Journal profile · INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE
Acupuncture in Medicine
ISSN 0964-5284 · eISSN 1759-9873 · BMJ Publishing Group · ENGLAND · Founded 1983
Acupuncture in Medicine: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.69; subscription journal; APC about USD 4,150; review about 465 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); community-reported acceptance: easy; 40 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Acupuncture in Medicine is published by BMJ Publishing Group and is in Zone 4 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Acupuncture Treatment Research Studies, Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies and Myofascial pain diagnosis and treatment, together about 55.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Complementary and alternative medicine. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Acupuncture in Medicine is an international, peer-reviewed journal that aims to promote the scientific understanding of acupuncture and related treatments by publishing scientific investigations of their effectiveness and modes of action as well as articles on their use in health services and clinical practice.Acupuncture in Medicine is aimed at Western-trained physicians and other health professionals. The Western understanding of neurophysiology and anatomy is used to interpret the effects of acupuncture. The Journal uses the term ‘Western medical acupuncture’ and largely restricts its published articles to this Western approach. Evidence-based articles on traditional acupuncture (both clinical and theoretical) will, however, be considered. The editorial board welcomes scientific reports, systematic and general reviews, audits, case reports, descriptive and educational papers and other articles that may be of interest to readers. Submit your manuscript today at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/aim.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE
Editor-in-chief David Coggin-CarrPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 6%); most named United Kingdom 5, United States 4, Germany 2, Brazil 2, Mainland China 1 (17 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Acupuncture Treatment Research StudiesMedicine37.1%
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine StudiesMedicine11.6%
- Myofascial pain diagnosis and treatmentBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology7%
- Pain Management and Placebo EffectNeuroscience6.8%
- Healthcare and Venom ResearchMedicine6.3%
- Traditional Chinese Medicine StudiesMedicine4.1%
- Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationMedicine3.4%
- Pain Mechanisms and TreatmentsMedicine3.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Integrative & Complementary Medicine | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Integrative & Complementary Medicine | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Integrative & Complementary Medicine | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
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
- 2.69LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 3.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.63LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.88LetPub ·
- h-index
- 42LetPub ·
- h-index
- 71OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 864OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.21OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 2.63%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 31LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,482 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 44 | 3 | 3 |
| 2025 | 40 | 3 | 61 |
| 2024 | 34 | 5 | 79 |
| 2023 | 40 | 3 | 213 |
| 2022 | 62 | 7 | 568 |
| 2021 | 87 | 10 | 690 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
465 dayssubmission to acceptance · community reports 6–12 weeks
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Average review time (community reports)
- 6–12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 6.7%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 4 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 465 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 36 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewPublisher website
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
Subscription journalLetPub
A subscription journal: articles are read by subscription or purchase, and authors usually pay no publication charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 4,150 / GBP 3,043 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Page charges
- No page charges
- Submission fee
- No submission fee
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 prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 4,000 words
- Reference style
- Vancouver
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
Article types accepted9, with length limits
- editorialEditorials Word count: up to 1000 Abstract: not required Tables/illustrations: up to 2 References: up to 15 Original Papers Articles will report primary researc…references ≤ 2
- editorialsEditorials Word count: up to 1000 Abstract: not required Tables/illustrations: up to 2 References: up to 15Length not stated
- education and practiceEducation and Practice These articles are concerned with the provision or practice of acupuncture within a medical or allied clinical context.Length not stated
- meta-analysisEditorials Word count: up to 1000 Abstract: not required Tables/illustrations: up to 2 References: up to 15 Original Papers Articles will report primary researc…Length not stated
- narrative reviewEditorials Word count: up to 1000 Abstract: not required Tables/illustrations: up to 2 References: up to 15 Original Papers Articles will report primary researc…Length not stated
- original paperEditorials Word count: up to 1000 Abstract: not required Tables/illustrations: up to 2 References: up to 15 Original Papers Articles will report primary researc…Length not stated
- original papersOriginal Papers Articles will report primary research (clinical trials, prospective observational studies with a clear protocol or laboratory science) that is l…Length not stated
- protocolEditorials Word count: up to 1000 Abstract: not required Tables/illustrations: up to 2 References: up to 15 Original Papers Articles will report primary researc…Length not stated
- systematic reviewEditorials Word count: up to 1000 Abstract: not required Tables/illustrations: up to 2 References: up to 15 Original Papers Articles will report primary researc…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Authorship Authorship
Please view our authorship policies, which includes information on criteria for authorship, who should be the corresponding author and more. Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
Data sharing policy Model summary
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages. Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to: Share your research data in a relevant public data repository Include a data ava…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Ethical considerations
Ethics approval statements required Model summary
Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article. Optional open access publi…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Peer review model Model summary
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency: Single-anonymized Reviewer interacts with: Editor Review information published: None Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscripts may be desk rejec…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprint policy Model summary
The journal does not accept submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical trial registration
The journal conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first participant enrollment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.
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
- BMJ Publishing Group
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Founded
- 1983
- ISSN
- 0964-5284
- Electronic ISSN
- 1759-9873
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Acupuncture in Medicine
What CAS zone is Acupuncture in Medicine in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Acupuncture in Medicine is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Integrative & Complementary Medicine. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Acupuncture in Medicine?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.69; CiteScore 5.2, h-index 71.
How long does peer review take at Acupuncture in Medicine?
The publisher reports about 465 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of 6–12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 6.7%. 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 Acupuncture in Medicine?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 4,000 words; Reference style: Vancouver; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required. 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 Acupuncture in Medicine based?
Of the 17 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 6%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (5), United States (4) and Germany (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Acupuncture in Medicine?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Acupuncture in Medicine is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Acupuncture in Medicine open access, and what is the APC?
Acupuncture in Medicine is a subscription journal. APC about USD 4,150.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .