International Journal of Medical Students

What International Journal of Medical Students does

The International Journal of Medical Students (IJMS) is a non-profit, open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal (ISSN 2076-6327) founded in 2009 to publish original medical research and experiences authored by medical students and recently graduated physicians (MBBS, MD, DO, MD/MSc, MD/PhD), with mandatory senior researcher co-authorship to ensure quality. The journal serves medical schools globally and is currently publishing Vol. 14 No. 1 (2026). It is hosted by Pitt Open Library Publishing at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operates on Open Journal Systems (OJS) 3.3.0.21, an open-source publishing platform maintained by the Public Knowledge Project.

IJMS runs an integrated ecosystem of products beyond the core journal, including the annual World Conference of Medical Student Research (WCMSR), now in its fifth edition (WCMSR 2026), and two webinar series — MedEd Research Webinars and Research Pathways — that support medical education and career navigation. Content is distributed globally under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license, with dissemination through the journal website, RSS/Atom feeds, Twitter (@TheIJMS), and a YouTube channel for virtual conference streaming. WCMSR 2026 drew nearly 200 submissions from participants across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

IJMS operates on a non-commercial, donation-funded model with no article processing charges to authors and no subscription fees to readers. Revenue is effectively zero in the commercial sense; the organization does not pursue venture funding or commercial revenue generation, and copyright is held by the IJMS Executive Committee. The organization is governed by an Executive Committee with Francisco Javier Bonilla-Escobar serving as principal contact and Editor-in-Chief.

Name

International Journal of Medical Students

Legal name

International Journal of Medical Students

Website

https://ijms.info

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The International Journal of Medical Students (IJMS) is a non-profit, open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal founded in 2009 that publishes medical research authored by medical students with senior researcher oversight, complemented by the WCMSR conference and webinar programming, and hosted by the University of Pittsburgh.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Journal Publishing

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAGAFAB

Medical, Clinical & Biomedical Scholarly Publishing

Education/Educational Publishing & Learning Content/Academic & Scholarly Publishing (Journals, Monographs)

SECONDARYMPAJABAC

Academic & Scholarly Journals Publishing (Peer-Reviewed)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/Educational & Academic Publishing (Textbooks, Scholarly, STM)

SECONDARYEDAGAFAJ

Open Access Scholarly Journals & Monographs

Education/Educational Publishing & Learning Content/Academic & Scholarly Publishing (Journals, Monographs)

SECONDARYEDAGAFAL

Conference Proceedings & Research Reports Publishing

Education/Educational Publishing & Learning Content/Academic & Scholarly Publishing (Journals, Monographs)

Keywords

• Peer-reviewed medical journal
• Open access publishing
• Medical student research
• Scientific journal publishing
• Academic publishing platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Pittsburgh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Open Access Publishing (Donation-funded): IJMS operates as an open-access journal that does not charge readers or authors. The journal relies on donations to support its operations and publishing activities.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

IJMS publishes an open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal featuring original research and experiences across all fields of medicine authored by medical students and early-career researchers with senior researcher co-authorship. It complements the journal with the annual World Conference of Medical Student Research (WCMSR) for live presentations and ongoing educational webinar series (MedEd Research and Research Pathways) for mentorship and research training.

Product overview

The International Journal of Medical Students operates a multi-platform ecosystem supporting medical student research. At its core is the IJMS journal, an open-access publication requiring medical student co-authorship with senior researcher oversight. Complementing the journal are the World Conference of Medical Student Research (WCMSR) for live presentation opportunities, and webinar programs (MedEd Research and Research Pathways) for ongoing education and mentorship. All content is published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license and powered by Open Journal Systems software.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• World Conference of Medical Student Research (WCMSR): Annual international conference organized by IJMS as a complementary platform for medical student research presentations and global collaboration.

Products and services

• International Journal of Medical Students (IJMS) An open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal (ISSN 2076-6327) that publishes original research and experiences in all fields of medicine, requiring at least one medical student or recently graduated physician author accompanied by a senior researcher. Targeted at early-career medical scientists globally.
• World Conference of Medical Student Research (WCMSR) An annual international conference that provides a platform for medical students and early-career researchers to present their research, receive mentorship, and engage in global collaboration.
• MedEd Research Webinars Educational webinars focused on medical education research topics, providing training and knowledge sharing for medical students.
• Research Pathways Webinars Webinar series designed to help medical students navigate research opportunities and career pathways in academic medicine.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Pitt Open Library PublishingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe journal is published by Pitt Open Library Publishing, the University of Pittsburgh's open access publishing division, which provides infrastructure and institutional support for the journal's operations.
• Public Knowledge Project (PKP)coreTechnology or IntegrationIJMS uses Open Journal Systems (OJS) 3.3.0.21, an open source journal management and publishing software developed and supported by PKP under GNU General Public License. PKP provides the underlying technology platform for the journal.
• World Conference of Medical Student Research (WCMSR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWCMSR is the companion annual conference to IJMS, providing a platform for medical student research presentations. The 5th edition (WCMSR 2026) took place virtually on July 11-12, 2026, with nearly 200 submissions from worldwide participants.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• PLOS ONE: Megascale open-access journal accepting medically-relevant student research across all disciplines; competes for the same author pool and provides free global dissemination under CC-BY.
• Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR): Open-access peer-reviewed journal covering digital health and medical research broadly, frequently publishing student-led work; a more established open-access venue in the same ecosystem as IJMS.
• Academic Medicine (AAMC): Flagship journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges; publishes medical education research including student-authored work and operates in an overlapping scholarly niche with higher prestige.
• BMC Medical Education: Established open-access journal in the BMC portfolio covering medical education research, including work by early-career authors; a larger, more indexed competitor to IJMS in the same publication category.

Direct peers

• BMJ Student: Student-focused section of the BMJ offering publication and resource platforms aimed at medical students; directly overlaps with IJMS's mission of supporting early-career medical researchers.
• Journal of Young Investigators: Undergraduate and early-career research journal that, like IJMS, focuses on providing first-publication opportunities for trainees across the sciences including medicine.
• Cureus: Open-access medical journal that emphasizes ease of submission and welcomes authors without traditional publication barriers, including students and residents, similar to IJMS's inclusive ethos.

Emerging players

• medRxiv: Preprint server for health sciences that allows medical students to disseminate work rapidly without peer review; adjacent to IJMS in serving the same early-career author community.
• Research Square: Preprint and early-publication platform widely used by medical students and early-career researchers to share work before or in lieu of traditional journal publication; competes for early-stage submission attention.

Others

• The Lancet Student: Student-focused companion to The Lancet, offering article and commentary opportunities for medical students globally; an ecosystem participant rather than a direct journal competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TheIJMS
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ijms
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheIJMS
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/international-journal-of-medical-students

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about International Journal of Medical Students