JAMA Surgery

JAMA Surgery
Title	JAMA Surgery
Discipline	Surgery
Abbreviation	JAMA Surg.
Publisher	American Medical Association
Country	United States
History	1960–present
Frequency	Monthly
Impact	9.0

JAMA Surgery is a peer-reviewed medical journal specializing in clinical and translational research in surgical practice, perioperative care, and surgical education. Published by the American Medical Association, the journal serves as a forum for original research, systematic reviews, clinical trials, and policy analyses relevant to surgeons, clinicians, and health systems. It connects surgical scholarship with developments across medicine, public health, and biomedical science.

History

The journal originated in the mid-20th century amid reforms in surgical training and hospital accreditation influenced by institutions such as the American College of Surgeons, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Mayo Clinic. Early editorial boards included leaders associated with Harvard Medical School, Stanford University School of Medicine, and University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Over decades, the journal documented shifts prompted by events and policies linked to Medicare, Medicaid, and the Hill-Burton Act as well as guideline efforts from organizations like the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Landmark eras in the journal paralleled milestones such as the development of laparoscopy, advances from the National Institutes of Health, and the rise of subspecialties including cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery, orthopaedic surgery, plastic surgery, and transplantation from centers like Cleveland Clinic and University of California, San Francisco.

Scope and Content

The journal publishes research spanning general surgery and subspecialties, including studies originating at institutions such as Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Mount Sinai Hospital (New York City), Baylor College of Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, and Duke University School of Medicine. Content types include randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, case-control analyses, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and practice guidelines produced in collaboration with bodies like the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, Society of Critical Care Medicine, American Society of Anesthesiologists, and European Society of Surgical Oncology. The journal has featured work on procedures and technologies tied to robotic surgery developments from Intuitive Surgical, innovations in endovascular surgery influenced by research at Johns Hopkins University, and oncologic surgery research connected to centers such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Editorial Leadership and Staff

Editorial leadership has included editors recruited from leading medical schools and hospitals, reflecting affiliations across Yale School of Medicine, University of Chicago Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The editorial office interacts with advisory boards comprising representatives from professional bodies including the American Board of Surgery, Royal College of Surgeons of England, Canadian Medical Association, and specialty societies like the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma. Peer reviewers are often faculty from institutions such as University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, Monash University Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, and University College London.

Publication and Access

Published monthly by the American Medical Association, the journal is distributed to subscribers and institutional libraries including those at Library of Congress, National Library of Medicine, and university libraries across the Ivy League and major public research universities. Access models have evolved alongside mandates from funders such as the Wellcome Trust, National Institutes of Health, and policies like the Public Access Policy in various jurisdictions, prompting hybrid and open-access options similar to arrangements used by other publishers such as Elsevier and Springer Nature. The journal’s platform integrates editorial management systems comparable to those used by The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine.

Abstracting and Indexing

The journal is indexed in major bibliographic services and databases, facilitating discoverability via MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and specialist surgical databases used by libraries at institutions like University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and Johns Hopkins University. Metadata are incorporated into citation indices maintained by organizations such as Clarivate Analytics and bibliometric aggregators used by funding agencies including the European Research Council and National Science Foundation.

Impact and Reception

The journal’s impact factor and citation metrics are tracked by services such as Journal Citation Reports and altmetric providers employed by universities like Stanford University. Its articles have influenced guidelines from bodies such as the American Heart Association and Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and have been cited in policy discussions in venues including the Institute of Medicine and National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. High-profile studies have affected clinical practice at hospitals including St. Bartholomew's Hospital, Royal Melbourne Hospital, and Addenbrooke's Hospital.

Notable Articles and Contributions

Notable contributions have included randomized trials and landmark observational studies often originating from collaborations involving NHS England, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, University of California, Los Angeles, and Emory University School of Medicine. Influential meta-analyses cited by guideline committees from the American Society of Clinical Oncology and consensus statements influenced by the European Association for Endoscopic Surgery reflect the journal’s role in shaping perioperative management, surgical oncology, trauma protocols, and quality-improvement frameworks implemented in systems such as Veterans Health Administration and global initiatives coordinated with Doctors Without Borders.

Category:Medical journals Category:Surgery journals