Journal profile · Rheumatology
Clinical Rheumatology
ISSN 0770-3198 · eISSN 1434-9949 · Springer International Publishing · ENGLAND · Monthly · Founded 1982
Clinical Rheumatology: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.68; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,890; median 100 days to acceptance (134 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: easy; 600 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Clinical Rheumatology 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 Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and Therapies, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Research and Spondyloarthritis Studies and Treatments, together about 38.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Rheumatology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Clinical Rheumatology is an international journal devoted to publishing, in the English language, original clinical investigation and research in the general field of rheumatology with accent on clinical aspects at postgraduate level. Studies carried out anywhere in the world will be considered, the basic criterion for acceptance being the medical and scientific standard of the work described. Manuscripts submitted for publication are scrutinised by independent expert assessors and once accepted will be published promptly. Clinical Rheumatology succeeds Acta Rheumatologica Belgica, which was originally founded in 1945 as the official journal of the Belgian Rheumatology Society. Since the journal's international audience is concentrated in Eastern and Southern Europe, the Society has broadened the scope of the journal and adapted the editorial board and the title of the journal accordingly. Rheumatology in Europe is not restricted to inflammatory rheumatic diseases but also includes non-surgical bone diseases, in general, and rehabilitation. The aim of the editorial board is for Clinical Rheumatology to reflect the field of rheumatology in its wider aspects. Hence, Clinical Rheumatology aims to cover all modern trends in clinical and experimental research as well as the management and evaluation of diagnostic and treatment procedures connected with the inflammatory, immunologic, metabolic, genetic and degenerative soft and hard connective tissue diseases. Original publications, short communications, editorials, and reviews in relation to these topics will be accepted. Letters to the editor are welcome as enhancement to discussions. Case Reports are no longer accepted but instead authors are invited to submit a Case Based Review: a case report of extreme clinical interest incorporating a mini literature review in an area of new knowledge.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Rheumatology
Editor-in-chief Adewale Adebajo MBEPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 4 in mainland China (about 6%); most named United States 8, United Kingdom 8, Mainland China 4, Germany 3, Italy 3 (63 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and TherapiesMedicine16.9%
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ResearchMedicine13%
- Spondyloarthritis Studies and TreatmentsMedicine8.8%
- Autoimmune and Inflammatory Disorders ResearchMedicine6.9%
- Systemic Sclerosis and Related DiseasesMedicine6.2%
- Vasculitis and related conditionsMedicine5.4%
- Inflammatory Myopathies and DermatomyositisMedicine4.3%
- Osteoarthritis Treatment and MechanismsMedicine3.3%
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 | 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)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Rheumatology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEEmbaseCAB AbstractsCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, AGRICOLA, 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
- 2.68LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.1LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.84LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.99LetPub ·
- h-index
- 74LetPub ·
- h-index
- 126OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 6,260OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.1OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 22.96%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 519LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 1,900,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 11,214 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 546 | 137 | 142 |
| 2025 | 600 | 171 | 1,202 |
| 2024 | 424 | 141 | 1,960 |
| 2023 | 363 | 132 | 2,873 |
| 2022 | 485 | 197 | 5,589 |
| 2021 | 510 | 180 | 7,023 |
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
100 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 59 days – 139 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 12 days (134 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 113 days
- Sample
- 134 articles with submission and acceptance dates (1,263 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 3 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 9 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 4,890 / EUR 3,890 / GBP 3,090 | — | — |
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)
Open calls for papers2, by deadline
- Cell ImmunotherapyDeadline
- Rheumatology in the Global SouthDeadline
What to prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Article types accepted17, with length limits
- brief reportOriginal Research articles: word limit 4000 words, 45 references, no more than 6 figures/tables; abstracts must be structured as specified below. After the abst…main text ≤ 2,000 words
- case based reviewCase Based Review: a case report of extreme clinical interest incorporating a mini review in an area of new knowledge.Length not stated
- case reportOriginal Research articles: word limit 4000 words, 45 references, no more than 6 figures/tables; abstracts must be structured as specified below. After the abst…Length not stated
- clinical imageClinical Image: Clinical Images are a brief clinical report describing a unique image.Length not stated
- editorialEditorial: up to 1500 wordsLength not stated
