BMJ Quality: Journal Scope, Fees & Indexing

The search term bmj quality primarily points to BMJ Quality & Safety, an international healthcare journal co-owned by BMJ Publishing Group and The Health Foundation. It also encompasses BMJ’s broader quality portfolio, notably its open-access companion title, BMJ Open Quality (formerly BMJ Quality Improvement Reports, developed from the BMJ Quality improvement platform).

For clinical researchers and healthcare leaders, distinguishing between these publication avenues is vital before drafting or submitting work. While BMJ Quality & Safety is a high-impact hybrid journal focused on healthcare improvement science and systemic patient safety, BMJ Open Quality serves as an open-access forum for local clinical audits and quality improvement projects evaluated on methodological rigor.

What it is

The term bmj quality describes the flagship healthcare improvement publications established by BMJ to foster clinical safety, reduce preventable harm, and evaluate health service delivery. Within academic publishing and clinical practice, researchers encounter this through the bmj quality journal family, which consists of two distinct publications:

BMJ Quality & Safety

BMJ Quality & Safety is a monthly, peer-reviewed hybrid journal covering research, opinion, and analytical frameworks across healthcare quality and safety. Originally founded in 1992 as Quality in Health Care, the journal was renamed Quality & Safety in Health Care in 2002 before adopting its current title, BMJ Quality & Safety, in January 2011 (Volume 20, Issue 1). It serves clinicians, health service researchers, managers, and policy-makers seeking to understand organizational systems, safety culture, and clinical outcomes.

BMJ Open Quality

BMJ Open Quality is a fully open-access companion journal published continuously online. Launched in 2013 as BMJ Quality Improvement Reports, it originated as the publication arm of the BMJ Quality platform—an online workspace designed to guide clinical teams through Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles. In 2017, the title was renamed BMJ Open Quality to publish practical clinical audits, local quality interventions, and educational projects evaluated on methodological transparency rather than conceptual novelty.

Both titles contrast with general medical outlets such as BMJ Open, which covers general medicine without an exclusive focus on healthcare systems engineering.

Who runs it and what it covers

BMJ Quality & Safety is published in London by BMJ Publishing Group and co-owned with The Health Foundation, an independent UK healthcare charity. According to official catalog records from the National Library of Medicine (NLM):

• NLM Unique ID: 101546984
• NLM Title Abbreviation: BMJ Qual Saf
• Print ISSN: 2044-5415
• Electronic ISSN: 2044-5423
• Indexing Status: Currently indexed for MEDLINE / PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase
• Broad Subject Headings: Health Services, Health Services Research
• Publication Frequency: Monthly (12 issues per year)

Core Editorial Scope

The journal focuses on the science of healthcare improvement across health systems and clinical services. Primary areas include:

• Patient safety culture, adverse event reduction, and error prevention
• Healthcare systems engineering, human factors, and ergonomics
• Organizational leadership, teamwork, and clinical workflow design
• Quality indicators, applying frameworks like the Donabedian model of healthcare quality
• Patient and public involvement in clinical care improvement

Out-of-Scope Topics

BMJ defines clear exclusions to preserve the journal’s focus. The editors do not consider:

• Pharmacovigilance studies or drug-safety monitoring
• Standalone study protocols
• Clinical research intended primarily to determine the intrinsic therapeutic efficacy or safety of a specific drug, device, or surgical procedure

Companion Journal Specifications

In contrast to the flagship journal, BMJ Open Quality carries electronic ISSN 2399-6641 (NLM ID: 101710381). As recorded in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), it operates as a Gold Open Access journal with an Article Publishing Charge (APC) of £2,390 GBP, publishing localized clinical audits and regional quality initiatives.

How to search or use it

Authors submitting manuscripts to BMJ Quality & Safety follow a structured seven-step workflow managed through the publisher’s editorial system:

1. Verify scope alignment: Confirm that the manuscript addresses healthcare improvement science rather than clinical efficacy trials, drug comparisons, or unapplied protocols.
2. Format to manuscript guidelines: Structure original research between 3,000 and 4,000 words, with a structured abstract of 250 to 300 words.
3. Include the mandatory Key Messages section: Position a dedicated Key Messages box immediately after the abstract, using three required subheadings:
   • What is already known on this topic
   • What this study adds
   • How this study might affect research, practice or policy
4. Follow reporting guidelines: Format quality improvement manuscripts using SQUIRE 2.0 (Standards for QUality Improvement Reporting Excellence), and review relevant reporting guidelines from the EQUATOR Network reporting standards, such as SAMPL for statistical data and PRISMA for reviews.
5. Log in to ScholarOne Manuscripts: Access the online portal at mc.manuscriptcentral.com/bmjqs via the journal homepage using an author profile linked to an ORCID identifier.
6. Submit files and metadata: Upload the blind manuscript, title page, figures, tables, and disclosures. Submissions undergo single-blind vs double-blind peer review models, where reviewers know author identities.
7. Select the publishing model: Upon acceptance, choose either the subscription route (no fees for publication, page counts, or color figures) or Gold Open Access (CC BY or CC BY-NC licence requiring an APC of £4,370 GBP, unless covered by institutional transformative agreements).

