A Study on the Standardized Construction of Official Websites for Chinese Medical Journals to Meet International Communication Needs: Evidence from a Survey of Chinese and International General Medical Journals

In the context of open science and the rapid development of digital scholarly communication, official journal websites and English-language web pages have become essential platforms for international dissemination, academic visibility, and compliance with global publishing standards. This study aims to investigate the current status of official website construction among Chinese and international medical journals, identify existing gaps in website standardization and international communication, and propose practical strategies to facilitate the internationalization of Chinese medical journals. Using June 2025 as the reference time point, the study was conducted involving 135 medical journals divided into five groups: Peking University Core-indexed general medical journals (Group A), non-core medical university journals (Group B), non-core general medical journals (Group C), important international databases-indexed domestic general medical journals (Group D), and Web of Science-indexed international medical journals (Group E). A quantitative evaluation framework comprising 32 indicators was established to assess website quality across three dimensions: basic journal information and website functions, copyright and open access (OA) policies, and publication ethics and research integrity. Each journal website was systematically evaluated using a standardized scoring system, enabling comparisons among different journal categories. The results demonstrated a clear hierarchical pattern in website standardization, ranking as follows: Group E > Group D > Group A > Group B > Group C. Among domestic comprehensive Chinese medical journals, 45.3% lacked official English-language web pages, while nearly 60% of the existing English web pages were inconsistent with their Chinese counterparts. Compared with international journals, domestic journals showed substantial deficiencies in the disclosure of OA policies, copyright statements, publication ethics, artificial intelligence-generated content (AIGC) policies, and peer review transparency. Significant differences were also observed among different categories of domestic journals in the above aspects. Furthermore, although the proportion of domestic journals indexed in major international databases remained considerably lower than that of international journals, some leading domestic journals had adopted English-only figures and tables or bilingual presentation formats to improve accessibility for international readers, reflecting an emerging trend toward international-oriented publishing practices. Based on these findings, this study suggests that the internationalization of official websites for Chinese medical journals should evolve beyond basic website construction toward transparent governance, standardized publishing practices, and effective global communication. A phased development strategy combining standardized website infrastructure with progressive content internationalization is recommended. Priority should be given to establishing comprehensive English-language web pages with complete consistency between Chinese and English content, while aligning website policies with international publishing standards and database requirements by clearly disclosing copyright and OA policies, publication ethics, AIGC guidelines, and peer review procedures. In addition, developing journal clusters or shared publishing platforms could improve efficiency and reduce the costs of standardized website construction. The integration of artificial intelligence technologies for bilingual publishing, real-time website translation, and multilingual content management, together with the development of independent publishing platforms and multimedia communication networks, may further strengthen the international dissemination capacity and global influence of Chinese medical journals.