About Monatsschrift Kinderheilkunde

Monatsschrift Kinderheilkunde

Monatsschrift Kinderheilkunde is the German-language journal for pediatrics and adolescent medicine, published monthly by the Springer Medizin Verlag, part of Springer Nature. Founded in December 1902 as the Monatsschrift für Kinderheilkunde by Arthur Keller, it is the organ of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendmedizin (DGKJ) and the Österreichische Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendheilkunde (ÖGKJ) — the scientific societies of pediatrics in Germany and Austria. With an IVW-audited sold circulation of 19,820 copies (Q2/2022), it serves the continuing education of office-based and hospital pediatricians across the German-speaking world. Its program — comprehensive review articles on a current focus topic, freely submitted originals, CME-certified training, and the rubrics "Bild des Monats," "Pädiatrie aktuell," "Arzneimitteltherapie," and a readers' forum — makes it the practice journal of German pediatrics: scientifically grounded, clinically applicable, and, as the subscription services put it, an internationally respected publication organ.

Overview

The journal presents itself as the monthly continuing-education journal for pediatricians. Its editorial program covers all areas of pediatrics and adolescent medicine in a practice-oriented manner: prevention, diagnostic procedures, complication management, and modern therapy strategies. The core of each issue is the comprehensive review articles on a current focus topic (Leitthema) — secured knowledge on diagnostics and therapy with high relevance for daily work, giving the reader concrete recommendations for action. Freely submitted originals enable the presentation of important clinical studies and serve the scientific exchange.

The readership is defined by the specialty: office-based pediatricians and hospital pediatricians in Germany, Austria, and the German-speaking community — the physicians who care for children and adolescents from birth to adulthood. The IVW figures (Q2/2022) document the reach: 19,820 sold copies, 20,345 distributed copies. The journal's bibliographic identity is established: ISSN 0026-9298 (print), 1433-0474 (online), CODEN MOKIAY, Springer Medizin journal ID 112, with coverage from volume 144 (1996) to volume 174 (2026) on the Springer Medizin platform.

The CME rubric — "CME Zertifizierte Fortbildung" — offers secured results of scientific research and makes medical experience usable for daily practice; after reading, the reader can test the acquired knowledge and earn CME points online. The rubric follows the specialty's continuing-education regulations (Weiterbildungsordnung). The journal thus combines the scientific-society organ with the certified training medium — the two functions of the modern German medical specialist journal. The subscription services market the title with student subscriptions alongside the regular institutional and personal subscriptions, addressing the next generation of pediatricians during their training.

History

The journal's history begins in December 1902, when the first issue appeared as the Monatsschrift für Kinderheilkunde, founded by Arthur Keller (1868–1934). The founding belonged to the era when German pediatrics was establishing itself as a specialty with its own journals: as Adalbert Czerny — then the nestor of German pediatrics — noted in 1930, Germany had six journals for pediatrics, surpassing all countries in the world: the Jahrbuch für Kinderheilkunde (founded 1857 in Austria), Adolf Baginski's Archiv für Kinderheilkunde, Keller's Monatsschrift, the Springer Zeitschrift für Kinderheilkunde, the Zentralblatt für Kinderheilkunde, and the practice-oriented Kinderärztliche Praxis.

The journal accompanied German pediatrics through the twentieth century: the Kaiserreich, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi era — when the editorial teams of the pediatric journals changed with the National Socialist takeover — the postwar reconstruction, and the development of modern neonatology, pediatric intensive care, and the subspecialties. The 1930 snapshot by Adalbert Czerny captures the journal's early context: he counted six German pediatric journals and judged that not all were necessary — "too much is written, and far too extensively." The practice-oriented Kinderärztliche Praxis, founded because the scientific journals did not meet practitioners' needs, became within a few years the most-read pediatric journal with over 1,500 subscribers. The Monatsschrift, as Keller's founded journal, held its position as the monthly continuing-education title through these competitive shifts. From 1902 to 1980 the title read Monatsschrift für Kinderheilkunde; the modern title Monatsschrift Kinderheilkunde reflects the journal's evolution into the organ of the DGKJ and the ÖGKJ.

