Journal profile · Anesthesiology
British Journal of Anaesthesia
ISSN 0007-0912 · eISSN 1471-6771 · Elsevier Ltd · ENGLAND · Monthly · Founded 1923
British Journal of Anaesthesia: CAS Zone 1 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 9.92; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,450; median 51 days to acceptance (117 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly hard; 741 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
British Journal of Anaesthesia is published by Elsevier Ltd 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 Anesthesia and Sedative Agents, Cardiac, Anesthesia and Surgical Outcomes and Anesthesia and Pain Management, together about 40% of its articles. Its main subfields are Surgery. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The British Journal of Anaesthesia (BJA) publishes high-impact original work in all branches of anaesthesia, critical care medicine, pain medicine and perioperative medicine including fundamental, translational and clinical sciences, clinical practice, technology, education and training. In addition, the journal publishes review articles, important case reports, correspondence and special articles of general interest. The journal is proudly affiliated with the Royal College of Anaesthetists, the College of Anaesthesiologists of Ireland, and the Hong Kong College of Anaesthesiologists. These affiliations allow college members access to the BJA and its sister title BJA Education.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Anesthesiology
Editor-in-chief Hugh C. HemmingsPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 4 in mainland China (about 5%); most named United States 27, United Kingdom 20, Mainland China 4, Hong Kong, China 4, Italy 4 (85 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Anesthesia and Sedative AgentsMedicine15.4%
- Cardiac, Anesthesia and Surgical OutcomesMedicine13.1%
- Anesthesia and Pain ManagementMedicine11.5%
- Airway Management and Intubation TechniquesMedicine8.9%
- Anesthesia and Neurotoxicity ResearchNeuroscience5.9%
- Hemodynamic Monitoring and TherapyMedicine5%
- Respiratory Support and MechanismsMedicine4.9%
- Nausea and vomiting managementMedicine3.8%
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 | Anesthesiology | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Anesthesiology | 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 | Anesthesiology | 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
- 9.92LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 10.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 14.5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 14.5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 2.69LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 3.4LetPub ·
- h-index
- 159LetPub ·
- h-index
- 292OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 13,178OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.39OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 9.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 34.15%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 262LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 30,201 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 610 | 114 | 334 |
| 2025 | 741 | 467 | 3,096 |
| 2024 | 530 | 528 | 4,836 |
| 2023 | 508 | 508 | 6,693 |
| 2022 | 485 | 485 | 9,520 |
| 2021 | 523 | 518 | 11,088 |
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
51 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 25 days – 99 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 55 days (117 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 106 days
- Sample
- 117 articles with submission and acceptance dates (1,369 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)
- Fairly hardLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 2 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 24 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 63 daysPublisher website ·
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 4,450 / EUR 4,160 / GBP 3,560 / JPY 551,930 | — | — | |
| 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 prepare2 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted15
- book reviewsBook reviews 800 0 0 NoneLength not stated
- case reportSummary of requirementsTypeMaximum wordsMaximum referencesMaximum tables and figures combinedAbstract or summaryClinical investigations3000406Structured abstrac…Length not stated
- case reportsCase reports 1500 15 1 NoneLength not stated
- clinical investigationsClinical investigations 3000 40 6 Structured abstractLength not stated
- correspondenceSummary of requirementsTypeMaximum wordsMaximum referencesMaximum tables and figures combinedAbstract or summaryClinical investigations3000406Structured abstrac…Length not stated
- editorialsEditorials 2500 25 2 Unstructured summary of up to 5 sentencesLength not stated
- laboratory investigationsLaboratory investigations 3000 40 6 Structured abstractLength not stated
- letterSummary of requirementsTypeMaximum wordsMaximum referencesMaximum tables and figures combinedAbstract or summaryClinical investigations3000406Structured abstrac…Length not stated
- narrative reviewsNarrative reviews 5000 150 6 Unstructured summaryLength not stated
- research communicationResearch Communication 1000 15 1 NoneLength not stated
- reviewSummary of requirementsTypeMaximum wordsMaximum referencesMaximum tables and figures combinedAbstract or summaryClinical investigations3000406Structured abstrac…Length not stated
- special articlesSpecial Articles 4000 150 4 Unstructured summaryLength not stated
- systematic reviewSummary of requirementsTypeMaximum wordsMaximum referencesMaximum tables and figures combinedAbstract or summaryClinical investigations3000406Structured abstrac…Length not stated
- systematic reviewsSystematic reviews 5000 150 6 Structured abstractLength not stated
- translational investigationsTranslational investigations 3000 40 6 Structured abstractLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Preprints, Self-archiving
- Authorship Authorship
Criteria for authorshipThe BJA follows the ICMJE criteria for authorship (see this link). All authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following: (1) the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; (3) final approval of the version t…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Misconduct/Retractions
All manuscripts submitted to the BJA undergo plagiarism check using commercial software. Based on the findings of the check, Editors may ask authors to address any minor duplication, or similarity, that the contents of their manuscript may have to any previously published work (even though it may be author's own previously published work). However, severe cases of plagiarism amount to 'misconduct'…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (see more information on this). An email will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement. Please note that the 'Crown Copyright' copyright status typically only applies t…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Gold open access
Articles are freely available to both subscribers and the wider public with permitted reuse.A gold open access publication fee is payable by authors or on their behalf, e.g. by their research funder or institution. For gold open access articles, permitted third party (re)use is defined by the following Creative Commons user licenses:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Systematic reviews must be pre-registered with PROSPERO; registry number cited in Abstract and Methods. Model summary
Please note that preprints can be shared anywhere at any time, in line with Elsevier's sharing policy. Sharing of preprints (e.g. on a preprint server) will not count as prior publication (see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information). The BJA requests that submitting authors update their preprint with a footnote to confirm that their paper is under review at the BJA to…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving Green open access
Elsevier has a number of green open access options available. We recommend that authors refer to our green open access page for further information. Authors can also self-archive their manuscripts immediately and enable public access from their institution's repository after an embargo period. This is the version that has been accepted for publication and which typically includes author-incorporat…
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
- Elsevier Ltd
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1923
- ISSN
- 0007-0912
- Electronic ISSN
- 1471-6771
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about British Journal of Anaesthesia
What CAS zone is British Journal of Anaesthesia in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, British Journal of Anaesthesia is in Zone 1 of Medicine, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Anesthesiology; 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 British Journal of Anaesthesia?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 9.92; CiteScore 14.5, h-index 292.
How long does peer review take at British Journal of Anaesthesia?
Based on the dates recorded on 117 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 51 days (interquartile range 25–99 days); authors report an average review time of 3–6 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly 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 British Journal of Anaesthesia?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; 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 British Journal of Anaesthesia based?
Of the 85 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 4 (about 5%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (27), United Kingdom (20) and Mainland China (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index British Journal of Anaesthesia?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, British Journal of Anaesthesia is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is British Journal of Anaesthesia open access, and what is the APC?
British Journal of Anaesthesia is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,450.
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: .