Updated 28/08/2026
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Plain-language summary of research published in the Georgian Medical Journal. Written for the general public by the GMJ News editorial team.
Anyone can put the word “journal” on a website. What actually separates a legitimate scientific publication from the thousands of predatory imitations flooding academia? An editorial in the inaugural issue of the Georgian Medical Journal answers by full disclosure — laying out its own transparency architecture, editorial standards, and governance, in numbers, rather than simply asserting credibility.
Reporting the Numbers on Volume 1, Issue 1
The editorial reports GMJ’s own initial performance data: submission volume, acceptance and rejection rates, authorship diversity, and content scope for the first issue — the kind of self-reported operational transparency that most new journals simply don’t publish, and that predatory journals actively avoid.
The Standards Actually Adopted
GMJ describes implementing international editorial standards adherence to CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA, CARE, and SQUIRE reporting guidelines — the standard checklists used across legitimate biomedical publishing for trials, observational studies, systematic reviews, case reports, and quality-improvement studies respectively — aligned with COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) and ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) recommendations, the two bodies whose standards define what a trustworthy medical journal looks like structurally.
At a glance — the headline figures.
What stands out is what the editorial doesn’t hide: it explicitly acknowledges current limitations, including the absence of indexing in major databases and its use of interim DOI assignment via Zenodo rather than a Crossref-registered prefix at launch — alongside a stated roadmap for indexing and editorial expansion. Combined with an integrated knowledge-translation strategy (100% podcast coverage of every published article, distributed across seven global platforms), the editorial positions GMJ as a transparent, regionally anchored, internationally oriented journal — one that is showing its foundations rather than asking readers to simply take its legitimacy on faith.
Read the Original Research
Original article: How to Launch an Honest Medical Journal: GMJ Shows Its Foundations
Published in: Georgian Medical Journal, Vol. 1 No. 1 (2026)
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19153914
📄 Read the full article at gmj.ge →
Georgian Medical Journal (GMJ) · ISSN 3088-4322 · gmj.ge · Open Access CC BY 4.0 · Published by the Public Health Institute of Georgia (PHIG). This summary is an independent editorial product of GMJ News; for clinical decisions, consult the original peer-reviewed article and a qualified professional.
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Disclaimer. This article is health journalism intended for general information and education. It is not medical advice and is not a substitute for professional diagnosis or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider about your individual circumstances. Full disclaimer →
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Editorial standards. This article was produced under the GMJ News editorial process, with oversight by the GMJ Editorial Board. Our editorial process. Spotted an error? Contact the editorial team.
