Research impact at BMJ Group

At BMJ Group, we are committed to transparency in assessing the impact of the research we publish. We provide a comprehensive view of journal performance by utilising a range of metrics that reflect the speed, impact and reach of published research, ensuring authors and readers have access to meaningful data

The impact of academic research cannot be defined by any single metric. As a DORA signatory, BMJ Group believes that the journal impact factor (JIF) is best shared alongside other metrics that can help an author decide where to publish.

These include Citescore, Total Altmetric mentions, and time to first decision and are made available on our journal sites and demonstrate how BMJ Group is meeting research authors’ needs for timely publication, reach and influence.

In 2013, BMJ Group signed the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). We did this to show our support for using various measures and metrics to portray journals’ impact; moving away from the Impact Factor as a single measure.  

Monitoring the metrics: speed, impact and reach of the research we publish.

Our metrics are displayed (where available) on all our journals platforms.

Speed

Time to first decision without review

Median number of days from first submission to first decision for manuscripts that are not peer-reviewed

Time to first decision with review

Median number of days from first submission to first decision for peer-reviewed manuscripts

Time from acceptance to publication

Median number of days from acceptance to online publication

Impact

Impact Factor (JCR)

Calculated by Clarivate Analytics, the average number of citations in a single year of all articles published over the last two years. IF = number of citations in the given year/citable articles published in the previous two years

SciMago Journal Rank (SJR)

Calculated from the Scopus database, the average number of weighted citations (dependent on the number of citations and the prestige of the journals where they came from) in a single year of all articles published in the previous three years 

Eigenfactor

Calculated from the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) database from Web of Science, the number of weighted citations (dependent on usage of the journal that they came from) in a single year of all articles published in the previous five years, discounting self-citations

CiteScore

Calculated from the Scopus database, the average number of citations in a single year and the last three years of all items published during that same four-year period

Reach

Content accesses

The total number of times that all articles have been accessed in a full year, including downloads, as recorded by Google Analytics.

Total Altmetric mentions

The total number of mentions from online media outlets that our journal’s content (published in a single year) receives within that year, as recorded by Altmetric. Media outlets include: patents, policy documents, social media mentions, blogs, news, and peer review.

Support for authors

Our dedicated online resource for authors provides guidance and tools for all stages of the publication process, from preparing a manuscript to promoting the published paper, and includes information on policies, open access options, and peer review.