This month we’re shining our journal spotlight onto Medicina (ISSN 1648-9144), an Open Access journal owned by the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LUHS) that is published monthly online by MDPI.

Here, we discuss Medicina’s history, impressive metrics, and collaborations which makes it a stand-out journal.

Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Dr. Edgaras Stankevičius

Current Impact Factor: 2.4

Current CiteScore: 4.1

Statistics as of October 2025.

A history of Medicina

At over a century old, Medicina pre-dates the modern technology which has become central to its current online dissemination. Rooted in Lithuania’s academic heritage and supported through strong institutional and society collaborations, Medicina has successfully navigated the changing landscape of scientific publishing, transitioning into an esteemed international.

Early development

Medicina’s founder, and first Editor-in-Chief (EiC), Dr. Juozas Žemgulys was an immensely influential figure in the development of Medicina, the Kaunas Medical Society, and the Lithuanian Surgical Society.

The inaugural issue of Medicina was published in 1920 and was initially exclusively published in Lithuanian.

Leadership of Medicina was transferred to Dr. Jonas Staugaitis in 1922. The journal ran until 1944 when publication of the journal would be paused until the re-establishment of Lithuanian Medical Association in 1990.

Becoming Open Access

Following a tripartite agreement between Kaunas University of Medicine, the Lithuanian Medical Association and Vilnius University, Medicina was reorganized in 2001.

Within this transformative period, the journal would begin its commitment to the open dissemination of scientific knowledge, ushering in a new chapter as an Open Access journal.

Shortly after this, Medicina became the first Lithuanian scientific journal to be indexed in Index Medicus and MEDLINE. Further enhancing its visibility, the journal would continue to navigate the evolving world of Open Access, and in 2012, transitioned to publishing exclusively in English.

In 2017, Medicina’s diamond Open Access EU grant was set to expire. To ensure the continued success of Medicina, discussions began its owner, the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, and MDPI. Led by its current EiC, Prof. Dr. Edgaras Stankevičius, the journal started its partnership with MDPI in 2018.

Prof. Dr. Edgaras Stankevičius, Editor-in-Chief (2013 – present)

Under MDPI’s Gold Open Access model, Medicina would experience steady growth, launching its first Special Issue and improving across multiple journal metrics such as CiteScore and Impact Factor. Most importantly, collaboration with MDPI ensured its research remained free for anybody to access, read, or share.

Medicina hit an incredible milestone in 2020: publishing its 1,000^th paper. A testament to the success of collaboration and shared values, MDPI’s partnership with Medicina remains just as powerful in 2025.

Learn more about how transitioning to Gold Open Access developed Medicina.

Aims and scope

Medicina publishes reviews and clinical and experimental investigations. The journal provides an advanced forum for the challenges and developments of medicine, with a focus on the prevention and treatment of global diseases. Committed to the dissemination of impactful medical knowledge, Medicina has become a premier journal in its field.

Medicina’s scope covers a range of medical specialties which includes, but is not limited to, cardiology and cardiovascular medicine, neuroscience, immunology, dermatology, and surgery. A full list of topics in the journal’s scope can be found here.

Journal metrics

The Medicina publication which has received the most citations is a review entitled ‘Tumour Microenvironment’, by Dr. Borros Arneth The review highlights the complexity of the tumour microenviroment amongst existing cancer literature, looking towards its role in tumour development and progression. The review currently holds a notable 1066 citations, making it the journal’s most referenced publication as of October 2025.

Medicina’s Impact Factor (JCR, Clarivate) currently sits at 2.4. However, most impressively, the journal is ranked in Q1 of “Medicine, General & Internal”, within the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) edition of the Journal Citation Report (JCR). Within this elite database, Medicina ranks 78^th of 332 esteemed journals, showing improvement from its Q3 ranking in 2022.

A journal’s CiteScore (Scopus) can also reflect its scholarly impact by calculating the average number of citations received over a certain period. In 2025, Medicina was awarded a CiteScore of 4.1. A testament to the continued success of MDPI’s and Medicina’s partnership, the journal’s CiteScore has seen great growth since transferring publication to MDPI in 2018. Moreover, Medicina is ranked in Q1 for the CiteScore category rank ‘General Medicine’ as of 2025.

