Best Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Journals (2026)
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Type your field and pick it to see the top-ranked journals — every journal listed is indexed in PubMed, DOAJ, or a curated core source list.
Top Orthopedics and Sports Medicine journals
| # | Journal | h-index | Citations/paper (2 yr) | Tier | Access | Indexed in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Journal of sport and health science/Journal of Sport and Health Science Elsevier BV | 106 | 9.8 | Leading field journal | Open access · APC — | PubMed · DOAJ · Core |
| 2 | Current Osteoporosis Reports Springer Science+Business Media | 104 | 8.81 | Leading field journal | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 3 | Sports Medicine Springer Science+Business Media | 317 | 8.15 | Leading field journal | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 4 | British Journal of Sports Medicine BMJ | 311 | 6.05 | Leading field journal | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 5 | Journal of Bone and Mineral Research Oxford University Press | 332 | 5.24 | Leading field journal | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 6 | International Journal of Sports Medicine Thieme Medical Publishers (Germany) | 179 | 4.73 | Leading field journal | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 7 | Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports Wiley | 191 | 3.82 | Solid specialist | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 8 | Osteoporosis International Springer Science+Business Media | 242 | 3.51 | Solid specialist | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 9 | Bone Elsevier BV | 271 | 3.39 | Leading field journal | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 10 | Journal of Sports Sciences Taylor & Francis | 215 | 2.97 | Solid specialist | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 11 | Calcified Tissue International Springer Science+Business Media | 200 | 2.95 | Solid specialist | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 12 | Journal of Bone and Mineral Metabolism Springer Science+Business Media | 100 | 2.92 | Solid specialist | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 13 | European Journal of Sport Science Taylor & Francis | 109 | 2.9 | Solid specialist | Open access · APC — | PubMed · DOAJ · Core |
| 14 | International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance Human Kinetics | 126 | 2.83 | Solid specialist | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 15 | Sports Health A Multidisciplinary Approach SAGE Publishing | 98 | 2.65 | Solid specialist | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 16 | European Journal of Applied Physiology Springer Science+Business Media | 222 | 2.57 | Solid specialist | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 17 | Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology Elsevier BV | 147 | 2.29 | Solid specialist | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 18 | Foot & Ankle International SAGE Publishing | 167 | 2.19 | Accessible & legitimate | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 19 | The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Lippincott Williams & Wilkins | 217 | 2.17 | Accessible & legitimate | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 20 | Journal of science and medicine in sport Elsevier BV | 164 | 2.02 | Accessible & legitimate | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 21 | Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport Taylor & Francis | 155 | 1.62 | Accessible & legitimate | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 22 | Journal of Clinical Densitometry Elsevier BV | 97 | 1.59 | Accessible & legitimate | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 23 | Pediatric Exercise Science Human Kinetics | 99 | 1.52 | Accessible & legitimate | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 24 | Journal of Athletic Training National Athletic Trainers' Association | 134 | 1.48 | Accessible & legitimate | Open access · APC — | PubMed · Core |
| 25 | The Journal of Foot & Ankle Surgery Elsevier BV | 98 | 1.09 | Accessible & legitimate | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 26 | Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine Lippincott Williams & Wilkins | 145 | 1.01 | Accessible & legitimate | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 27 | Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise Lippincott Williams & Wilkins | 362 | 0.48 | Leading field journal | Subscription | PubMed · Core |
| 28 | Foot & Ankle SAGE Publishing | 111 | 0 | Accessible & legitimate | Subscription | PubMed |
Frequently asked questions
How does the journal finder work?+
You paste your title and abstract; an AI model classifies the paper into biomedical subfields and honestly assesses its scope, then ranks a shortlist of verified journals from our dataset of 2,600+ biomedical journals. Every metric shown comes from the dataset — the AI can never invent a journal or a number.
Is it free?+
Yes — free, no signup, no hidden trial. There's a fair-use limit of 15 matches per day. Browsing ranked journals by field is unlimited.
How is this different from JANE or the Elsevier Journal Finder?+
Publisher tools like Elsevier's, Springer's, or Wiley's finders only recommend their own journals. JANE is cross-publisher but hasn't changed since 2007 and can surface journals of unverified quality from PubMed. This finder is cross-publisher, only shows journals verified in trusted indexes, and calibrates recommendations to your paper's realistic tier.
How do you keep predatory journals out?+
By construction: every journal in our dataset must be indexed in DOAJ, PubMed, or a curated core source list, with a real citation record. Journals with no verified quality signals simply never appear — we don't maintain accusatory blacklists.
Is my abstract stored or used to train AI?+
No. Your abstract is processed to generate recommendations and is not stored, logged, or used for model training. We know unpublished work is sensitive.
Which fields are covered?+
All of biomedicine and the life sciences: 38 subfields from molecular biology, immunology, and oncology to public health, pharmacology, neuroscience, plant science, and veterinary medicine.
Why don't you show impact factors?+
The Journal Impact Factor is proprietary to Clarivate and requires a paid license. We show open, verifiable alternatives instead: h-index and 2-year citations per paper from OpenAlex, plus each journal's percentile within its own field — which is more informative for comparing journals in the same specialty.
Where does the data come from?+
From open, verifiable sources: OpenAlex (CC0) for citation metrics, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's PubMed journal list, and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Publishing in the wrong venue has real consequences — in 2019 a U.S. federal court ordered the publisher OMICS Group to pay $50.1 million for deceptive peer-review claims. When in doubt about any journal, use the Think. Check. Submit. checklist at thinkchecksubmit.org.
How do I find top-quartile journals in my field?+
Use the browse section: pick your subfield and the table ranks journals by 2-year citations per paper. Tier 1–2 journals roughly correspond to the top quartile of a field. Each row shows open-access status, publication fees (APC), and which trusted indexes list the journal.
See the actual papers these journals publish
Waffoo Search runs AI-powered literature discovery across 30+ biomedical databases — free.
Try Waffoo SearchData: OpenAlex (CC0) · U.S. National Library of Medicine · DOAJ. Quality signals are informational, refreshed periodically, and are not an endorsement or judgment about any journal; no endorsement by NLM/NIH is implied. Spotted an error? Contact us and we'll review it.

