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South African Medical Journal

South African Medical Association · South Africa · Est. 1884

ISSN0256-9574eISSN2078-5135

SJR Q3✓ WOS SCIE✓ Scopus / SJR✓ DOAJ✓ Open Access

/ 100

Medium Risk

Score Breakdown

✓ WoS SCIE/SSCI+25

✓ Scopus Q3+12

✓ DOAJ Verified+15

Total52

Journal Impact Factor

This journal is indexed in Web of Science (JCR) and has an official Journal Impact Factor. View the current value on the journal’s page ↗

SJR Score

0.446

H-Index

CiteScore

SNIP

0.512

Total Works

7,266

Total Citations

47,715

2yr Mean Citedness

0.59

Free JIF 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.

⚡ Speed vs Prestige

How does this journal balance review speed with impact level?

weeks to review

Fast · median is 15 wks

SJR Rank

Top 75% in field

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

thinkchecksubmit.org

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

Times cited

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026

Source: OpenAlex · Note: citations accumulate over time so older years appear higher

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