Recent advances of medical journals in Korea and and further development strategies: Is it possible for them to publish Nobel Prize-winning research?

ABSTRACT

Many medical journals from Korea have advanced to the international level since 1996. This study aims to present the current status of Korean medical journals in scholarly literature databases and to suggest strategies for further development. This study focused on the 261 member journals of the Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors (KAMJE). In 2018, 29 journals from Korea were indexed in Medline, of which 22 were KAMJE journals. Since 2008, Korean medical journals have been deposited in PubMed Central. As of 2018, the number of journals deposited in PubMed Central has soared to 116, including 103 KAMJE journals. Ninety KAMJE journals were indexed in Scopus. The average 2017 impact factor of the 40 Science Citation Index Expanded-indexed KAMJE journals was 2.17. Furthermore, 35 journals have been indexed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index. To promote more medical journals to the international level, the following strategies are suggested first, recruiting high-quality manuscripts with meticulous review and editing; and second, adopting digital standards of scholarly publishing, including full-text XML, to broaden accessibility. Medical journals from Korea have experienced tremendous success in terms of indexing in international literature databases. To promote journals to the highest level, physicians and researchers should be able to read, submit, cite and use the journal articles in a straightforward and diligent manner. With appropriate development strategies, it may be possible for a Nobel Prize to be awarded based on research published in medical journals in Korea in the near future.