Journal profile · Medicine-Surgery
Clinical Spine Surgery
ISSN 2380-0186 · eISSN 2380-0194 · Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Ltd. · UNITED STATES
Clinical Spine Surgery: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.73; JCR Q3 (journal website); hybrid open access; median 228 days to acceptance (111 articles, last 24 months); 233 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Clinical Spine Surgery is published by Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Ltd. 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 Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology, Cervical and Thoracic Myelopathy and Spinal Fractures and Fixation Techniques, together about 61.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Surgery. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Clinical Spine Surgery is the ideal journal for the busy practicing spine surgeon or trainee, as it is the only journal necessary to keep up to date with new clinical research and surgical techniques. Readers get to watch leaders in the field debate controversial topics in a new controversies section, and gain access to evidence-based reviews of important pathologies in the systematic reviews section. The journal features a surgical technique complete with a video, and a tips and tricks section that allows surgeons to review the important steps prior to a complex procedure. Clinical Spine Surgery provides readers with primary research studies, specifically level 1, 2 and 3 studies, ensuring that articles that may actually change a surgeon’s practice will be read and published. Each issue includes a brief article that will help a surgeon better understand the business of healthcare, as well as an article that will help a surgeon understand how to interpret increasingly complex research methodology. Clinical Spine Surgery is your single source for up-to-date, evidence-based recommendations for spine care.
Source: LetPub
Research area (LetPub): Medicine-Surgery
Editor-in-chief Gregory D. SchroederPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Spine and Intervertebral Disc PathologyMedicine25.7%
- Cervical and Thoracic MyelopathyMedicine21.6%
- Spinal Fractures and Fixation TechniquesMedicine14.6%
- Scoliosis diagnosis and treatmentMedicine14.1%
- Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationMedicine2.9%
- Spinal Hematomas and ComplicationsMedicine2.1%
- Anesthesia and Pain ManagementMedicine2%
- Management of metastatic bone diseaseMedicine1.8%
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 | Clinical Neurology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Orthopedics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Clinical Neurology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Orthopedics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Clinical Neurology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Orthopedics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q3 · CLINICAL NEUROLOGY · rank 201/296
- JCR Q3 · ORTHOPEDICS · rank 74/147
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
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
- 1.73LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.7LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.87LetPub ·
- h-index
- 12LetPub ·
- h-index
- 60OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 758OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.21OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 6.92%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 158LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,105 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 181 | 13 | 8 |
| 2025 | 233 | 33 | 203 |
| 2024 | 188 | 12 | 517 |
| 2023 | 148 | 11 | 692 |
| 2022 | 118 | 13 | 897 |
| 2021 | 171 | 17 | 1,526 |
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
228 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 160 days – 310 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 36 days (111 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 271 days
- Sample
- 111 articles with submission and acceptance dates (473 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".
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.
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
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.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Ltd.
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2380-0186
- Electronic ISSN
- 2380-0194
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 39, Issue 7 (August 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Clinical Spine Surgery
What CAS zone is Clinical Spine Surgery in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Clinical Spine Surgery is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Clinical Neurology / Orthopedics. 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 Spine Surgery?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.73; CiteScore 3, h-index 60.
How long does peer review take at Clinical Spine Surgery?
Based on the dates recorded on 111 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 228 days (interquartile range 160–310 days). 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 JCR quartile is Clinical Spine Surgery in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q3; by category, CLINICAL NEUROLOGY Q3 (201/296), ORTHOPEDICS Q3 (74/147). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 4 of Medicine.
Which databases index Clinical Spine Surgery?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Clinical Spine Surgery is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Clinical Spine Surgery open access, and what is the APC?
Clinical Spine Surgery is a hybrid journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .