Journal profile · Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Australian Journal of Rural Health
ISSN 1038-5282 · eISSN 1440-1584 · Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd · AUSTRALIA · Bimonthly · Founded 1992
Australian Journal of Rural Health: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.38; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,570; median 162 days to acceptance (89 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 152 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Australian Journal of Rural Health is published by Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd 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 Global Health Workforce Issues, Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights and Primary Care and Health Outcomes, together about 45.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are General Health Professions. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Australian Journal of Rural Health publishes Australian, New Zealand and international articles in the field of rural health. It facilitates the formation of interdisciplinary networks, so that rural health professionals can form a cohesive group and work together for the advancement of rural practice, in all health disciplines. The Journal aims to establish a national and international reputation for the quality of its scholarly discourse and its value to rural health professionals. All articles, unless otherwise identified, are peer reviewed by at least two researchers expert in the field of the submitted paper. 'Rural health is an important and dynamic concern in Australia and around the world. The Australian Journal of Rural Health provides a wonderful mix of practical and academic medical, nursing and other health articles. This provides interesting and useful reading for those in rural practice and those involved in rural health care education, planning and development internationally. I look forward to each issue.' James T. B. Rourke, MD, CCFP(EM), MCISc, FCFP, FAAFP, Rural Family Physician, Goderich, Ontario, Canada.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Australia 7 (7 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Global Health Workforce IssuesHealth Professions34.3%
- Indigenous Health, Education, and RightsSocial Sciences6%
- Primary Care and Health OutcomesHealth Professions5.6%
- Dental Education, Practice, ResearchHealth Professions5.2%
- Global Health and SurgeryMedicine5%
- Interprofessional Education and CollaborationHealth Professions3.8%
- Education Systems and PolicySocial Sciences3.6%
- Agriculture and Farm SafetyAgricultural and Biological Sciences3.1%
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 | Nursing | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Nursing | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Nursing | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIESSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEPubMedCAB AbstractsCINAHLPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest
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
- 2.38LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.4Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.71LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.99LetPub ·
- h-index
- 42LetPub ·
- h-index
- 77OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,049OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.77OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 12.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 78.79%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 113LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 136Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 430,580Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,178 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 114 | 87 | 38 |
| 2025 | 152 | 127 | 222 |
| 2024 | 134 | 108 | 447 |
| 2023 | 132 | 116 | 725 |
| 2022 | 138 | 93 | 1,214 |
| 2021 | 141 | 62 | 1,526 |
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 Crossref · to
162 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 112 days – 231 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 15 days (89 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 184 days
- Sample
- 89 articles with submission and acceptance dates (286 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)
- 6–12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 34%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 34%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 12 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 12 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 173 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 12 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double-anonymous peer review, at least 2 reviewersPublisher 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 3,570 / EUR 3,010 / GBP 2,380 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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)
What to prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 5,000 words
- Reference style
- Vancouver
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted13, with length limits
- book reviewof rural and remote health discourse). Book review length is 800–1,000 words, double-spaced. Include author, title, publisher, year, coumain text ≤ 1,000 words
- commentaryd his or her contribution to the paper. Commentary Word limit: 2,500 words maximum (excluding abstract, boxed lists and references) Abmain text ≤ 2,500 words
- letterpersuade them to share it with us all. Letter to editor Word limit: 1,000 words maximum (excluding references) Abstract: Not required Refermain text ≤ 1,000 words
- letters to the editorLetters to the EditorLength not stated
- narrative reviewwill use when reviewing your paper. b. Narrative review papers and other types of review papers Word limit: 5,000 words maximum (excluding abstract and referenc…main text ≤ 5,000 words
- obituariesObituariesLength not stated
- original research papersOriginal Research PapersLength not stated
- policy analysis papersPolicy Analysis PapersLength not stated
- practice pointersPractice PointersLength not stated
- quality improvement reportsQuality Improvement ReportsLength not stated
- review papersReview PapersLength not stated
- short reportsShort ReportsLength not stated
- systematic reviewORIES AND REQUIREMENTS Review Papers a. Systematic review and meta-analysis review papers Word limit: 5,000 words maximum (excluding abstract and references) Ab…main text ≤ 5,000 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
Advice on authorship for the AJRH is summarised here . The journal adheres to the definition of authorship set up by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following 4 criteria: i) Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; ii) …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Disclosure and Conflict of Interest Statement
Authors must declare any financial support or relationships that may pose a potential conflict of interest. This includes financial arrangements authors have with a company whose product figures prominently in the submitted manuscript or with a company making a competing product. If the article is accepted for publication, a conflict of interest statement may be included in the paper if the Editor…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Sharing and Data Accessibility
Data sharing encouraged Model summary
The journal encourages authors to share the data and other artefacts supporting the results in the paper by archiving them in an appropriate public repository. Authors should include a data accessibility statement, including a link to the repository they have used, so this statement can be published alongside their paper.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Member of COPE Model summary
Principles for Publication of Research Involving Human Subjects
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review and Acceptance Criteria
Australian Journal of Rural Health is the official English journal of the National Rural Health Alliance Inc. and publishes papers on all aspects of rural health practice, research and education. The journal is multidisciplinary, aiming to facilitate the formation of interdisciplinary networks so that rural health professionals can form cohesive groups and work together for the advancement of rura…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism
Uses iThenticate CrossCheck Model summary
Note this journal uses iThenticate’s CrossCheck software to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints
Preprint policy Model summary
Please find the Wiley preprint policy here.
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
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd
- Country or region
- AUSTRALIA
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 1992
- ISSN
- 1038-5282
- Electronic ISSN
- 1440-1584
- Society / sponsor
- National Rural Health Alliance
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 34, Issue 5 (October 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Australian Journal of Rural Health
What CAS zone is Australian Journal of Rural Health in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Australian Journal of Rural Health is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Nursing / Public, Environmental & Occupational Health. 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 Australian Journal of Rural Health?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.38; CiteScore 3.2, h-index 77.
How long does peer review take at Australian Journal of Rural Health?
Based on the dates recorded on 89 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 162 days (interquartile range 112–231 days); authors report an average review time of 6–12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 34% (2025). 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 Australian Journal of Rural Health?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 5,000 words; Reference style: Vancouver; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Highlights: Required; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: 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 Australian Journal of Rural Health based?
Of the 7 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Australia (7). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Australian Journal of Rural Health?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Australian Journal of Rural Health is indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, PubMed, CAB Abstracts and CINAHL; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Australian Journal of Rural Health open access, and what is the APC?
Australian Journal of Rural Health is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,570.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .