In 2008, the Australian Government established three major health reform initiatives — the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, the first National Primary Health Care Strategy working group, and the Preventative Health Taskforce.

We examined which journals were most frequently cited in the publicly available discussion papers, commissioned papers, submissions and final reports of these initiatives.

Journal articles were cited most in discussion papers, commissioned papers and submissions, followed by reports and other publications from Australian organisations and governments.

The Medical Journal of Australia was the most cited journal, with 392 references to its articles (11.8% of all journal articles cited) in discussion papers, commissioned papers, submissions and an interim report, and 58 references to its articles (13.7% of total journal articles) in the three final reports.

Our findings demonstrate the importance of credible, local, accessible, peer-reviewed evidence in reforming the national health system, including hospitals, primary health care and preventive health care.