Pharmaceutical Journal vs The BMJ
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pharmaceutical Journal
Stay updated with the latest pharmacy news, analysis, and learning articles. Access in-depth insights on drugs, pharmacy practice, and healthcare policy. This resource provides authoritative peer-reviewed content for professionals in the pharmaceutical sciences.
- Daily updated pharmacy news
- Analysis and features on medicines
- Learning articles and CPD
- Insight into drug development
- Healthcare policy updates
- Peer-reviewed resources
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Keep in touch with the world of pharmacy and medicines with The Pharmaceutical Journal app. Updated daily, you can access the latest content from The Pharmaceutical Journal on your iPhone or iPad at home, at work and on the move. In The Pharmaceutical Journal app you’ll find the latest news, analysis, features, opinion and learning articles, providing insight and knowledge about drugs, pharmacy practice, medicines use and healthcare policy in the context of the pharmacy profession and pharmaceutical sciences. The Pharmaceutical Journal publishes authoritative peer-reviewed resources on the clinical management of disease in relation to medicines and up-to-date information about advances in pharmacy and drug development, along with review articles, perspectives and evidence-based CPD articles covering topics from drug discovery to clinical pharmacology and pharmacy. You can access the app for free if you are a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society or have a personal subscription to the pharmaceutical-journal.com website. The Pharmaceutical Journal is published by Pharmaceutical Press, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s knowledge business.
The BMJ
Access a leading general medical journal for researchers, clinicians, and policymakers. Stay updated with practice-changing research, expert columns, and embedded video content. Enjoy offline access to downloaded issues and earn CME points.
- Read leading medical research
- Apply practice-changing takeaways
- Access trusted, data-supported news
- Offline access to downloaded issues
- Earn CME points
- Read ahead of print
- Embedded video content
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Online, The BMJ is one of the world’s leading general medical journals for researchers, educators, clinicians and policy-makers. The BMJ is the house journal of British medicine, owned by Britain’s doctors. The BMJ app lets you - read what the world's leading doctors read - apply practice-changing takeaways - trust news supported by data - advance your career - read columnists who get what it means to do your job - search downloaded issues - read ahead of print The BMJ app brings you the latest weekly issue including: - Offline access: handy for planes, trains and automobiles, or wherever there’s no wi-fi - Selected news articles and columnists - Education articles, CME points - Research articles and reviews - Search through downloaded issues - Video content embedded - FREE TO BMA MEMBERS AND PERSONAL SUBSCRIBERS Use your BMA membership credentials, or personal subscriber details to log in Not a BMA member or personal subscriber? Then subscribe to The BMJ for £10.49 a month, where the first month is free. You’ll get instant access to every issue published since January 2017! Purchasing a subscription to The BMJ app at a cost of £10.49 a month will give you access to all the app editions of The BMJ. A monthly purchase will be applied to your iTunes account at the end of the first month trial. Subscriptions will automatically renew at a cost of £10.49 a month unless cancelled within 24-hours before the end of the current period. You can cancel anytime or turn off auto-renew with your iTunes account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial will be forfeited if you purchase a subscription. For more information, see our terms and conditions https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj-website-terms-and-conditions-0 and privacy policy https://www.bmj.com/company/your-privacy/. If you experience any problems, please email customer support on support@bmj.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: The BMJ at 4.2 against Pharmaceutical Journal's 1.0. The BMJ also leads on review sentiment (57% vs 19%) and ratings volume (13 vs 1). Pharmaceutical Journal's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. The BMJ sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $11.49 per month. Pharmaceutical Journal asks for nothing beyond the download.
The BMJ holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The BMJ has 13 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 19% of Pharmaceutical Journal's written reviews are positive against 57% of The BMJ's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pharmaceutical Journal | The BMJ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.0 (1 ratings) | 4.2 (13 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 19.0% of reviews | 57.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 13 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 14.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 26 MB | 241 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain | BMJ Group |
Customer experience
Pharmaceutical Journal
The BMJ
Bugs and requests
Pharmaceutical Journal
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
The BMJ
Reported bugs
38 issues- App won’t open on iPhone
- App always asks to restore purchase
- Account does not exist
- Often doesn’t allow access to most recent edition
- Poor updating of editions
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- Does not come up quickly
- Poor access
- Often doesn’t work
- Not up to date
- Can’t link to previous articles
- Links open in app instead of browser
- Can’t get back to menu
- No way back to contents page
- Only way out is to force quit
- Freezes after one article
- No obvious back button
- Can’t access app despite paying
- Links open in app instead of browser
- No browser functionality
- Rotation bug
- Requires quitting app every time
- Not working with BMA sign in
- New BMJs do not download
- Journals not added promptly
- Slow to update issues
- Never seems to update well
- Not working at all since updated
- User unfriendly now
- Unable to download new issue
- Get into older ones
- Downloading system hit and miss
- Syncing issues
- No longer receiving new issues
- Screen goes white repeatedly
- Loses place
- Resets to top of article
- Incompatible with Safari
- No direct way of opening articles in any browser
Requested features
10 requests- Copy figures and tables to more apps directly
- Copy figures and tables to more apps directly eg Twitter lectures etc
- Would be nice to be able to export text/tables/flow charts with a click
- Would like a bit less subscription payment
- Please see title! (Dark mode)
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- Please fix rotation bug
- Could integrate with BMJ learning
- Get with the times
- If developers could fix this it would certainly be a 5 star app
- If they add a direct share button I'll give it 5 ✳️✳️✳️✳️✳️
In-app purchases
Pharmaceutical Journal
No in-app purchases
The BMJ
- The BMJ (1 month)1 Month trial$11.491 Month
Questions
Is Pharmaceutical Journal free?
Is The BMJ free?
Which has better reviews, Pharmaceutical Journal or The BMJ?
Do Pharmaceutical Journal or The BMJ have ads?
Which is updated more often, Pharmaceutical Journal or The BMJ?
Other comparisons
