The British Student Doctor Journal

Name

The British Student Doctor Journal

Legal name

The Foundation for Medical Publishing

Website

https://bsdj.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Medical Journal

NAICS

Document Preparation Services (56141)

akta.pro primary industry

Medical, Clinical & Biomedical Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAB)

Keywords

• Open-access publishing
• Peer-reviewed journal
• Medical education
• Academic publishing
• Medical student research

Headquarters

HQ city

Cardiff

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Institutional Funding: The BSDJ receives funding from Cardiff University School of Medicine and operates as an imprint of Cardiff University Press. No authorship charges (APC) are levied, making it a diamond open-access journal.
2. Zero Revenue from Authors/Readers: As a diamond open-access journal, BSDJ does not charge authors to publish (no APC) and provides all content free to readers. Revenue is derived entirely from institutional support and partnerships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The British Student Doctor Journal (BSDJ) is a peer-reviewed, diamond open-access international journal that publishes medical and surgical research articles, education papers, discussion starters, ward rounds, reviews, and correspondence. The journal is uniquely managed and governed by medical students and resident doctors on a voluntary basis, and operates as an imprint of Cardiff University Press and as a journal of the Academy of Medical Educators (AoME). All content is published under a Creative Commons license with no article processing charges (APCs) for authors and no subscription fees for readers.

Product overview

The British Student Doctor Journal (BSDJ) is a single, unified journal product—a diamond open-access, peer-reviewed medical journal exclusively managed by medical students and resident doctors. The portfolio consists of the core BSDJ publication itself (hosted via Cardiff University Press OJS platform), which accepts Original Research, Education, Discussion Starters, Ward Round, Reviews, and Correspondence article types. Supporting offerings include the BSDJ Blog for non-peer-reviewed posts, an online article submission service, open peer review services managed by Associate Editors, and social media engagement channels. The journal operates on a non-commercial model with no authorship charges, publishing under Creative Commons licensing, and is affiliated with the Academy of Medical Educators (AoME).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The British Student Doctor Journal (BSDJ)

Quantifiable outcome

• Acceptance rate: 16-20%
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Cardiff University PresscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2016The BSDJ is incorporated as an imprint of Cardiff University Press since May 2016. Cardiff University Press provides the Online Journal Systems (OJS) platform for article hosting and submission management. This is a core institutional partnership enabling the journal's open-access publishing operations.
• Cardiff University School of MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2016The BSDJ received initial funding from Cardiff University School of Medicine in March 2016. The journal maintains strong ties with Cardiff University, with founders being final year medical students at Cardiff and several editorial positions affiliated with the institution.
• Academy of Medical Educators (AoME)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016The BSDJ is an official journal of the Academy of Medical Educators (AoME). The Editor-in-Chief is offered complementary attendance to the full calendar of the Academy's events and conferences. Faculty Advisory Board members include AoME leadership, and the journal's ethos aligns with AoME's educational objectives.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• BMJ Student: BMJ Student is the student-facing section of the BMJ, one of the world's most established medical publishers. It overlaps directly with BSDJ's mission of providing a publishing platform for medical students, but operates at vastly larger scale with established indexing, paid editorial infrastructure, and institutional backing from the BMJ.
• The Clinical Teacher: The Clinical Teacher is an established journal for clinicians and educators involved in teaching at the undergraduate and postgraduate level. It overlaps with BSDJ on medical-education content and is closely linked through the BSDJ Faculty Advisory Board (members include an Associate Editor).
• Medical Education: Medical Education is a leading international journal in health professions education published by Wiley. It is materially comparable because it shares BSDJ's medical-education research focus and is the journal where BSDJ's Faculty Advisory Board Chair (Dr Kevin Eva) previously served as Editor-in-Chief for 15 years.
• Academic Medicine: Academic Medicine is the flagship journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, covering physician education and training. It is comparable as a broad incumbent in the medical-education publishing space where BSDJ competes for readership and author attention.

Emerging players

• Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development: This is a SAGE-published open-access journal covering medical education and curriculum development. It targets a similar audience of medical educators and trainees, with comparable article types (research, reviews, educational case studies), though it is not student-managed.
• MedEdPublish: MedEdPublish is an open-access, post-publication peer-reviewed platform for medical education research. It overlaps with BSDJ's medical-education scope and open-access ethos, though it uses a different (post-publication) review model and is not student-led.

Others

• Elsevier ClinicalKey Student: Elsevier ClinicalKey Student is a global medical-education learning platform; its Editor-in-Chief (Dr Philip Xiu) sits on BSDJ's Faculty Advisory Board. It is comparable as an adjacent enabling player in medical-student publishing and learning content, not a direct journal competitor.
• Foundation for Medical Publishing: The Foundation for Medical Publishing is the registered nonprofit parent entity that owns and operates BSDJ. Included to capture the parent-governance relationship; not a comparable peer but an organizational counterparty.

Direct peers

• Medical Student Research Journal (MSRJ): MSRJ is a student-run, peer-reviewed journal publishing original medical research by medical students. It mirrors BSDJ's student-led editorial structure and diamond-OA positioning, serving the same trainee author demographic.
• International Journal of Medical Students (IJMS): IJMS is an international, peer-reviewed journal led by medical students that publishes original research and experiences from trainees worldwide. It is the closest functional peer to BSDJ, sharing the diamond-OA model, student-led governance, and focus on early-career clinician scholarship.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/thebsdj
• Facebookfacebook.com/thebsdj
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thebsdj
• Instagraminstagram.com/thebsdj

Compliance2 records

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 The British Student Doctor Journal