HomeSearchSouth African Medical Journal

South African Medical Journal

South African Medical Association · South Africa · Est. 1884

ISSN0256-9574eISSN2078-5135
SJR Q3WOS SCIEScopus / SJRDOAJOpen Access
100
/ 100
High Trust
PubScope credibility score from verifiable indexing & ethics signals
Score Breakdown
WoS flagship (SCIE/SSCI/AHCI)78
✓ Corroboration (4 more)+22
Total100
Level data: Norwegian Register (HK-dir), NLOD 2.0. · Third-party records · how this is calculated · Report an error →
⚡ Speed vs Prestige
How does this journal balance review speed with impact level?
10
weeks to publish · journal-reported
Fast · vs ~15 wk median
Q3
SJR Rank
Top 75% in field
Impact Factor & Quartile · Web of Science (JCR)

✓ Indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection (SCIE) — Clarivate publishes an official Journal Impact Factor and JCR quartile for this journal.

See the official Impact Factor & quartile on the journal’s page ↗

The Impact Factor & JCR quartile are licensed by Clarivate — we link you to the official source instead of reprinting a number that can go out of date. Open metrics below: SCImago Q3 · Scopus CiteScore 3. Source: Clarivate Journal Citation Reports.

SJR Scorei
0.371
H-Indexi
67
CiteScorei
3
SNIPi
0.512
Total Worksi
7,266
Total Citationsi
47,715
2yr Mean Citednessi
0.59
Open Impact Factor alternative

Aims & Scope

The South African Medical Journal (SAMJ) is a monthly, peer-reviewed, general medical journal publishing leading research impacting clinical care in southern Africa. The Journal is not limited to articles that have ‘general medical content’, but is intending to capture the spectrum of medical and health sciences, grouped by relevance to the country’s burden of disease. This will include research in the social sciences and economics that is relevant to the medical issues around our burden of disease The journal carries research articles and letters, editorials, clinical practice and other medical articles and personal opinion, South African health-related news, obituaries, general correspondence, and classified advertisements.

General Information

Country / RegionSouth Africa
Primary LanguageEnglish
1st Year Published1884
Frequencymonthly
StatusActive
Total Publications7,266
Publisher OrgHealth and Medical Publishing Group
Visit Journal Website

Submission Info

Publishing ModelGold Open Access
Peer ReviewDouble-blind
Review Time~10 weeks
Acceptance Rate
OA LicenseCC BY-NC
OA Rate

Ethics & Quality

COPE Member✗ No
OASPA Member✗ No
Not on Predatory Lists✓ Yes
Plagiarism Detection✓ Yes

Think.Check.Submit Compliance

9/12 · 75%
Do you know the journal / publisher?
South African Medical Association
Does the journal have a website?
✓ Linked
Is the ISSN verified?
0256-9574 / 2078-5135
Indexed in a trusted database?
WoS, Scopus, DOAJ
Peer review process documented?
Double-blind
Follows ethical publishing standards (COPE)?
N/A
APC fees clearly disclosed?
N/A
Not on predatory/blacklists?
✓ Clean
Long-term digital preservation?
N/A
Plagiarism detection in place?
Yes
Listed in DOAJ (verified OA)?
DOAJ verified
Primary language documented?
English

Based on the Think.Check.Submit framework by DOAJ, COPE & OASPA. All data from verified open sources.

Publication & Citation Trend

Articles published
Citations received
284
2.8k
2019
288
3.2k
2020
274
1.5k
2021
144
811
2022
123
406
2023
100
149
2024
145
55
2025
77
3
2026

Source: OpenAlex · Each year’s green bar = citations earned by that year’s papers, counted to date — so recent years look lower simply because their papers haven’t had time to be cited yet.

SJR Quartile by Discipline

Scimago ranks this journal separately in each subject category — its quartile can differ by discipline.

Medicine (miscellaneous)Q3

Subject Classification

Web of Science Categories

Medicine, General & Internal

Scopus Categories

Medicine (miscellaneous)

Research Topics (OpenAlex)

HIV/AIDS Impact and ResponsesHIV/AIDS Research and InterventionsPrimary Care and Health OutcomesChild and Adolescent HealthGlobal Maternal and Child Health

Frequently asked questions about South African Medical Journal

Is South African Medical Journal a predatory journal?

PubScope has no integrity flags on record for South African Medical Journal: it is indexed in Web of Science, Scopus, DOAJ, and is not on DOAJ's withdrawn list. Its PubScope Trust Score is 100/100. Indexing is a transparency signal, not a guarantee — always confirm fit and policies before submitting.

What is the impact factor of South African Medical Journal?

South African Medical Journal is indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection, so Clarivate publishes an official Journal Impact Factor for it (since the 2023 Journal Citation Reports, every Core Collection journal — including Arts & Humanities and Emerging Sources titles — receives one). PubScope links to Clarivate's official source rather than reprinting the number, which can be out of date. As an open alternative, its Scopus CiteScore is 3.

Is South African Medical Journal indexed in Scopus and Web of Science?

South African Medical Journal is indexed in Web of Science, Scopus, DOAJ.

What is the aims and scope of South African Medical Journal?

The South African Medical Journal (SAMJ) is a monthly, peer-reviewed, general medical journal publishing leading research impacting clinical care in southern Africa. The Journal is not limited to articles that have ‘general medical content’, but is intending to capture the spectrum of medical and health sciences, grouped by relevance to the country’s burden of disease. This will include research in the social sciences and economics that is relevant to the medical issues around our burden of disease The journal carries research articles and letters, editorials, clinical practice and other medic

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How to tell if a journal is predatoryWhat Q1–Q4 quartiles meanWeb of Science vs Scopus vs DOAJWhat is an APC?

Data updated: 2026-05-22 · Sources: SJR, DOAJ, OpenAlex, WoS, Crossref