Kuwait Medical Journal
History & Circulation
Formerly called the Journal of the Kuwait Medical Association, the Kuwait Medical Journal (KMJ) was established in 1967. The name of the journal was changed to Kuwait Medical Journal (KMJ) and the format and style were modified with the March 1998 issue. We applied for listing as a signatory journal to the Vancouver Convention, which was approved on January 28, 1998.

KMJ is listed in the Index Medicus for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (IMEMR). KMJ is indexed in EMBASE (Excerpta Medica Database). Currently, the KMJ is issued quarterly and regularly in March, June, September and December. It has a paid circulation of about 7,000, of which 40% is in the Arab world and 60% international.
 
Scope
The journal accepts scientific articles related to clinical or laboratory investigations of relevance to medicine. Reviews, articles, case reports, brief communications, book reviews and letters to the editor are all accepted for consideration. Basic science studies are published under the Section on Experimental Medicine.
 
The Review Process
A three-stage peer-review process has been adopted. All submissions are first screened by the editorial staff to exclude those of obviously poor quality, with inappropriate formats, and whose subject matter is not within the scope of the journal.

English Language and Statistical Consultants then review those which have passed the first stage.

After this initial screening, each manuscript is 'blinded' and sent to at least two reviewers - of which there are currently about 150, the list of which is kept in the Editorial Office. Many of these reviewers are presidents of Royal Colleges, Regius Professors (UK), Departmental Chairpersons and Directors of Institutions. Each manuscript is reviewed for appropriateness, originality, adequate documentation of conclusions, presentation of data and adequacy of references. In addition, the reviewers are asked to provide extensive comments to the editors and to the author(s).

Reviewers are chosen for their proven expertise and their own publishing and scholarly records. Individual reviewers are delegated to deal with a given manuscript according to their own field of interest. Each reviewer is sent on average 2 to 4 articles per year.

The Editorial Board as well as the International and the Regional Advisory Boards' members are eminent researchers in medical sciences and clinical practice.
Approximately 200 manuscripts are submitted per year, including papers on original research, review articles, case reports, descriptions of practice and letters to the editor. At this time, the rate of immediate acceptance is less than 5%. Sixty-five percent are accepted after minor to major revisions, and 30% are rejected.