Journal profile · Medicine-Rheumatology
BMC Rheumatology
ISSN 2520-1026 · Springer Nature · United Kingdom
BMC Rheumatology: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.1 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 2,290; median 116 days to acceptance (100 articles, last 24 months); 156 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
BMC Rheumatology is published by Springer Nature 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 Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and Therapies, Spondyloarthritis Studies and Treatments and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Research, together about 51.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Rheumatology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
BMC Rheumatology is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers pre-clinical, translational and clinical articles on all aspects of the prevention, treatment and management of rheumatological diseases, related systemic and inflammatory conditions and associated comorbidities, as well as epidemiology, education, pathophysiology, genetics, and drug development. Our journal welcomes submissions in the following broad areas of research related to rheumatological diseases: Clinical rheumatology Epidemiology and public health Pre-clinical and translational science As a BMC Series journal, BMC Rheumatology does not make editorial decisions based on the perceived interest or potential impact of a study. Manuscripts are considered for publication if they are scientifically valid. For research articles, this includes having a clearly defined and sound research question, appropriate methodology and analysis, and adherence to community-agreed standards relevant to the field.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medicine-Rheumatology
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and TherapiesMedicine29.7%
- Spondyloarthritis Studies and TreatmentsMedicine14.4%
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ResearchMedicine7.7%
- Autoimmune and Inflammatory Disorders ResearchMedicine5.2%
- Systemic Sclerosis and Related DiseasesMedicine4.1%
- Gout, Hyperuricemia, Uric AcidMedicine4.1%
- Inflammatory Myopathies and DermatomyositisMedicine3.8%
- Vasculitis and related conditionsMedicine3.5%
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 | Rheumatology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Rheumatology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EmbasePublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS, Semantic Scholar
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 (publisher) 2025
- 3.1Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.86LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.11LetPub ·
- h-index
- 36OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 215OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.49OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 152LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 559,500Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 681 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 85 | 85 | 20 |
| 2025 | 156 | 156 | 365 |
| 2024 | 75 | 75 | 402 |
| 2023 | 45 | 45 | 601 |
| 2022 | 93 | 93 | 1,018 |
| 2021 | 60 | 60 | 727 |
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
116 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 80 days – 193 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 16 days (100 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 139 days
- Sample
- 100 articles with submission and acceptance dates (267 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)
- about 15 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 7 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 15 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Open 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 1,990 / USD 2,290 / GBP 1,490 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,190 / EUR 1,890 / GBP 1,390 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 1,340 / USD 2,090 / EUR 1,790 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | GBP 1,490 / USD 2,290 / EUR 1,990 | — | — |
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)
Open calls for papers1, by deadline
Publisher websiteArticle types accepted9
- case reportResearch article Database article Software article Case report Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
- commentResearch article Database article Software article Case report Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
- database articleResearch article Database article Software article Case report Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
- matters arisingResearch article Database article Software article Case report Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
- research articleResearch article Database article Software article Case report Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
- reviewResearch article Database article Software article Case report Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
- software articleResearch article Database article Software article Case report Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
- study protocolResearch article Database article Software article Case report Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
- systematic reviewResearch article Database article Software article Case report Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteData availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Data availability Formatting the 'Availability of data and materials' section of your manuscript
The following format for the 'Availability of data and materials section of your manuscript should be used:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Licensing and copyright
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND or CC BY licence; authors retain copyright. Model summary
Creative Commons licences Open access articles in Springer Nature journals are published under Creative Commons licences. These provide an industry-standard framework to support easy re-use of open access material. Under Creative Commons licences, authors retain copyright of their articles. BMC Rheumatology articles are published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Co…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Benefits of open access
Publishing open access (OA) offers a number of benefits, including greater reach and readership for your work: Cited more 1.6x more citations of OA articles than non-OA articles across all subjects Downloaded more 4x more downloads of OA articles than non-OA articles Greater impact 2.5x more Altmetric attention. OA articles attracted 1.9x more news mentions and 1.2x more policy mentions Open acces…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Peer review is the process used to evaluate the quality of a manuscript before publication. Independent researchers in the relevant field assess submitted manuscripts to check their validity and robustness. Their feedback guides editors in making publication decisions. Typically, two or more experts evaluate each manuscript based on three main criteria: scientific robustness: is the research metho…
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
- Springer Nature
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2520-1026
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about BMC Rheumatology
What CAS zone is BMC Rheumatology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, BMC Rheumatology is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Rheumatology. 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 BMC Rheumatology?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 3.1 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 3.6, h-index 36.
How long does peer review take at BMC Rheumatology?
Based on the dates recorded on 100 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 116 days (interquartile range 80–193 days); authors report an average review time of about 15 weeks. 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 BMC Rheumatology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, BMC Rheumatology is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Embase; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is BMC Rheumatology open access, and what is the APC?
BMC Rheumatology is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,290.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .