor

This year's JCR include 330 MDPI journals across a wide range of disciplines. Of these, 231 journals are placed in the top 50% (Q1 or Q2) of their respective subject categories, a result that spans fields as different as materials science, public health, environmental studies, and mathematics. 78 journals hold a top-quartile position (Q1), and 33 journals have a JIF of 5.0 or above.

• 330 journals earned a Journal Impact Factor (JIF)
• 29 journals earned a first JIF
• 254 journals had an increase in JIF
• 71% of ranked journals are in Q1 or Q2

For the full metrics on any MDPI journal, visit our Web of Science journals overview page or a journal's individual statistics page.

29 MDPI Journals Received Their First Journal Impact Factor

A first Impact Factor is a confirmation for an emerging journal. It marks the point at which a journal has been publishing long enough, and cited broadly enough, to enter the formal record of scientific influence. For the research communities those journals serve, it signals that the work being published is being read and built upon.

This year, 29 MDPI journals received a Journal Impact Factor for the first time, across a range of emerging and established research areas. Each represents years of editorial development and peer review—recognized in 2026 for the first time in the JCR.

This is also part of a longer shift in how science gets indexed. When the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) launched in 2016, 24 MDPI journals were included. By 2024 that number had grown to over 200, reflecting a broader change in the visibility of open access publishing within major citation tracking systems, not just at MDPI but across the sector.

Open Access with Impact

MDPI journals have received a total of 25.2 million citations in Web of Science. That figure matters less as a measure of MDPI's reach and more as a measure of what happens when research is freely available: it gets found, read, and used. Open access is only meaningful if the work actually travels and citations are one indicator that it does.

More than 4.6 million authors have published with MDPI. That breadth, across disciplines, institutions, and geographies, is what makes open access at this scale worth doing.

Thank You to the MDPI Scholarly Community

These results belong to the people who do the actual work: the Editors-in-Chief who set the standards, the Editorial Board Members and reviewers who hold them, and the authors who choose open access for their research. The numbers in the Journal Citation Reports are the downstream effect of decisions made at the desk, in the review, and at submission. Thank you for making them.

Data: 2025 Journal Impact Factors, Journal Citation Reports™ (Clarivate, 2026)

We are pleased to share that Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease (JCDD, ISSN: 2308-3425) has received an increased CiteScore of 4.5 in June 2026. The CiteScore ranks the journal 19 out of 79 titles (Q1) in “General Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics” category, and 116 out of 278 titles (Q2) in the “Pharmacology (medical)” category, an impressive achievement for a journal running in Volume 13.

You can find more statistics on our website.

The current CiteScores measure the average number of citations within a journal over a four-year window (2022–2025). The Scopus database provides a comprehensive suite of metrics that support informed publishing strategies, research evaluation and enable benchmarking of journal performance.

This achievement reflects the collective efforts of our authors, reviewers, and editors. Together we will continue to track the progress of the Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease and its growing impact in cardiovascular medicine.