American Medical Association

The American Medical Association (AMA) is an important source of information about public health and the latest medical research. It is one of the most trusted and credible sources for health care professionals seeking the latest clinical medical information and for journalists writing stories for the public about medical and health issues.

The AMA was founded in 1847 by Dr. Nathan Davis. It has been an instrumental organization in advocating higher standards for medical education and for creating a better health care delivery system in the United States. Although the AMA is the country's largest organization of physicians, it also helps physicians help patients, as noted in the AMA's mission statement: “To promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health.” The AMA accomplishes this through several avenues. The AMA's leadership and its House of Delegates set policy on important issues facing medicine, including those in public health. The AMA's Council on Science and Public Health provides information and recommendations on medical, scientific, and public health issues. The AMA also continues to work on improving the U.S. health care system by helping to remove the barriers to access to health care and by working to eliminate racial and ethnic health care disparities.

An important way the AMA provides medical and health information to the public is through its various publications. The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is one of the premier peer-reviewed general medical journals in the world. JAMA started in 1883 with Dr. Davis as the first editor. JAMA is published 48 times a year and is the most widely circulated medical journal in the world. About 6,000 manuscripts are submitted to JAMA each year from researchers around the world who want to have their studies published in the journal. Approximately 8% of the manuscripts actually get published in JAMA. Manuscripts that are accepted go through a strenuous peer-review process in which experts carefully review the papers before publication, statisticians review the data, and manuscript editors work with the authors to make sure the studies conform to the JAMA format and standards for integrity.

JAMA is editorially independent from the AMA, meaning that the AMA has no influence over the content in the medical journal. The JAMA editor in chief has the final word on what is published in the journal. JAMA has several critical objectives in addition to its goal of publishing the best medical science through original, important articles. JAMA[Page 45]also strives to educate physicians, other health care professionals, and the public.

There are nine specialty medical journals published by the AMA called, collectively, the Archives. The journals are Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Archives of General Psychiatry, Archives of Neurology, Archives of Dermatology, Archives of Surgery, Archives of Ophthalmology, Archives of Internal Medicine, Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, and Archives of Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery. These journals are published once a month except for Archives of Internal Medicine, which is bimonthly, and Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, which is published every other month. Similar to JAMA, the Archives journals are editorially independent from the AMA. The JAMA and Archives family of 10- peer-reviewed journals makes a strong presence in the medical research world.

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