Georgian Medical Journal (GMJ) is a peer-reviewed, open-access general medical 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.
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.
All research manuscripts submitted to GMJ undergo double-anonymised peer review by at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise and no conflicts of interest. Editorials and invited content may be reviewed at the editor’s discretion. GMJ offers an optional transparent peer-review pathway, under which reviewer reports and author responses may be published alongside the article upon mutual consent. Final publication decisions are made independently by the Editor-in-Chief and editorial team.
Authors may appeal editorial decisions by submitting a reasoned request to the Editorial Office. Complaints related to editorial processes, peer review, or publication ethics are handled transparently and in accordance with COPE recommendations.
GMJ provides immediate and unrestricted open access to all published content. Readers may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles without financial, legal, or technical barriers.
Authors retain copyright of their work and grant GMJ the right of first publication. Unless otherwise stated, articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, permitting sharing and adaptation with appropriate attribution to the authors and the journal.
GMJ adheres to international standards of publication ethics and follows the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Authors must confirm, where applicable, ethics committee approval, informed consent for identifiable material, registration of interventional studies, disclosure of funding sources and competing interests, and provision of data availability statements.
Submitted manuscripts may be screened for plagiarism or text similarity using appropriate editorial tools. Allegations of misconduct, including plagiarism, redundant publication, or data fabrication, are addressed in accordance with COPE guidance.
GMJ encourages authors to deposit datasets, analytical code, and supplementary materials in trusted repositories and to follow established reporting guidelines appropriate to their study design, including CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA, CARE, and SQUIRE.
GMJ ensures long-term digital preservation of its content through participation in the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), which provides distributed archiving of Open Journal Systems (OJS) content using the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) system. This guarantees continued access to published material, including in the event of technical failure or journal discontinuation.
All published articles are assigned persistent Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) via Zenodo, a CERN-operated and OpenAIRE-supported repository, ensuring stable identification, reliable citation, and durable preservation of the scholarly record.
To enhance the societal impact of peer-reviewed research, GMJ maintains a structured public dissemination pathway that is clearly distinct from the scholarly publishing process. In collaboration with SheniEkimi.ge (შენი ექიმი), a Georgian-language public health information platform reaching up to five million views per month, selected evidence-based summaries are disseminated for the general public. This activity does not constitute prior or duplicate publication and has no influence on editorial decision-making, peer review, or author rights.
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.
GMJ is published by PHIG. Sponsorships or advertising, if accepted, do not influence editorial decisions. Editorial decisions are made independently of the publisher, sponsors, or advertisers and are based solely on scholarly merit. All funding sources and potential conflicts of interest are disclosed within articles and on the journal website.
Personal data collected during manuscript submission, peer review, and editorial processing are used exclusively for journal operations, handled securely, and not shared beyond the editorial process except where required by law.
GMJ content is discoverable through OpenAIRE via its integration with Zenodo. The journal is actively pursuing inclusion in additional recognized indexing and abstracting services to further enhance visibility and scholarly impact.
Editorial Office
Georgian Medical Journal (GMJ)
Email: editor@gmj.ge
Website: gmj.ge
A new scientific commentary published in the Georgian Medical Journal examines the ethical and legal foundations for including critically ill patients in clinical research. The article is based on international standards and the Georgian regulatory context and is available in English with a DOI.
An overview of the evolution of ISO 15189—from a technical laboratory standard to a foundation of patient safety and health system trust—highlighting the roles of international organisations, WHO, and modern accreditation frameworks.