- letterOriginal Research articles: word limit 4000 words, 45 references, no more than 6 figures/tables; abstracts must be structured as specified below. After the abst…main text ≤ 1,500 words
- letters of biomedical and clinical researchLetters of Biomedical and Clinical Research: word limit 650 words, 10 references, 2 tables or figures and a discussion; summaries and supplementary material sho…Length not stated
- letters to editorLetters to editor: up to 600 wordsLength not stated
- mini reviewOriginal Research articles: word limit 4000 words, 45 references, no more than 6 figures/tables; abstracts must be structured as specified below. After the abst…Length not stated
- original articleOriginal Research articles: word limit 4000 words, 45 references, no more than 6 figures/tables; abstracts must be structured as specified below. After the abst…Length not stated
- original research articleOriginal Research articles: word limit 4000 words, 45 references, no more than 6 figures/tables; abstracts must be structured as specified below. After the abst…main text ≤ 4,000 words
- original research articlesOriginal Research articles: word limit 4000 words, 45 references, no more than 6 figures/tables; abstracts must be structured as specified below.Length not stated
- perspectiveOriginal Research articles: word limit 4000 words, 45 references, no more than 6 figures/tables; abstracts must be structured as specified below. After the abst…main text ≤ 3,500 words
- perspectives in rheumatologyPerspectives in Rheumatology: word limit 3500 words, 40 references, no more than 3 figures.Length not stated
- reviewOriginal Research articles: word limit 4000 words, 45 references, no more than 6 figures/tables; abstracts must be structured as specified below. After the abst…Length not stated
- review articleOriginal Research articles: word limit 4000 words, 45 references, no more than 6 figures/tables; abstracts must be structured as specified below. After the abst…Length not stated
- review articlesReview articles: Provide accessible, authoritative, and balanced overviews of a field or topic.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- 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 Conflict of interest
Authors must indicate whether or not they have a financial relationship with the organization that sponsored the research. They should also state that they have full control of all primary data and that they agree to allow the journal to review their data if requested. Therefore the manuscript must be accompanied by the “Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form”. To download this form, please follow t…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
The journal encourages authors to provide a statement of Data availability in their article. Data availability statements should include information on where data supporting the results reported in the article can be found, including, where applicable, hyperlinks to publicly archived datasets analysed or generated during the study. Data availability statements can also indicate whether data are av…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Ethical standards
Manuscripts submitted for publication must contain a statement to the effect that all human and animal studies have been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. It should also be stated clearly in the text that all persons gave their informed conse…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
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 a Creative Commons license. Details of the OA licences offered to authors can be found on the individual journal website, in the journal's How to publish with us guide. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Clinical Rheumatology, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Endorses EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines for manuscript preparation. Model summary
Clinical Rheumatology endorses complete and transparent reporting of biomedical and clinical research. Depending on the study, we recommended the authors to adhere to the relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines when preparing their manuscript.
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
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1982
- ISSN
- 0770-3198
- Electronic ISSN
- 1434-9949
- Society / sponsor
- International League of Associations for Rheumatology
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 45, 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 Rheumatology
What CAS zone is Clinical Rheumatology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Clinical Rheumatology is in Zone 3 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 Clinical Rheumatology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.68; CiteScore 5.1, h-index 126.
How long does peer review take at Clinical Rheumatology?
Based on the dates recorded on 134 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 100 days (interquartile range 59–139 days); authors report an average review time of about 3 months; the community-reported acceptance is “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 Rheumatology?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–250 words; Keywords: ≥ 4; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; Suggested reviewers: Optional. 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 Rheumatology based?
Of the 63 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 4 (about 6%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (8), United Kingdom (8) and Mainland China (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Clinical Rheumatology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Clinical Rheumatology is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, Embase, CAB Abstracts and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Clinical Rheumatology open access, and what is the APC?
Clinical Rheumatology is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,890.
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: .