Readers can browse BMJ Quality & Safety online at qualitysafety.bmj.com by issue or keyword, or find indexed articles via PubMed.

Strengths and limits

Evaluating BMJ Quality & Safety requires weighing its editorial authority against practical submission constraints:

Strengths

• High disciplinary authority: Leading global journal in improvement science, providing high visibility among healthcare leaders.
• Institutional co-ownership: The Health Foundation partnership ensures sustained focus on healthcare delivery challenges.
• Bibliographic indexing: Full MEDLINE, PubMed, and Web of Science coverage ensures discoverability across academic search engines.
• No mandatory publication fee: Authors can publish free of charge via the subscription route.
• Translational Key Messages: Standardized summaries help clinical managers rapidly assess practical implications.

Limits

• Rigorous selectivity: Enforces strict standards, rejecting localized projects that lack broader theoretical implications.
• High Open Access fee: Authors seeking immediate Gold Open Access face a £4,370 GBP APC without an institutional agreement.
• Narrow scope boundaries: Efficacy trials, drug studies, and protocol registrations are excluded.
• Single-blind review: Reviewers see author identities, providing less anonymity than double-blind workflows.

Alternatives

Researchers preparing healthcare quality manuscripts have several publishing options across medical publishers:

Journal / Platform	Publisher / Society	Model & APC	Primary Scope & Audience	Key Indexing
BMJ Quality & Safety	BMJ & The Health Foundation	Hybrid (Free / £4,370 Gold OA APC)	Healthcare improvement science, patient safety, human factors, and health systems research	MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus
BMJ Open Quality	BMJ Publishing Group	Gold Open Access (£2,390 APC via DOAJ)	Practical clinical audits, local quality improvement interventions, and educational projects	PubMed Central, DOAJ, Scopus
International Journal for Quality in Health Care (IJQHC)	Oxford University Press & ISQua	Hybrid (Free / Optional Gold OA APC)	Health systems evaluation, international quality accreditation, and healthcare standards	MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus
Implementation Science	BMC / Springer Nature	Gold Open Access (APC applies)	Research methodology and testing of strategies to promote evidence uptake in clinical practice	MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus
BMJ Open	BMJ Publishing Group	Gold Open Access (APC applies)	General clinical and epidemiological research across specialties, judged on methodological rigor	MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, DOAJ

FAQ

What is the primary difference between BMJ Quality & Safety and BMJ Open Quality?

BMJ Quality & Safety is a selective, monthly hybrid journal publishing original research and theoretical frameworks with broad implications for health systems and safety science. BMJ Open Quality is an open-access companion journal dedicated to local quality improvement projects, clinical audits, and regional interventions evaluated on methodological rigor rather than conceptual novelty.

Is BMJ Quality & Safety an open access journal?

BMJ Quality & Safety is a hybrid journal. Authors can publish through the traditional subscription route at no charge, or choose Gold Open Access by paying an Article Publishing Charge (APC) of £4,370 GBP (or using institutional agreements) to release articles under a CC BY or CC BY-NC licence.

What reporting guidelines are required for submissions to BMJ Quality & Safety?

The journal strongly encourages SQUIRE 2.0 (Standards for QUality Improvement Reporting Excellence) for quality improvement reports. Systematic reviews must follow PRISMA guidelines, and statistical analyses should adhere to SAMPL guidelines.

Where can authors submit manuscripts for BMJ Quality & Safety?

Submissions are accepted through the official ScholarOne Manuscripts portal (mc.manuscriptcentral.com/bmjqs), accessible via the author instructions on the BMJ Quality & Safety homepage.

Sources

• National Library of Medicine. NLM Catalog: BMJ quality & safety (NLM ID 101546984, ISSN 2044-5415 / 2044-5423). Bethesda (MD): National Center for Biotechnology Information; accessed November 9, 2026.
• National Library of Medicine. NLM Catalog: BMJ open quality (NLM ID 101710381, ISSN 2399-6641) and BMJ quality improvement reports (NLM ID 101629512). Bethesda (MD): National Center for Biotechnology Information; accessed November 9, 2026.
• BMJ Publishing Group and The Health Foundation. BMJ Quality & Safety: Aims & Scope, Article Types, and Instructions for Authors. London: BMJ; accessed November 9, 2026.
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Journal Record: BMJ Open Quality (E-ISSN 2399-6641). DOAJ API; accessed November 9, 2026.