Indexing can similarly suggest a journal’s quality and, in the case of Medicina, it is featured across various indexing services. It is indexed within Elsevier (Scopus), Web of Science (SCIE), National Library of Medicine (PubMed/MEDLINE/PMC), DOAJ, and more. See the full list here.

Altmetrics

As of October 2025, Medicina has received 90 mentions in policy documents, 85 mentions in clinical guidelines and 40,874 mentions across social media and various news outlets.

Medicina publications are referenced in policy documents published by leading global organizations such as the World Health Organisation, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, British Thoracic Society, and more.

This highlights the real-world applications of Medicina’s research, positioning itself at the forefront of the scientific conversation.

The Medicina community

By providing various awards, society collaborations, and conferences, Medicina is committed to fostering positive relationships with the academic community which it serves.

Awards

Throughout its participation in MDPI’s awards program, Medicina continues to celebrate and reward the incredible contributions of its scholars. Medicina launched its first Best Paper Award in 2020, embracing MDPI’s mission to inspire, celebrate, and reward the work of its academics.

Currently Medicina has two awards open for application, these are the Travel Award (application deadline: 30^th November 2025) and Best PhD Thesis Award (application deadline: 31^st May 2026). Moreover, awards such as the Outstanding Reviewer Award and the Editor of Distinction Award remain open for all individuals who have served as a reviewer or an Editorial Board Member for Medicina.

For more information on Medicina’s awards, visit its awards page.

Society collaborations and institutional partnerships

Society collaborations and institutional partnerships have been hugely influential towards the journal’s continued success. Honouring its European roots, Medicina maintains strong partnerships with institutions and societies. These include:

• Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania
• Lithuanian Medical Association, Lithuania
• Riga Stradins University, Latvia
• University of Latvia, Latvia
• University of Tartu, Estonia
• Vilnius University, Lithuania

If you are a member of any of these institutions or societies, reach out to your representative to learn more about the benefits of publishing with MDPI, including discounts on article processing charges (APC).

Learn more about Medicina’s institution and society collaborations.

Conferences and webinars

For journals, conferences present a valuable opportunity to connect with their wider academic community.

Organized by Medicina, The 2nd International Electronic Conference on Medicine will take place online between 11^th and 13^th November 2025. The conference invites researchers and medical practitioners to contribute original findings, novel ideas, scientific concepts related to the field of Neurology.

For more information, click here.

Medicina will also be hosting a webinar on Endometriosis-Associated Infertility on 27^th  November 2025. The webinar will explore the latest advancements in treating infertility linked to endometriosis.

Webinars facilitate connection between scholars across the world, removing geographical barriers which may prevent researchers attending in-person conferences.

If you are interested in attending or accessing the recording, you can find all the important details here.

Medicina benefits from an expansive scholarly network. Accordingly, its authors, reviewers, and readers are warmly invited to a series of upcoming events hosted by other MDPI journals.

Click here to learn more about upcoming events.

Testimonials

“My experience of the publication process has been very good. The work has been reviewed rigorously and conscientiously by reviewers who knew the subject matter and were experts in scientific publications. The whole process has been carried out in a short time and constant and fluid communication with the editorial process has been maintained.” – Secundino Fernandez, University of Navarra, Spain.

“My experience with the reviewing process has left a lasting positive impression. I feel encouraged to continue my engagement and contribute further, knowing that the process is not only rigorous but also thoughtfully executed. Thank you for maintaining such high standards and for providing a platform that fosters growth and improvement.” – Sanja Vujovic Ristic, University of Kragujevac, Serbia.

Submitting a manuscript

Manuscripts for Medicina should be submitted online at susy.mdpi.com. Prior to submitting, we recommend that authors explore the useful resources on our author guidelines webpage.

The submitting author, who is generally the corresponding author, is responsible for the manuscript during the submission and peer review process.

To submit your manuscript, register and login to the submission website. Once you have registered, click here to go to the submission form. All co-authors can see the manuscript details in the submission system if they register and login using the e-mail address provided during manuscript submission.

If you’d like to find out more about Medicina and its publication process, please visit the journal website.

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