Today, I want to tell you about some great free medical journals.
Dear Diary,Today, my patients were suuuper annoying.
Just kidding. Not that kind of journal. Today I'm talking about the kind of medical journal that is published regularly and contains peer-reviewed research pertinent to providers, clinicians, medical scientists, and other healthcare staff. The journals often focus on a subfield such as cardiology or neuropathy.
Journals are invaluable for keeping abreast of new medical research.
According to research from Doximity, 98% of the physicians polled said reading medical literature is “important" or “very important" to their practice, and 75% said they change their clinical practices quarterly or monthly based on the latest medical literature.
The problem is that subscriptions to medical journals usually run in the hundreds of dollars per year, per journal.
Luckily, many medical journals offer some or all of their content for free to everyone, with or without a subscription. Some do so for all of their articles, but most make their articles free on the web six or 12 months after publication.
While the medical journal articles you want to read may be online for free, they aren't always easy to find.
To help you out, I've reviewed three websites that make it easier to find the most up-to-date free journal articles in your subfield. I've included some background information, pros and cons, and tips for getting the most out of the site.
Here they are, listed in no particular order:
1. FreeMedicalJournals.com
FreeMedicalJournals.com is exactly what it sounds like, a list of links to medical journals that offer free access. It was created by a Portuguese university librarian named Manuel Montenegro, and Bernd Sebastian Kamps, Editor-in-Chief of Flying Publisher and the director of the Amedeo literature service.
Manuel Montenegro; Source
The best way to use the site is to take advantage of the left rail, where you can search by keyword, topic, free article freshness, alphabetically by journal title, or language. You can also see a list of journals sorted by impact.
2. OMICS International
Dr. Srinubabu Gedela founded OMICS International to help make healthcare and scientific information available immediately and for free. Gedela's research on getting access to scientific literature for scholars from developing countries won him the 2007 Human Proteome Organization's Young Scientist award.
Dr. Srinubabu Gedela; Source
OMICS International publishes over 700 scientific and healthcare journals and 50,000 scientific research articles in clinical, medical, life sciences, and other disciplines annually. Each year OMICS International hosts more than 1,000 medical and scientific conferences for more than 60,000 scientists, clinicians, and scholars in 30 countries.
The best thing about OMICS International's list of free medical journals is that they're all listed on one page, so you can CTRL+F to find what you're looking for. Next to each journal is a link to each journal's citation report, containing a list of articles that have cited the articles published in each journal.
In addition to free articles, clicking on each journal title offers background information on the publication, including policies and ethics for each role in the publication: author, editor, reviewer, and publisher. The journal profile also includes links to information such as the journal's aims and scope, article processing charges, advertising rates, etc.
Here's an example of a journal profile on the OMICS International website:
3. Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research
In some ways, the Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research's free medical journals list is harder to use than FreeMedicalJournals.com or OMICS International's list. You can't CTRL+F for journals because there's no comprehensive list on one page like OMICS International. There's no site search or sorting mechanism like FreeMedicalJournals.com.
But it does offer one advantage. It's very clean. No clutter. No ads. Not even any pictures. It loads super fast with no distractions. When you click on each category, it brings up another list of all the journals in that category, and tells you if it's always free, or free after six or 12 months.
Runners up
Two honorable mentions go to Medscape and MHADegree.org for their curated lists of journals you can read online for free (be aware that using Medscape requires creating an free account).
Other ways to access free medical journal articles
Keep in mind that you can also access free journal articles through apps such as Read by QxMD and Isabel. To learn more, check out The Top 7 Medical Apps for Doctors.
If you're like most physicians, reading medical journal articles is part of your weekly routine. To save money, time, and effort, check out one or all of these websites and let me know what you think in the comments. And let me know if there are other good sites or apps I've left off.
