Best open-access journals for Surgery
The top 40 of 382 Surgery journals, open-access only, ranked by Scimago quartile, then by how central Surgery is to each journal, then OpenAlex cites/paper (2-year window), drawn from a 17,500-venue index. Predatory venues are excluded; the FAQ below gives the exact ranking rule. These are field-wide rankings — for a shortlist matched to your specific paper, paste your title and abstract into the Journal Finder (a free account starts with 25 welcome credits).
Data as of — the date our venue index was last rebuilt from OpenAlex and Scimago.
- 1Journal of Orthopaedic Translation7.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BVOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 2World Journal of Emergency Surgery6.7 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed CentralOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 3Knee Surgery and Related Research6.1 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed CentralOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 4Neurospine5.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Korean Spinal Neurosurgery SocietyOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 5Drug Design Development and Therapy4.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Dove Medical PressOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 6Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research4.2 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed CentralOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 7
- 8Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology4.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer NatureOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 9Transplant International3.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Science+Business MediaOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 10
- 11Bone and Joint Research3.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Journal of Bone and Joint SurgeryOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 12
- 13Bone & Joint Open3.2 cites/paper · Q1 · British Editorial Society of Bone & Joint SurgeryOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 14Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis3.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Japan Atherosclerosis SocietyOpen AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 15The Korean journal of pain3.1 cites/paper · Q1 · The Korean Pain SocietyOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 16Korean Journal of Anesthesiology3.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Korean Society of AnesthesiologistsOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 17Gut and Liver3.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Korean Association for the Study of the LiverOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 18Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine3.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Korean Academy of Rehabilitation MedicineOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 19
- 20Journal of Experimental Orthopaedics2.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer NatureOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 21Clinics in Orthopedic Surgery2.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Korean Orthopaedic AssociationOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 22Arthroscopy Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation2.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BVOpen AccessDOAJScopusPubMed
- 23Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology2.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Lippincott Williams & WilkinsOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 24
- 25
- 26Asian Spine Journal2.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Korean Spine SocietyOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 27
- 28Annals of Gastroenterological Surgery2.1 cites/paper · Q1 · WileyOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 29
- 30Journal of ISAKOS Joint Disorders & Orthopaedic Sports Medicine1.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BVOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 31Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science1.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Yeungnam University College of MedicineOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 32The International Journal of Spine Surgery1.5 cites/paper · Q1 · CIG Media GroupOpen AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 33Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine1.4 cites/paper · Q1 · SAGE PublishingOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 34Journal of Spine Surgery1.4 cites/paper · Q1 · AME Publishing CompanyOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 35JAAOS Global Research and Reviews1.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Wolters KluwerOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 36Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Global Open1.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Wolters KluwerOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 37
- 38
- 39Journal of Vascular Surgery Venous and Lymphatic Disorders1.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BVOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 40Circulation Journal3.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Japanese Circulation SocietyOpen AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
“Cites/paper” is the OpenAlex 2-year citation rate — a transparent signal, not a licensed Impact Factor. Many regional and open-access journals are strong but aren’t covered by Scimago, so they show “no Scimago quartile”; that’s a coverage gap, not a quality judgement.