The top 50 Medical Journals with Impact Factor and Weekly Readership

Written By Nicola Donelan

This comprehensive list of the top medical and scientific journals is based on their impact factor, a metric that reflects the average number of citations to articles published in each journal over the past year. Impact factors are a common measure used to evaluate the influence and significance of academic journals within their respective fields. Each entry provides information on the journal's focus, impact factor, estimated readership, and a link to the journal's website for further exploration. This ranking can serve as a valuable resource for researchers, clinicians, and healthcare professionals seeking high-quality, impactful publications to read or submit their work.

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The Top 50:

  • The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)

    • Focus: General medicine, clinical research

    • Impact Factor: 78.5

    • Readership: 600,000 weekly

    • Website: https://www.nejm.org

  • The Lancet

    • Focus: General medicine, clinical research

    • Impact Factor: 88.5

    • Readership: 1.8 million weekly

    • Website: https://www.thelancet.com

  • Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)

  • Nature Medicine

    • Focus: Biomedical research, clinical applications

    • Impact Factor: 53.3

    • Readership: 50,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.nature.com/nm

  • BMJ

    • Focus: General medicine, clinical research

    • Impact Factor:93.6

    • Readership: 100,000 weekly

    • Website: https://www.bmj.com

  • Circulation

  • Journal of Clinical Oncology

  • Lancet Oncology

  • Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC)

    • Focus: Cardiology, cardiovascular research

    • Impact Factor: 24.094

    • Readership: 30,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.jacc.org

  • Annals of Internal Medicine

  • Gastroenterology

  • American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

  • Diabetes Care

  • Hepatology

  • Molecular Psychiatry

  • Journal of Clinical Investigation

    • Focus: Biomedical research, clinical investigations

    • Impact Factor: 14.8

    • Readership: 60,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.jci.org

  • Journal of Experimental Medicine

    • Focus: Immunology, cell biology, disease mechanisms

    • Impact Factor: 10.5

    • Readership: 8,000 monthly

    • Website: https://rupress.org/jem

  • Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

  • Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry

    • Focus: Neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry

    • Impact Factor: 7.5

    • Readership: 6,000 monthly

    • Website: https://jnnp.bmj.com

  • PLOS Medicine

  • Clinical Infectious Diseases

  • Chest

  • American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

  • Journal of Infectious Diseases

  • Journal of Immunology

  • European Heart Journal

  • Annals of Surgery

  • Ophthalmology

  • Anesthesiology

  • Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN)

  • Arthritis & Rheumatology

  • Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS)

    • Focus: Orthopedics, musculoskeletal research

    • Impact Factor: 4.6

    • Readership: 9,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.jbjs.org/

  • Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (JAAD)

    • Focus: Dermatology, skin diseases

    • Impact Factor: 11.8

    • Readership: 7,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.jaad.org

  • Radiology

  • Thorax

    • Focus: Respiratory medicine, lung diseases

    • Impact Factor: 10.8

    • Readership: 4,000 monthly

    • Website: https://thorax.bmj.com

  • Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM)

  • American Journal of Psychiatry

  • Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology

  • Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology

  • Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery

    • Focus: Thoracic surgery, cardiovascular surgery

    • Impact Factor: 4.4

    • Readership: 5,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.jtcvs.org

  • Journal of Neurosurgery

    • Focus: Neurosurgery, neurological research

    • Impact Factor: 3.6

    • Readership: 4,000 monthly

    • Website: https://thejns.org

  • Neurosurgery

  • Journal of Pediatric Surgery

  • Pediatrics (AAP)

    • Focus: Pediatric medicine, child health, clinical practice

    • Impact Factor: 8.0

    • Readership: Broad international readership among pediatricians and child health researchers

    • Website: https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics

  • Journal of Urology

  • American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology (AJOG)

    • Focus: Obstetrics, gynecology, maternal–fetal medicine, reproductive health

    • Impact Factor: 9.0

    • Readership: Obstetricians, gynecologists, maternal–fetal specialists, reproductive health researchers

    • Website: https://www.ajog.org

  • Journal of Clinical Pathology

    • Focus: Pathology, clinical research

    • Impact Factor: 2.5

    • Readership: 4,000 monthly

    • Website: https://jcp.bmj.com

  • Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy

  • Journal of Medical Genetics

    • Focus: Medical genetics, genomic research

    • Impact Factor: 3.7

    • Readership: 3,000 monthly

    • Website: https://jmg.bmj.com

  • Journal of Clinical Virology

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Nicola Donelan
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