∙ KDCA’s Public Health Weekly Report (PHWR) has been indexed in PubMed Central (PMC) as the first Korean public institution, achieving international recognition.
∙ The indexing significantly enhances global access and credibility of Korea’s public health policies and research findings.
Osong, Republic of Korea, December 10, 2025 ━ The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced that its flagship publication, the “Public Health Weekly Report (PHWR)” has been officially indexed in PubMed Central (PMC)*, a leading global biomedical literature database operated by the US National Library of Medicine under the National Institutes of Health.
* PubMed Central (PMC): one of the world’s largest free digital archives of biomedical and life sciences literature, operated by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
PMC is a widely used and highly regarded scholarly archive for medical and public health research worldwide. The indexing of PHWR means that the journal has gained international recognition as a credible academic publication.
In particular, this marks the first instance of a weekly public health publication issued by a Korean public institution being indexed in an international academic platform. As a result, KDCA’s research findings, investigation and surveillance data, and policy information will be more readily accessible to the global public health community.
* Journals published in Korean and English since January 2023 are available through PMC.
In public health, timely and transparent sharing of scientific evidence-based policy and research findings is essential. Indexing in PMC is expected to further share Korea’s public health policies and crisis-response experiences to the international community.
The indexing also reflects PHWR’s compliance with international standards for journal quality, research ethics, and transparency, thereby strengthening its credibility as a scholarly publication.
Since its launch in April 2008, PHWR has provided weekly updates on KDCA’s scientific evidence-based policy information, public health initiatives, investigation and surveillance data, research findings, major infectious disease trends, and disease statistics, contributing to the protection of public health.
* From April 2008 to November 2025, a total of 916 issues and 2,974 articles have been published.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, growing global interest in Korea’s disease prevention and response system has led to increased demand for the PHWR both at home and abroad. In response, KDCA has strengthened PHWR’s capacity to develop into an international journal by launching an English website, publishing articles in both Korean and English, and establishing editorial guidelines to enhance article quality.
* Views: 104,000 domestic views in 2023, increasing to 335,000 by November 2025; international views rose from 76,000 to 442,000 during the same period.
With the indexation in PMC, PHWR is expected to further strengthen its role as a key platform for sharing KDCA’s scientific research achievements globally. Additionally, as it is expected to be widely cited, it will encourage submissions from researchers both in Korea and abroad.
Choi Bo-yul, Editor-in-Chief of PHWR, stated, “We will continue to develop PHWR into an internationally accessible journal that provides timely, and scientifically robust information, thereby actively contributing to providing concrete evidence for health initiatives in various research and practice.”
KDCA Commissioner Dr. Seung-kwan Lim stated, “This achievement shows that Korea’s expertise in public health investigation, surveillance, and policy was highly recognized internationally.” He also added, “We remain committed to supporting PHWR so that it can contribute meaningfully to global public health.”