About the Journal

Georgian Medical Journal

Public Health Institute of Georgia (PHIG) · ISSN 3088-4322 · DOI prefix: 10.66636 · Open Access · CC BY 4.0 · gmj.ge

The Georgian Medical Journal (GMJ) is an independent, peer-reviewed, open-access journal publishing original research, reviews, brief reports, case reports, practice guidelines, viewpoints, editorials, and health systems studies relevant to Georgia and the wider region. Submissions are accepted in Georgian and English.

GMJ was established by the Public Health Institute of Georgia (PHIG) and is led by Editor-in-Chief Prof. Giorgi Pkhakadze, MD, MPH, PhD. The journal maintains full editorial independence from its publisher, sponsors, and advertisers. Editorial decisions are based solely on scholarly merit.

Focus and Scope

GMJ publishes scholarly work across clinical medicine, surgery, public health, epidemiology, health services research, quality improvement and patient safety, medical education, bioethics, and health policy. The journal prioritizes methodological rigor, ethical research conduct, transparency, and real-world applicability.

To broaden impact, GMJ also hosts commentary, explainers, and blogs for clinicians, managers, and the general public, as well as conference outputs — abstracts, seminar summaries, posters, and recorded talks — that translate evidence into practice.

Peer Review Process

All research manuscripts undergo double-anonymised peer review by at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise and no conflicts of interest. Reviewers are selected from GMJ's external database based on subject expertise, methodological competence, and geographic relevance. GMJ offers an optional transparent peer-review pathway under which reviewer reports and author responses may be published alongside the article upon mutual consent.

Manuscripts submitted by the Editor-in-Chief, editorial board members, or any staff with editorial authority are handled exclusively by a designated independent Senior Editorial Board Member, with the Editor-in-Chief and any involved staff fully recused from all stages. This process is conducted in full accordance with COPE recommendations on editorial conflicts of interest.

Reviewers who submit timely, high-quality reviews are eligible for a 20% APC discount voucher for a future submission. Reviewers who complete at least one review during a calendar year are acknowledged in an annual listing on the GMJ website, with their permission.

Publication Ethics and Research Integrity

GMJ adheres to the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Authors must confirm ethics committee approval, informed consent for identifiable material, registration of interventional studies, disclosure of funding and competing interests, and provision of data availability statements.

GMJ encourages authors to follow established reporting guidelines appropriate to their study design — CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA, CARE, and SQUIRE — and to deposit datasets and supplementary materials in trusted repositories. Submitted manuscripts may be screened for plagiarism using editorial tools. Allegations of misconduct are addressed in accordance with COPE guidance.

Authors retain copyright of their work and grant GMJ the right of first publication. All content is published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), permitting sharing and adaptation with appropriate attribution.

Open Access, DOIs, and Archiving

GMJ provides immediate and unrestricted open access to all published content. All accepted articles are assigned persistent Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs). From the journal's official launch on 5 January 2025 through 8 April 2026, DOIs were issued via Zenodo (CERN/OpenAIRE) and registered through DataCite — these identifiers remain permanently valid. From 9 April 2026, GMJ is a full Crossref member registering DOIs under prefix 10.66636.

Long-term digital preservation is ensured through a multi-layered infrastructure including the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN) with distributed LOCKSS-based archiving, CLOCKSS dark archive, and geographically redundant backups, guaranteeing continued access to published material.

Fees and Sponsorship

GMJ does not charge manuscript submission fees. If article processing charges (APCs) are introduced in the future, they will be transparently announced on the journal website, including waiver and discount policies.

Sponsorships or advertising, if accepted, do not influence editorial decisions. All funding sources and potential conflicts of interest are disclosed within articles and on the journal website.

Indexing and Discoverability

Indexed in 21 International Scholarly Databases

Crossref · Google Scholar · OpenAlex · BASE · Scilit · CORE · The Lens · OpenAIRE · ERIH+ · ETH Library / swisscovery · Index Copernicus · EuroPub · Zenodo · OpenDOAR · ROAD · ISSN Portal · Wikidata · ISIndexing · ResearchBib · ASCI · OAI-PMH

Applications submitted

DOAJ · SHERPA RoMEO

Strategic Roadmap (2027+)

PMC · MEDLINE · Scopus · Web of Science · EBSCO · ProQuest

→ Full details: Indexing & Discoverability

Contact

Editorial Office — Georgian Medical Journal (GMJ)
Email: editor@gmj.ge · Website: gmj.ge · Published by the Public Health Institute of Georgia (PHIG)