Journal profile · Respiratory System
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
ISSN 1073-449X · eISSN 1535-4970 · American Thoracic Society · UNITED STATES · Semimonthly · Founded 1994
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine: CAS Zone 1 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 21.24; hybrid open access; median 58 days to acceptance (160 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: hard; 7,475 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine is published by American Thoracic Society and is in Zone 1 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research, Asthma and respiratory diseases and Respiratory Support and Mechanisms, together about 32.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine focuses on human biology and disease, as well as animal and in vitro studies that contribute to the understanding of pathophysiology and treatment of diseases that affect the respiratory system and critically ill patients. Papers that are solely or predominantly based in cell and molecular biology are published in the companion journal, the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. The Journal also seeks to publish clinical trials and outstanding review articles on areas of interest in several forms. The State-of-the-Art review is a treatise usually covering a broad field that brings bench research to the bedside. Shorter reviews are published as Critical Care Perspectives or Pulmonary Perspectives. These are generally focused on a more limited area and advance a concerted opinion about care for a specific process. Concise Clinical Reviews provide an evidence-based synthesis of the literature pertaining to topics of fundamental importance to the practice of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. Images providing advances or unusual contributions to the field are published as Images in Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep Medicine and the Sciences.
Source: LetPub
Research area (LetPub): Respiratory System
Editor-in-chief Fernando J. MartinezPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) ResearchMedicine12.1%
- Asthma and respiratory diseasesMedicine10.4%
- Respiratory Support and MechanismsMedicine10.1%
- Interstitial Lung Diseases and Idiopathic Pulmonary FibrosisMedicine8.1%
- Neonatal Respiratory Health ResearchMedicine6.3%
- Pulmonary Hypertension Research and TreatmentsMedicine4.7%
- Respiratory and Cough-Related ResearchMedicine4%
- Inhalation and Respiratory Drug DeliveryMedicine3.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Critical Care Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Respiratory System | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Critical Care Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Respiratory System | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Critical Care Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Respiratory System | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview 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
- 21.24LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 21.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 25.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 25.7LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 25.7Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 5.42LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 4.18LetPub ·
- h-index
- 343LetPub ·
- h-index
- 512OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 13,501OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.65OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 22.42%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 147LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 35,712 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 7,729 | 640 | 310 |
| 2025 | 7,475 | 437 | 3,428 |
| 2024 | 647 | 517 | 6,535 |
| 2023 | 594 | 488 | 12,592 |
| 2022 | 718 | 591 | 18,799 |
| 2021 | 593 | 473 | 18,329 |
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
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with PubMed · to
58 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 10 days – 146 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 38 days (50 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 89 days
- Sample
- 160 articles with submission and acceptance dates (1,299 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- 3–6 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- HardLetPub ·
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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access
- Open access Open access
Curious about open access publishing? Learn more about OA at OUP
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
- American Thoracic Society
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Semimonthly
- Founded
- 1994
- ISSN
- 1073-449X
- Electronic ISSN
- 1535-4970
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 212, Issue 9 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
What CAS zone is American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine is in Zone 1 of Medicine, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Critical Care Medicine / Respiratory System; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 21.24; CiteScore 25.7, h-index 512.
How long does peer review take at American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine?
Based on the dates recorded on 160 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 58 days (interquartile range 10–146 days); authors report an average review time of 3–6 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Hard”. 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.
Which databases index American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine open access, and what is the APC?
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine is a hybrid journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .