Top 50 Medical Journals: Leading Clinical and Research Journals Ranked by Impact Factor (2025 Guide)

Written By Nicola Donelan

This Top 50 Medical Journals list ranks the world’s most influential academic and clinical journals by their Impact Factor, the standard metric reflecting how often a journal’s articles are cited each year. High-impact factors indicate journals with significant influence in medicine, healthcare, and scientific research.

What Defines the Leading Medical Journals?

Leading medical journals are defined by rigorous peer review, strong editorial standards, high citation rates, and broad influence across clinical and research communities. Whether you are a researcher preparing a manuscript or a clinician seeking trusted evidence, this list serves as a practical guide to the most influential and widely read journals in medicine.

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The Top 50 Medical Journals by Impact Factor and Influence

  • The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)

    • Focus: General medicine, clinical research

    • Impact Factor: 78.5

    • Readership: 600,000 weekly

    • Website: https://www.nejm.org

  • The Lancet

    • Focus: General medicine, clinical research

    • Impact Factor: 88.5

    • Readership: 1.8 million weekly

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

  • Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)

  • Nature Medicine

    • Focus: Biomedical research, clinical applications

    • Impact Factor: 50

    • Readership: 50,000 monthly

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

  • BMJ

    • Focus: General medicine, clinical research

    • Impact Factor: 93.6

    • Readership: 100,000 weekly

    • Website: https://www.bmj.com

  • Circulation

  • Journal of Clinical Oncology

  • Lancet Oncology

  • Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC)

    • Focus: Cardiology, cardiovascular research

    • Impact Factor: 22.3

    • 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

  • Journal of Clinical Investigation

    • Focus: Biomedical research, clinical investigations

    • Impact Factor: 13.6

    • Readership: 60,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.jci.org

  • Journal of Experimental Medicine

    • Focus: Immunology, cell biology, disease mechanisms

    • Impact Factor: 10.4

    • Readership: 8,000 monthly

    • Website: https://rupress.org/jem

  • Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

  • Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry

    • Focus: Neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry

    • Impact Factor: 7.8

    • 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

  • 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: 4.3

    • Readership: 9,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.jbjs.org/

  • Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (JAAD)

    • Focus: Dermatology, skin diseases

    • Impact Factor: 11.8

    • Readership: 7,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.jaad.org

  • Radiology

  • Thorax

    • Focus: Respiratory medicine, lung diseases

    • Impact Factor: 8.3

    • 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: 4.4

    • Readership: 5,000 monthly

    • Website: https://www.jtcvs.org

  • Journal of Neurosurgery

    • Focus: Neurosurgery, neurological research

    • Impact Factor: 3.6

    • Readership: 4,000 monthly

    • Website: https://thejns.org

  • Neurosurgery

  • Journal of Pediatric Surgery

  • Pediatrics (AAP)

    • Focus: Pediatric medicine, child health, clinical practice

    • Impact Factor: ~6.4

    • Readership: Broad international readership among pediatricians and child health researchers

    • Website: https://publications.aap.org/pediatric

  • American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology (AJOG)

    • Focus: Obstetrics, gynecology, maternal–fetal medicine, reproductive health

    • Impact Factor: ~8.4

    • Readership: Obstetricians, gynecologists, maternal–fetal specialists, reproductive health researchers

    • Website: https://www.ajog.org

  • Journal of Urology

  • Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy

  • Journal of Medical Genetics

    • Focus: Medical genetics, genomic research

    • Impact Factor: 3.7

    • Readership: 3,000 monthly

    • Website: https://jmg.bmj.com

Top 25 Medical Journals by Specialty Area

Please also explore the Top 25 Journals for Oncology, the Top 25 Neurology Journals, the Top 25 Cardiology Journals by impact factor and influence, or the Top 25 Easiest High-Impact Medical Journals to Publish In. An overview of the Medical Journal Acceptance Rates can be found here.

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