JAMA, published continuously since 1883, is an international peer-reviewed general medical journal published 48 times per year. JAMA is the most widely circulated medical journal in the world. JAMA is published in multiple international editions and languages; the online version is made freely available to institutions in developing countries. JAMA's impact factor is 23.2 (the impact factor is a measure of citation rate per article, and is calculated by dividing 1 year's worth of citations to a journal's articles published in the previous 2 years by the number of major articles [eg, research papers, reviews] published by that journal in those 2 years). JAMA's acceptance rate is approximately 8% of the nearly 6000 solicited and unsolicited manuscripts it receives annually; its average time from submission to publication is 113 days and average time from receipt to rejection is 7 days (for additional information, see the JAMA editorial). The Editor-in-Chief of JAMA is Catherine DeAngelis, MD, MPH (see JAMA Editors and Publishers).

JAMA's Key and Critical Objectives

Key Objective
To promote the science and art of medicine and the betterment of the public health

Critical Objectives

1. To maintain the highest standards of editorial integrity independent of any special interests
2. To publish original, important, well-documented, peer-reviewed articles on a diverse range of medical topics
3. To provide physicians with continuing education in basic and clinical science to support informed clinical decisions
4. To enable physicians to remain informed in multiple areas of medicine, including developments in fields other than their own
5. To improve health and health care internationally by elevating the quality of medical care, disease prevention, and research
6. To foster responsible and balanced debate on issues that affect medicine and health care
7. To anticipate important issues and trends in medicine and health care
8. To inform readers about nonclinical aspects of medicine and public health, including the political, philosophic, ethical, legal, environmental, economic, historical, and cultural
9. To recognize that, in addition to these specific objectives, THE JOURNAL has a social responsibility to improve the total human condition and to promote the integrity of science
10. To achieve the highest level of ethical medical journalism and to produce a publication that is timely, credible, and enjoyable to read