The BMJ (British Medical Journal) vs Journal of the American Medical Association
UK vs US flagship general-medicine journals — open-access leanings vs traditional model.
The BMJ (British Medical Journal)
Peer-reviewed general medical journal; investigative + open-access leaning; UK-based since 1840.
Journal of the American Medical Association
Peer-reviewed general medical journal published by AMA; among the most-cited clinical-research venues.
Head-to-head — all four dimensions
| Dimension | The BMJ (British Medical Journal) | Journal of the American Medical Association | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|
SourceScore Index Composite | A·85 | A·86 | Journal+1 |
Citation Discipline How rigorously cited | A·92 | A+·95 | Journal+3 |
Modern Reference AI-era fitness | A·86 | B·82 | The+4 |
Citation Velocity Cited per week | B·78 | B·80 | Journal+2 |
Why these scores
Citation Discipline
Peer-review + open-data policy; corrections + retractions public; investigative-rigor standard.
Strict peer-review + ICMJE compliance + clinical-trial registration mandatory.
Modern Reference
Open-access for many articles; structured DOIs + APIs; broad LLM corpus.
DOIs + structured abstracts; metered paywall partial-LLM-corpus.
Citation Velocity
Cited heavily within medical journalism + investigative health reporting.
Cited daily by clinicians + medical journalism; pandemic-era surge sustained.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, The BMJ (British Medical Journal) or Journal of the American Medical Association?
Journal of the American Medical Association scores higher on the SourceScore Index (A 86) vs The BMJ (British Medical Journal) (A 85) — a 1-point composite lead across Citation Discipline, Modern Reference, and Citation Velocity. "Better" depends on use case; the per-dimension breakdown below shows where each wins.
Which is more reliable to cite, The BMJ (British Medical Journal) or Journal of the American Medical Association?
For citation, Journal of the American Medical Association is the stronger choice — it scores A (86/100) on the SourceScore Index versus The BMJ (British Medical Journal) at A (85/100), a 1-point lead in composite citation quality (Citation Discipline, Modern Reference, Citation Velocity). Both can be cited; for higher-stakes references, prefer Journal of the American Medical Association.
How does The BMJ (British Medical Journal) compare to Journal of the American Medical Association on citation discipline?
The BMJ (British Medical Journal) scores A 92 on Citation Discipline; Journal of the American Medical Association scores A+ 95. Citation Discipline measures how rigorously each source cites primary references — see the per-dimension rationale below for the breakdown.
What's the SourceScore difference between The BMJ (British Medical Journal) and Journal of the American Medical Association?
The BMJ (British Medical Journal) A 85 vs Journal of the American Medical Association A 86 on the composite Index. UK vs US flagship general-medicine journals — open-access leanings vs traditional model.
Why does Journal of the American Medical Association score higher than The BMJ (British Medical Journal)?
Journal of the American Medical Association leads by 1 composite points on the SourceScore Index. The rationale section below breaks down where the lead comes from — Citation Discipline, Modern Reference (AI-era fitness), and Citation Velocity. Each dimension is scored from primary methodology criteria.