| Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine | |
|---|---|
| Former name(s) | Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, Medico-Chirurgical Transactions |
| Abbreviated title (ISO) | J. R. Soc. Med. |
| Discipline | Medicine |
| Language | English |
| Edited by | Kamran Abbasi |
| Publication details | |
| Publisher | Royal Society of Medicine (United Kingdom) |
| Publication history | 1809-present |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Open access | Hybrid |
| Impact factor (2009) |
1.402 |
| Indexing | |
| ISSN | 0141-0768 (print) 1758-1095 (web) |
| LCCN | 78648718 |
| CODEN | JRSMD9 |
| OCLC number | 03722674 |
| Links | |
The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine is an open peer-reviewed medical journal. It is the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Medicine with full editorial independence. its continuous publication history dates back to 1907,[1] although it continues a publication legacy dating back to 1809. The present editor in chief is Kamran Abbasi,[2] a former deputy and acting editor at BMJ.[3] Abbasi was appointed in July 2005, following the retirement of Robin Fox who was editor for just under 10 years.[4]
Contents |
The journal commenced publication under its current name in 1978, as a renaming of the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, which had itself been in continuous publication since 1907.[1] It thus has a continuous volume numbering dating back to 1908. The Proceedings were established following the amalgamation of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society with a number of other medical bodies into the Royal Society of Medicine in 1907[5][6][7] and preceded by Medico-Chirurgical Transactions (1807-1907).
The journal is abstracted and indexed in MEDLINE/PubMed, Science Citation Index, EMBASE, CAB International, and BIOBASE. According to the Journal Citation Reports, its 2009 impact factor is 1.402, ranking it 58th out of 132 journals in the category "Medicine, General and Internal".
The journal describes itself as having "an international and multi-specialty readership that includes primary care and public health professionals".[2] It claims to act as "a forum for debate, education, and entertainment for clinicians interested in UK medicine and relevant international developments and research. The aim of the journal is to influence clinical practice and policy making across the whole range of medicine".[2] Each issue contains original research articles, editorials, reviews, and essays. The essay section brings together "think pieces" on current medical issues and medical history. The journal also includes book reviews. Each issue also features a selection of commentaries from the James Lind Library, an online resource for patients and professionals that documents the evolution of fair tests of treatments in health care.[8]
In 2006, the journal introduced open peer review, a system in which authors and reviewers know each others' identities on the assumption that this improves openness in scientific discourse. This made it one of the few medical journals in the world with open peer review.[9]
The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine is published monthly.[10] The full text of each issue is available to subscribers online on the journal's website at the beginning of each month.[11]
In March 2006 all research articles published, as well as all other content more than three years old, were made available for free online. An agreement with PubMed Central was also announced, in which a digitised archive of the journal and its predecessor would be created, with issues dating back to 1809 available online for free.[11]