Dr Fiona Godlee to step down as The British Medical Journal’s editor-in-chief

The British Medical Journal (BMJ) announced on the 19th of July that Dr Fiona Godlee, editor-in-chief of the BMJ, will be stepping down at the end of this year, after more than 16 years in the role.

Fiona first joined the BMJ as an assistant editor in 1990 and became editor-in-chief in March 2005, the first woman to lead the journal since its inception in 1840.

Under her editorship, The BMJ became firmly established as one of the world’s most influential medical journals.

Fiona has also been the editorial director of BMJ, the company, helping it to extend its reputation as a pioneering publisher and champion of open access research. In 2011, BMJ launched what has become one of the world’s largest open access medical journals, BMJ Open.

More recently, Fiona played a prominent role in pushing for the UK government’s decision to abandon plans to allow households to mix over the 2020 Christmas period.

Fiona said: “It has been the great privilege and joy of my professional life to work at The BMJ and to help it develop as an international voice for improving the quality of medical research and practice. I’m deeply grateful to everyone I’ve worked with over the years – mentors, colleagues, advisors and contributors around the world, and I’m immensely proud of The BMJ team – there can be no more intelligent, creative and professional group of people.”

Chris Jones, BMJ’s Chief Executive Officer said: “Fiona has led The BMJ with great energy and integrity and I want to thank her for her dedication and huge contribution to BMJ’s mission of helping to create a healthier world. The pandemic has seen unprecedented interest in what we publish and Fiona has shown extraordinary leadership, compassion, and clarity of thinking during this challenging time.”