The top 50 medical journals with impact factor and weekly readership

Written By Nicola Donelan

This comprehensive list ranks top medical and scientific journals based on their impact factor, a metric that reflects the yearly average number of citations to articles published in each journal. 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.

  • The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)

    • Focus: General medicine, clinical research

    • Impact Factor: 91.245

    • Readership: 600,000 weekly

    • Website: https://www.nejm.org

  • The Lancet

    • Focus: General medicine, clinical research

    • Impact Factor: 79.321

    • Readership: 1.8 million weekly

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

  • Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)

    • Focus: General medicine, clinical research

    • Impact Factor: 56.272

    • Readership: 325,000 weekly

    • Website: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama

  • Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)

  • Nature Medicine

    • Focus: Biomedical research, clinical applications

    • Impact Factor: 53.440

    • Readership: 50,000 monthly

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

  • British Medical Journal (BMJ)

    • Focus: General medicine, clinical research

    • Impact Factor: 39.890

    • Readership: 100,000 weekly

    • Website: https://www.bmj.com

  • Circulation

  • Journal of Clinical 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

    • Focus: Psychiatry, molecular biology, genetics

    • Impact Factor: 15.992

    • Readership: 7,000 monthly

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

  • Journal of Clinical Investigation

    • Focus: Biomedical research, clinical investigations

    • Impact Factor: 14.808

    • Readership: 60,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.jci.org

  • Journal of Experimental Medicine

    • Focus: Immunology, cell biology, disease mechanisms

    • Impact Factor: 13.697

    • 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: 11.740

    • 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

    • Focus: Immunology, immune system research

    • Impact Factor: 4.539

    • Readership: 10,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.jimmunol.org

  • 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: 4.578

    • Readership: 9,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.jbjs.org/

  • Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (JAAD)

    • Focus: Dermatology, skin diseases

    • Impact Factor: 9.798

    • Readership: 7,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.jaad.org

  • Radiology

  • Thorax

    • Focus: Respiratory medicine, lung diseases

    • Impact Factor: 10.032

    • 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: 5.209

    • Readership: 5,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.jtcvs.org

  • Journal of Neurosurgery

    • Focus: Neurosurgery, neurological research

    • Impact Factor: 4.318

    • Readership: 4,000 monthly

    • Website: https://thejns.org

  • Neurosurgery

  • Journal of Pediatric Surgery

    • Focus: Pediatric surgery, clinical research

    • Impact Factor: 2.317

    • Readership: 3,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.jpedsurg.org

  • Journal of Urology

  • Journal of Clinical Pathology

    • Focus: Pathology, clinical research

    • Impact Factor: 2.900

    • Readership: 4,000 monthly

    • Website: https://jcp.bmj.com

  • Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy

  • Journal of Medical Genetics

    • Focus: Medical genetics, genomic research

    • Impact Factor: 6.269

    • Readership: 3,000 monthly

    • Website: https://jmg.bmj.com

  • Journal of Clinical Virology

    • Focus: Virology, viral diseases

    • Impact Factor: 3.602

    • Readership: 2,500 monthly

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

      Please note that impact factors are approximate and can vary each year. Readership numbers are estimates based on available data.

Nicola Donelan
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