Abbreviated title (ISO 4) BMJ Language English Publisher BMJ (United Kingdom) | Discipline Medicine Edited by Fiona Godlee | |
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Former names Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal, British Medical Journal, BMJ | ||
The BMJ is a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Originally called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988, and then changed to The BMJ in 2014. The journal is published by BMJ Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association. The editor in chief of The BMJ is Fiona Godlee, who was appointed in February 2005.
Contents
Impact
In the 2016 Journal Citation Reports, The BMJ's impact factor was 19.697 in 2015, ranking it fourth among general medical journals.
History
The journal began publishing on 3 October 1840 as the Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal and quickly attracted the attention of physicians around the world through its publication of high-impact original research articles and unique case reports. The BMJ's first editors were P. Hennis Green, lecturer on the diseases of children at the Hunterian School of Medicine, who also was its founder and Robert Streeten of Worcester, a member of the PMSA council.
The first issue of the British Medical Journal was 16 pages long and contained three simple woodcut illustrations. The longest items were the editors' introductory editorial and a report of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association's Eastern Branch. Other pages included a condensed version of Henry Warburton's medical reform bill, book reviews, clinical papers, and case notes. There were 2 1⁄2 columns of advertisements. Inclusive of stamp duty it cost 7d, a price which remained until 1844. In their main article, Green and Streeten noted that they had "received as many advertisements (in proportion to the quantity of letter press) for our first number, as the most popular Medical Journal, (The Lancet) after seventeen years of existence."
In their introductory editorial and later statements, Green and Streeten defined "the main objects of promotion of which the Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal is established". Summarised, there were two clear main objectives: the advancement of the profession, especially in the provinces and the dissemination of medical knowledge. Green and Streeten also expressed interest in promoting public well-being as well as maintaining 'medical practitioners, as a class in that rank of society which, by their intellectual acquirements, by their general moral character, and by the importance of the duties entrusted to them, they are justly entitled to hold'.
The BMJ published the first centrally randomised controlled trial. The journal also carried the seminal papers on the causal effects of smoking on health and lung cancer and other causes of death in relation to smoking.
For a long time, the journal's sole competitor was The Lancet, also based in the UK, but with increasing globalisation, The BMJ has faced tough competition from other medical journals, particularly The New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Editors
Journal content
The BMJ is an advocate of evidence-based medicine. It publishes research as well as clinical reviews, recent medical advances, editorial perspectives, among others.
The journal releases a number of "theme issues" every year, when it publishes research and review articles pertaining to the theme addressed. Some of the popular theme issues in recent years include "Health in Africa", "Management of Chronic Diseases", and "Global Voices on the AIDS Catastrophe".
A special "Christmas Edition" is published annually on the Friday before Christmas. This edition is known for research articles which apply a serious academic approach to investigating less serious medical questions. The results are often humorous and widely reported by the mainstream media.
Editions
The BMJ is principally an online journal, and it is only the website which carries the full text content of every article. However, a number of print editions are produced, targeting different groups of readers with selections of content, some of it abridged, and different advertising. The print editions are:
In addition, a number of local editions of The BMJ are published in translation. There is also Student BMJ, an online resource for medical students, junior doctors and those applying to medical school, which also publishes three print editions a year.
Functioning of the journal
The BMJ has an open peer review system, wherein authors are told who reviewed their manuscript. About half the original articles are rejected after review in-house. Manuscripts chosen for peer review are first reviewed by external experts, who comment on the importance and suitability for publication, before the final decision on a manuscript is made by the editorial ("hanging") committee. The acceptance rate is less than 7% for original research articles.
Indexing and citations
The BMJ is included in the major indexes PubMed, MEDLINE, EBSCO, and the Science Citation Index. The journal has long criticised the misuse of the impact factor to award grants and recruit researchers by academic institutions.
The five journals that as of 2008 have cited The BMJ most often are (in order of descending citation frequency) The BMJ, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, The Lancet, BMC Public Health, and BMC Health Services Research.
As of 2008, the five journals that have been cited most frequently by articles published in The BMJ are The BMJ, The Lancet, The New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Most cited articles
According to the Web of Science, the following articles have been cited the most often:
- Cole TJ, Bellizzi MC, Flegal KM, Dietz WH (May 2000). "Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey". Bmj. 320 (7244): 1240–3. doi:10.1136/bmj.320.7244.1240. PMC 27365. PMID 10797032.
- "Collaborative meta-analysis of randomised trials of antiplatelet therapy for prevention of death, myocardial infarction, and stroke in high risk patients". Bmj. 324 (7329): 71–86. January 2002. doi:10.1136/bmj.324.7329.71. PMC 64503. PMID 11786451.
- Stratton IM, Adler AI, Neil HA, Matthews DR, Manley SE, Cull CA, Hadden D, Turner RC, Holman RR (August 2000). "Association of glycaemia with macrovascular and microvascular complications of type 2 diabetes (UKPDS 35): prospective observational study". Bmj. 321 (7258): 405–12. doi:10.1136/bmj.321.7258.405. PMC 27454. PMID 10938048.
Most viewed articles
As of 2014, the most viewed article on the The BMJ website is:
- Schultz WW, van Andel P, Sabelis I, Mooyaart E (18 December 1999). "Magnetic resonance imaging of male and female genitals during coitus and female sexual arousal". Bmj. 319 (7225): 1596–600. doi:10.1136/bmj.319.7225.1596. PMC 28302. PMID 10600954.
BMJ website and access policies
The BMJ went fully online in 1995 and has archived all its issues on the web. In addition to the print content, supporting material for original research articles, additional news stories, and electronic letters to the editors are its principal attractions. The BMJ website has the policy of publishing most e-letters to the journal, called Rapid Responses, and is shaped like a fully moderated Internet forum. As of January 2013 there had been 88 500 rapid responses posted on the BMJ website. Comments are screened for libellous and obscene content, however potential contributors are warned that once published, they will not have the right to remove or edit their response.
From 1999, all content of The BMJ was freely available online; however, in 2006 this changed to a subscription model. Original research articles continue to be available freely, but from January 2006, all other 'added value' contents, including clinical reviews and editorials, require a subscription. The BMJ allows complete free access for visitors from economically disadvantaged countries as part of the HINARI initiative.
On 14 October 2008, The BMJ announced it would become an open access journal. This only refers to their research articles. To view other articles, a subscription is required.
Other services
The BMJ offers several alerting services, free on request:
BMJ iPad app
In January 2011, The BMJ launched an iPad app version of the journal. The app combines the weekly print journal selection of research, comment, and education, along with feeds of news, blogs, podcasts, and videos to appear on bmj.com.