Journal profile · Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Clinical Drug Investigation
ISSN 1173-2563 · eISSN 1179-1918 · Springer International Publishing · NEW ZEALAND · Monthly · Founded 1989
Clinical Drug Investigation: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.09; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,190; median 193 days to acceptance (56 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 95 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Clinical Drug Investigation is published by Springer International Publishing 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 Blood Pressure and Hypertension Studies, Antibiotics Pharmacokinetics and Efficacy and Diabetes Treatment and Management, together about 20.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Pharmacology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Clinical Drug Investigation provides rapid publication of original research covering all phases of clinical drug development and therapeutic use of drugs. The Journal includes: Clinical trials, outcomes research, clinical pharmacoeconomic studies and pharmacoepidemiology studies with a strong link to optimum prescribing practice for a drug or group of drugs. Clinical pharmacodynamic and clinical pharmacokinetic studies with a strong link to clinical practice. Pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic studies in healthy volunteers in which significant implications for clinical prescribing are discussed. Studies focusing on the application of drug delivery technology in healthcare. Short communications and case study reports that meet the above criteria will also be considered.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Editor-in-chief Sophie StevensonPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 6 in mainland China (about 10%); most named Italy 12, United States 9, Mainland China 6, Japan 5, Australia 4 (62 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Blood Pressure and Hypertension StudiesMedicine8.1%
- Antibiotics Pharmacokinetics and EfficacyMedicine6.5%
- Diabetes Treatment and ManagementMedicine6.2%
- Inflammatory mediators and NSAID effectsMedicine5.1%
- Asthma and respiratory diseasesMedicine4.7%
- Pain Management and Opioid UseMedicine4.6%
- Pharmacogenetics and Drug MetabolismPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics4.1%
- Pneumonia and Respiratory InfectionsMedicine4%
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 | Pharmacology & Pharmacy | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Pharmacology & Pharmacy | 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 | Pharmacology & Pharmacy | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEEmbaseCASCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, 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
- 3.09LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.1Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.82LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.83LetPub ·
- h-index
- 53LetPub ·
- h-index
- 82OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,786OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.72OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 44.64%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 81LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 565,900Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,125 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 83 | 42 | 28 |
| 2025 | 95 | 48 | 186 |
| 2024 | 79 | 44 | 485 |
| 2023 | 100 | 48 | 831 |
| 2022 | 119 | 79 | 1,215 |
| 2021 | 116 | 62 | 1,769 |
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
193 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 146 days – 231 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 22 days (97 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 218 days
- Sample
- 56 articles with submission and acceptance dates (199 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 ·
- Submission to first decision
- 12 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher 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 4,190 / EUR 3,190 / GBP 2,790 | — | — |
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 prepare6 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–250 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 10,000 words
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted11
- brief communicationPlease note: There is no limit on the number of tables, figures or references that can accompany an article. Information that is relevant but not critical to un…Length not stated
- case reportPlease note: There is no limit on the number of tables, figures or references that can accompany an article. Information that is relevant but not critical to un…Length not stated
- editorialInternal Review by Editorial Staff: The journal editor will perform an initial appraisal of each manuscript. When submitting your paper, please include a coveri…Length not stated
- letterPlease note: There is no limit on the number of tables, figures or references that can accompany an article. Information that is relevant but not critical to un…Length not stated
- opinionPlease note: There is no limit on the number of tables, figures or references that can accompany an article. Information that is relevant but not critical to un…Length not stated
- original researchPlease note: There is no limit on the number of tables, figures or references that can accompany an article. Information that is relevant but not critical to un…Length not stated
- original research articlePlease note: There is no limit on the number of tables, figures or references that can accompany an article. Information that is relevant but not critical to un…Length not stated
- perspectivePlease note: There is no limit on the number of tables, figures or references that can accompany an article. Information that is relevant but not critical to un…Length not stated
- reviewPlease note: There is no limit on the number of tables, figures or references that can accompany an article. Information that is relevant but not critical to un…Length not stated
- review articlePlease note: There is no limit on the number of tables, figures or references that can accompany an article. Information that is relevant but not critical to un…Length not stated
- systematic reviewPlease note: There is no limit on the number of tables, figures or references that can accompany an article. Information that is relevant but not critical to un…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- AI use Generative AI Images
Please check Springer’s policy on generative AI images and make sure your work adheres to the principles described therein. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship Principles
These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to. Authorship clarified The Journal and Publisher assume all authors agreed with the content and that all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Disclosures and declarations
All authors are requested to include information regarding sources of funding, financial or non-financial interests, study-specific approval by the appropriate ethics committee for research involving humans and/or animals, informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved animals (as appropriate). The decision whether such …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
All original research must include a data availability statement explaining how to access supporting data, including links/citations to publicly archived datasets. Model summary
All original research must include a data availability statement. This statement should explain how to access data supporting the results and analysis in the article, including links/citations to publicly archived datasets analysed or generated during the study. Please see our full policy here. If it is not possible to share research data publicly, for instance when individual privacy could be com…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright and license term – CC BY-NC
Open Choice articles do not require transfer of copyright as the copyright remains with the author. In opting for open access, the author(s) agree to publish the article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License Find more about the license agreement Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
Open Choice articles retain copyright with the author and are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Model summary
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Clinical Drug Investigation, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Single-anonymous peer review: reviewer identities confidential, author identities known to reviewers. Model summary
Peer reviewer identities are kept confidential, but author identities are known to the reviewers.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical Trial Registration
The World Health Organization (WHO) definition of a clinical trial is "any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on health outcomes". The WHO defines health interventions as “A health intervention is an act performed for, with or on behalf of a person or population whose purpose is to ass…
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 International Publishing
- Country or region
- NEW ZEALAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1989
- ISSN
- 1173-2563
- Electronic ISSN
- 1179-1918
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 46, Issue 9 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Clinical Drug Investigation
What CAS zone is Clinical Drug Investigation in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Clinical Drug Investigation is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Pharmacology & Pharmacy. 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 Clinical Drug Investigation?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.09; CiteScore 5.2, h-index 82.
How long does peer review take at Clinical Drug Investigation?
Based on the dates recorded on 56 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 193 days (interquartile range 146–231 days); authors report an average review time of 6–12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”. 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 Clinical Drug Investigation?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–250 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 10,000 words; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: 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 Clinical Drug Investigation based?
Of the 62 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 6 (about 10%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Italy (12), United States (9) and Mainland China (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Clinical Drug Investigation?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Clinical Drug Investigation is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, Embase, CAS and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Clinical Drug Investigation open access, and what is the APC?
Clinical Drug Investigation is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,190.
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: .