The Springer lineage connects the journal to the great German medical publishing tradition: the Springer Zeitschrift für Kinderheilkunde, founded in 1910, became the English-language European Journal of Pediatrics in 1975 — while the Monatsschrift remained the German-language practice journal. The journal's online edition (ISSN 1433-0474) extends the 1902-founded title into the digital age, with the Springer Medizin archive carrying the journal from volume 144 (1996) to the current volume 174 (2026).

Coverage and Content

The editorial coverage of the Monatsschrift follows the pediatric specialty's clinical spectrum. The Leitthema (focus topic) — the core of each issue — treats a current theme in comprehensive review articles: pediatric sports medicine, transplantation in childhood and adolescence, pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition, cataract in childhood, and the other topics that the Springer Medizin journal page documents for recent volumes. Prevention, diagnostic procedures, complication management, and therapy strategies form the standing beats.

The originals — freely submitted clinical studies — serve the scientific exchange within the specialty, while the CME-certified training articles translate research into practice with the online knowledge test and CME points. The rubrics round out the concept: "Bild des Monats" (image of the month) — the striking clinical image; "Pädiatrie aktuell" — the news of the specialty; "Arzneimitteltherapie" — drug therapy; and the "Leserforum" — the readers' letters and debate. The journal's content is available in the Springer Medizin digital formats: online full text, e-paper, and PDF.

The journal's function as the organ of the DGKJ and ÖGKJ gives it the society dimension: congress reports, guidelines, and the societies' communications reach the pediatric community through the journal's pages.

Organization and Ownership

Monatsschrift Kinderheilkunde is published by the Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, part of Springer Nature — the medical publishing arm that emerged from Urban & Vogel, the Munich medical publishing house. The journal carries the Springer Medizin journal ID 112, with the print ISSN 0026-9298 and the electronic ISSN 1433-0474. The journal is the organ — the official publication — of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendmedizin (DGKJ) and the Österreichische Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendheilkunde (ÖGKJ), the scientific societies whose members form the journal's core readership.

The editorial structure follows the German medical-journal model: the editors and the societies' experts shape the program, with the Leitthema issues commissioned from the specialty's authorities and the originals peer-reviewed. The journal's program areas in the Springer portfolio — pediatrics, continuing medical education — position it within the house's clinical-medicine offerings.

The IVW-audited circulation (Q2/2022) of 19,820 sold and 20,345 distributed copies documents the journal's reach among German-speaking pediatricians. The commercial model is that of a society-affiliated medical journal: subscriptions from physicians, clinics, and institutions — including student subscriptions — society-member distribution through the DGKJ and ÖGKJ, and advertising from the pharmaceutical and medical-device industries that serve pediatrics.

Digital Presence

The journal's digital home is springermedizin.de, where the Monatsschrift Kinderheilkunde appears with its journal page (ID 112), offering the contents in online full text, e-paper, and PDF formats. The SpringerLink archive carries the journal from volume 144 (1996) to the current volume 174 (2026), with the electronic ISSN 1433-0474. The Regensburg Electronic Journals Library and the TU Dresden journal portal index the title with its ISSNs and the Scopus metrics (CiteScore 0.7, SJR 0.149 for 2024).

The CME program's digital dimension — the online knowledge tests and the CME-points certification — makes the journal's continuing-education function a digital service for the specialty's physicians. The journal's research metrics — 7,000 articles with 21,400 citations in the scite analysis — document its scientific footprint. From the December 1902 first issue to the digital journal of volume 174, the Monatsschrift Kinderheilkunde remains the German-language practice journal of pediatrics: the organ of the DGKJ and ÖGKJ, in print and online.