Journal profile · Sport Sciences
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE
ISSN 0363-5465 · eISSN 1552-3365 · SAGE Publications Inc. · UNITED STATES · Bimonthly · Founded 1976
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE: CAS Zone 1 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 5.33; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,400; review 2–4 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: hard; 387 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE is published by SAGE Publications Inc. 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 Knee injuries and reconstruction techniques, Shoulder Injury and Treatment and Total Knee Arthroplasty Outcomes, together about 40.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Surgery. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The American Journal of Sports Medicine, founded in 1972, is the official publication of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. It contains original articles addressed to orthopaedic surgeons specializing in sports medicine, and to team physicians, athletic trainers, and physical therapists focusing on the causes and effects of injury or disease resulting from or affected by athletic injury. View full journal description This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Sport Sciences
Editor-in-chief Brett D. OwensPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 4 in mainland China (about 1%); most named United States 236, Japan 11, France 10, Australia 10, United Kingdom 9 (360 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Knee injuries and reconstruction techniquesMedicine15.7%
- Shoulder Injury and TreatmentMedicine13.1%
- Total Knee Arthroplasty OutcomesMedicine11.6%
- Sports injuries and preventionMedicine8.2%
- Tendon Structure and TreatmentMedicine6.8%
- Lower Extremity Biomechanics and PathologiesEngineering6.8%
- Osteoarthritis Treatment and MechanismsMedicine5.5%
- Shoulder and Clavicle InjuriesMedicine5.4%
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 | Orthopedics | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Sport Sciences | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Orthopedics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Sport Sciences | Zone 2 |
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 | Orthopedics | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Sport Sciences | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Index MedicusPublisher website
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
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
- 5.33LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 5.4Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 6.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 9.7LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 2.29LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.41LetPub ·
- h-index
- 196LetPub ·
- h-index
- 362OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 9,320OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.58OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 9.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 14.8%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 353LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 12,882 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 373 | 77 | 238 |
| 2025 | 387 | 136 | 2,004 |
| 2024 | 411 | 147 | 4,298 |
| 2023 | 404 | 125 | 5,865 |
| 2022 | 443 | 81 | 8,891 |
| 2021 | 528 | 115 | 13,759 |
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)
- 2–4 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- HardLetPub ·
- Peer review
- Single-anonymous peer reviewPublisher website · model-extracted
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.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 4,400 / GBP 3,226 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 4,400 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Other fees
- USD 2
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 prepare6 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 350 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 6,000 words
- Reference style
- AMA
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Optional
- Not considered
- preprint
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteLicense & copyright, Plagiarism
- License & copyright Important Notice on Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement
AJSM and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of articles published in the journal. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal. Submitted articles may be checked using duplication-checking software. …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Important Notice on Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement
AJSM and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of articles published in the journal. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal. Submitted articles may be checked using duplication-checking software. …
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
- SAGE Publications Inc.
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 1976
- ISSN
- 0363-5465
- Electronic ISSN
- 1552-3365
- Society / sponsor
- American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE
What CAS zone is AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE is in Zone 1 of Medicine, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Orthopedics / Sport Sciences; it is a Top journal. 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 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.33; CiteScore 9.7, h-index 362.
How long does peer review take at AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE?
Authors report an average review time of 2–4 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.
What are the manuscript requirements of AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 350 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 6,000 words; Reference style: AMA; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Cover letter: 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 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE based?
Of the 360 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 4 (about 1%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (236), Japan (11) and France (10). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE open access, and what is the APC?
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,400.
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: .