Journal profile · Medicine-Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
BMC Sports Science Medicine and Rehabilitation
ISSN 2052-1847 · BioMed Central · ENGLAND · Founded 2009
BMC Sports Science Medicine and Rehabilitation: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.37; fully open access; APC about USD 3,090; median 109 days to acceptance (169 articles, last 24 months); 445 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
BMC Sports Science Medicine and Rehabilitation is published by BioMed Central and is in Zone 3 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Sports Performance and Training, Sports injuries and prevention and Cardiovascular and exercise physiology, together about 40.1% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation is an open access, peer reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of sports medicine and the exercise sciences, including rehabilitation, traumatology, cardiology, physiology, and nutrition. The journal welcomes manuscripts in the following broad areas of sports and exercise research: Injury prevention and sports traumatology Exercise physiology and performance Musculoskeletal rehabilitation and recovery Cardiovascular responses to exercise Sports nutrition and metabolism Biomechanics and movement analysis Adaptation to training and physical stress Return-to-play protocols and decision-making Psychological aspects of sports performance and recovery Exercise interventions for chronic disease management Technological innovations in sports monitoring and rehabilitation Population-specific exercise science (e.g., youth, aging, elite athletes) Health promotion through physical activity Epidemiology of sports injuries and physical activity trends As a BMC Series journal, BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation 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-Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Sports Performance and TrainingMedicine16.8%
- Sports injuries and preventionMedicine14.8%
- Cardiovascular and exercise physiologyMedicine8.5%
- Lower Extremity Biomechanics and PathologiesEngineering6.1%
- Knee injuries and reconstruction techniquesMedicine6%
- Sport Psychology and PerformancePsychology5.6%
- Balance, Gait, and Falls PreventionHealth Professions4.9%
- Exercise and Physiological ResponsesMedicine4.9%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Rehabilitation | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Sport Sciences | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Rehabilitation | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Sport Sciences | 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 | Rehabilitation | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Sport Sciences | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EmbaseCASCurrent ContentsPublisher 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
- 3.37LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.4Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.39LetPub ·
- h-index
- 62OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 691OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.99OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 437LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 2,300,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,226 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 617 | 617 | 177 |
| 2025 | 445 | 445 | 1,648 |
| 2024 | 250 | 250 | 2,098 |
| 2023 | 176 | 176 | 1,883 |
| 2022 | 216 | 216 | 3,656 |
| 2021 | 163 | 163 | 2,571 |
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
109 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 78 days – 169 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 12 days (169 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 125 days
- Sample
- 169 articles with submission and acceptance dates (1,080 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 26 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 7 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 26 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 2,690 / USD 3,090 / GBP 2,490 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,890 / EUR 2,490 / GBP 2,290 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 2,090 / USD 2,690 / EUR 2,290 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | GBP 2,490 / USD 3,090 / EUR 2,690 | — | — |
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 papers3, by deadline
- Regenerative medicine in sports injuriesDeadline
- Cardiovascular care for athletesDeadline
- Mental health in elite athletesDeadline
Article types accepted8
- commentResearch article Database article Software article Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
- database articleResearch article Database article Software article Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
- matters arisingResearch article Database article Software article Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
- research articleResearch article Database article Software article Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
- reviewResearch article Database article Software article Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
- software articleResearch article Database article Software article Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
- study protocolResearch article Database article Software article Study protocol Review Matters Arising Comment Systematic ReviewLength not stated
- systematic reviewResearch article Database article Software article 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
Authors are strongly encouraged or required to provide all datasets relied upon by the manuscript, either deposited in publicly available repositories or presented in the main paper or supporting files, in a machine-readable format. Model summary
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
Articles are published open access under either a CC BY-NC-ND or CC BY licence; authors retain copyright under Creative Commons licences. 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 Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation articles are published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND (Crea…
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
Authors may suggest potential peer reviewers in the cover letter, providing institutional email addresses where possible, or information to verify reviewer identity (e.g., ORCID or Scopus ID). Authors may also note individuals they prefer not to review the manuscript. Model summary
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
- BioMed Central
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Founded
- 2009
- ISSN
- 2052-1847
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about BMC Sports Science Medicine and Rehabilitation
What CAS zone is BMC Sports Science Medicine and Rehabilitation in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, BMC Sports Science Medicine and Rehabilitation is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Rehabilitation / Sport Sciences. 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 Sports Science Medicine and Rehabilitation?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.37; CiteScore 4.6, h-index 62.
How long does peer review take at BMC Sports Science Medicine and Rehabilitation?
Based on the dates recorded on 169 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 109 days (interquartile range 78–169 days); authors report an average review time of about 26 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 Sports Science Medicine and Rehabilitation?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, BMC Sports Science Medicine and Rehabilitation is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Embase, CAS and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is BMC Sports Science Medicine and Rehabilitation open access, and what is the APC?
BMC Sports Science Medicine and Rehabilitation is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,090.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .