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BMJ Open

BMJ Publishing Group · United Kingdom · Est. 1814

ISSN2044-6055eISSN2044-6055
SJR Q1WOS SCIEScopus / SJRDOAJOpen Access
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JCR quartile are licensed by Clarivate — we link you to the official source instead of reprinting a number that can go out of date.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 Q1 · Scopus CiteScore 4.5. Source: Clarivate Journal Citation Reports.

📊 Standing in its field
Where this journal ranks among others in the same subject area.
Q1
SJR · Scopus
Top 25% in field
Clarivate’s JCR quartile is a separate ranking and may differ
SJR Scorei
0.93
H-Indexi
238
CiteScorei
4.5
SNIPi
0.944
Total Worksi
43,809
Total Citationsi
887,216
2yr Mean Citednessi
1.96
Open Impact Factor alternative
Retractions
6
Source: Retraction Watch

Aims & Scope

BMJ Open is an online, open access journal, dedicated to publishing medical research from all disciplines and therapeutic areas. The journal publishes all research study types, from protocols through phase I trials to meta-analyses, including small, specialist studies, and negative studies. Publishing procedures are built around fully open peer review and continuous publication, publishing research online as soon as the article is ready. BMJ Open aims to promote transparency in the publication process by publishing reviewer reports and previous versions of manuscripts as pre-publication histories. Authors are asked to pay article-publishing charges on acceptance; the ability to pay does not influence editorial decisions. All papers are included in MEDLINE/PubMed and Science Citation Index Expanded (Web of Science). BMJ Open accepts submissions on a range of article types, including original research, cohort profiles and protocols.

General Information

Country / RegionUnited Kingdom
Primary LanguageEnglish
1st Year Published1814
FrequencyUpdated Frequently
StatusActive (last: 2026)
Total Publications43,809
Publisher OrgBMJ
OA Since2010
Visit Journal Website

Submission Info

Peer ReviewOpen
OA LicenseCC BY, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-ND
OA Rate

Ethics & Quality

COPE Member✗ No
OASPA Member✗ No
Not on Predatory Lists✓ Yes
Plagiarism Detection✓ Yes
📦 Long-term Preservation
LOCKSSPMC

Think.Check.Submit Compliance

10/11 · 91%
Do you know the journal / publisher?
BMJ Publishing Group
Does the journal have a website?
✓ Linked
Is the ISSN verified?
2044-6055 / 2044-6055
Indexed in a trusted database?
WoS, Scopus, DOAJ, PubMed
Peer review process documented?
Open
Follows ethical publishing standards (COPE)?
N/A
Not on predatory/blacklists?
✓ Clean
Long-term digital preservation?
LOCKSS, PMC
Plagiarism detection in place?
Yes
Listed in DOAJ (verified OA)?
DOAJ verified
Primary language documented?
English

A twelfth criterion — whether APC fees are clearly disclosed — is not scored here; it is left out of the total rather than counted as a failure. Publication charges appear in the metrics card above.

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

Publication & Citation Trend

Articles published
Citations received
4.3k
123k
2019
3.6k
85k
2020
4.4k
88k
2021
5.2k
66k
2022
4k
36k
2023
4k
19k
2024
5k
9.4k
2025
2.8k
516
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)Q1

Subject Classification

Web of Science Categories

Medicine, General & Internal

Scopus Categories

Medicine (miscellaneous)

Research Topics (OpenAlex)

Global Maternal and Child HealthHealth Policy Implementation ScienceChronic Disease Management StrategiesCOVID-19 and Mental HealthDiabetes Management and EducationCancer survivorship and careDiabetes, Cardiovascular Risks, and LipoproteinsSepsis Diagnosis and TreatmentPrimary Care and Health OutcomesHIV/AIDS Research and Interventions

Frequently asked questions about BMJ Open

Is BMJ Open a predatory journal?

PubScope has no integrity flags on record for BMJ Open: it is indexed in Web of Science, Scopus, DOAJ, and is not on DOAJ's withdrawn list. Indexing is a transparency signal, not a guarantee — always confirm fit and policies before submitting.

What is the impact factor of BMJ Open?

BMJ Open 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 4.5.

Is BMJ Open indexed in Scopus and Web of Science?

BMJ Open is indexed in Web of Science, Scopus, DOAJ.

What is the aims and scope of BMJ Open?

BMJ Open is an online, open access journal, dedicated to publishing medical research from all disciplines and therapeutic areas. The journal publishes all research study types, from protocols through phase I trials to meta-analyses, including small, specialist studies, and negative studies. Publishing procedures are built around fully open peer review and continuous publication, publishing research online as soon as the article is ready. BMJ Open aims to promote transparency in the publication process by publishing reviewer reports and previous versions of manuscripts as pre-publication histor

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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