Journal profile · Orthopedics
Acta Orthopaedica
ISSN 1745-3674 · eISSN 1745-3682 · Informa Healthcare · ENGLAND · Bimonthly · Founded 2005
Acta Orthopaedica: CAS Zone 2 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.37; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review 4–8 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 134 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Acta Orthopaedica is published by Informa Healthcare and is in Zone 2 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Orthopaedic implants and arthroplasty, Total Knee Arthroplasty Outcomes and Orthopedic Infections and Treatments, together about 47.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Surgery. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Acta Orthopaedica presents articles, from all parts of the world, of basic research interest, as well as clinical studies in the field of orthopedics and related subdisciplines. Ever since the journal was founded in 1930, by a group of Scandinavian orthopedic surgeons, the journal has been published for an international audience. Acta articles are printed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0 license) which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium provided the source is credited. This means that Acta has no copyright on your article. Handling of manuscripts Acta receives about 600 manuscripts annually; around 20-25% are accepted for publication. Rejection of submitted manuscripts occurs at 2 levels. 70% immediately by the Editor or co-editor as a desk rejection without peer review. The reason is often that the manuscript does not live up to the standards of Acta Orthopaedica or the subject is outside Acta’s scope. 30% of the manuscripts go into review, of which 10% will be rejected. 20% of the manuscripts will be published All published manuscripts have been peer-reviewed, commonly by 2 external reviewers and, when appropriate, by our statistical Editors. Handling times All desk rejections are within 1-2 days. The mean time from submission to rejection of peer-reviewed manuscripts is around 2 months. The mean time from submission to acceptance is, on average, 5 months. Acceptance times strongly depend on the number of revisions necessary, the review time, and the time authors spend on resubmission. After acceptance After acceptance, the manuscript will be further edited by the publishing manager and the editor-in-chief or deputy editor. The time from authors’ approval of last revisions to proofs and until the article is available online (Open Access) on Acta’s website (http://www.actaorthop.org), and registered on PubMed is usually within 2-3 weeks. Open peer review Acta applies a transparent review process: author and referee identities are disclosed to one another. There is an option for reviewers to remain anonymous to the authors; however, this is rarely used. Archiving This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. In addition, all files will be archived with PubMed Central (PMC) and CLOCKSS .
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Orthopedics
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Sweden 7, Denmark 3, Norway 3, Finland 3, Netherlands 2 (18 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Orthopaedic implants and arthroplastyMedicine19.8%
- Total Knee Arthroplasty OutcomesMedicine17.9%
- Orthopedic Infections and TreatmentsMedicine9.9%
- Hip and Femur FracturesMedicine7.8%
- Bone fractures and treatmentsMedicine6.2%
- Hip disorders and treatmentsMedicine4.9%
- Shoulder Injury and TreatmentMedicine3.6%
- Orthopedic Surgery and RehabilitationMedicine3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Orthopedics | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Orthopedics | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Orthopedics | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 3.37LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.4LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.23LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.48LetPub ·
- h-index
- 100LetPub ·
- h-index
- 137OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,029OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.3OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 17.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.67%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 119LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,018 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 111 | 111 | 43 |
| 2025 | 134 | 134 | 381 |
| 2024 | 110 | 110 | 748 |
| 2023 | 97 | 97 | 1,026 |
| 2022 | 109 | 109 | 1,115 |
| 2021 | 122 | 122 | 2,124 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
- Average review time (community reports)
- 4–8 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 24 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Open peer review, Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | EUR 2,400 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC | |
| OpenAlex | EUR 1,650 | — | — | |
| LetPub | EUR 2,400 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
What to prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Not considered
- academic titles; postal addresses; phone numbers
Article types accepted13
- case reportscase reportsLength not stated
- case/technical reportsCase/technical reportsLength not stated
- editorialseditorialsLength not stated
- educationaleducationalLength not stated
- educationalsEducationalsLength not stated
- erratum/corrigendumErratum/CorrigendumLength not stated
- guidelinesGuidelines may also be considered.Length not stated
- letters to the editorletters to the editorLength not stated
- originalOriginal (clinical or experimental)Length not stated
- perspectivesperspectivesLength not stated
- register studiesRegister studiesLength not stated
- reviewManuscripts of interest are sent to external expert reviewers and most often also to the Statistical Editors. Acta Orthopaedica applies an open review process; …Length not stated
- reviewsdifferent types of reviewsLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteData availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Data availability
Data storage for 10 years and data sharing plan required. Model summary
All documents with original data of relevance to the submitted manuscript should be stored and be retrievable on request for a minimum of 10 years. A data sharing plan should be described in the manuscript.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright
Published under Creative Commons CC-BY license. Model summary
Published by MJS Publishing - Medical Journals Sweden AB (559296-5023) under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access
Open access under CC-BY 4.0 license Model summary
Acta articles are printed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0 license) which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium provided the source is credited.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Review process
Open review process with mutual disclosure of author and reviewer names. Model summary
Manuscripts of interest are sent to external expert reviewers and most often also to the Statistical Editors. Acta Orthopaedica applies an open review process; authors’ and reviewers’ names are mutually disclosed, unless a reviewer actively chooses to be anonymous. Reviewers who agree to be named are acknowledged in the published papers. A high standard of English with American spelling is expecte…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism
Original work only; no prior publication or parallel submission. Model summary
The submitted work must not have been published before in any language or considered for parallel publication elsewhere.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint publication
Preprint posting on non-commercial servers is allowed. Model summary
Uploading of your original manuscript to a non-commercial preprint server do not jeopardize consideration for publication in Acta Orthopaedica. We do not consider posting on a preprint server to be duplicate publication.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines
RCTs must be registered; systematic reviews in Prospero. Model summary
All randomized controlled trials (RCT) and preferably other studies as well should be registered in publicly accessible databases (for example ClinicalTrials.gov) to be considered for publication. Systematic reviews should be registered in Prospero.
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Informa Healthcare
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 2005
- ISSN
- 1745-3674
- Electronic ISSN
- 1745-3682
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Acta Orthopaedica
What CAS zone is Acta Orthopaedica in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Acta Orthopaedica is in Zone 2 of Medicine, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Orthopedics. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Acta Orthopaedica?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.37; CiteScore 4.4, h-index 137.
How long does peer review take at Acta Orthopaedica?
Authors report an average review time of 4–8 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of Acta Orthopaedica?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; Suggested reviewers: Optional. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Acta Orthopaedica based?
Of the 18 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Sweden (7), Denmark (3) and Norway (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Acta Orthopaedica?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Acta Orthopaedica is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Acta Orthopaedica open access, and what is the APC?
Acta Orthopaedica is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-24). Last updated: .