Journal profile · Medicine, General & Internal
Clinics
ISSN 1807-5932 · eISSN 1980-5322 · ELSEVIER ESPANA · BRAZIL · Monthly · Founded 2005
Clinics: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.35; fully open access; APC about USD 1,700; median 188 days to acceptance (129 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: about 50%; 284 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Clinics is published by ELSEVIER ESPANA 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 Sepsis Diagnosis and Treatment, COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies and Respiratory Support and Mechanisms, together about 18.4% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Clinics is an international, peer-reviewed electronic journal that publishes original research, reviews, editorials, and comments in medical and biomedical sciences with direct relevance to clinical practice and evidence-based medicine. The journal welcomes translational research that advances the understanding of disease mechanisms and demonstrates clear functional and clinical relevance, as well as clinical studies with the potential to influence current practice and healthcare delivery.Manuscripts are considered for publication based on their scientific rigor, originality, contemporary relevance, and potential to inform clinical decision-making and improve patient outcomes.The mission of Clinics is to accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into clinical benefit by providing a forum for the dissemination and exchange of knowledge among clinicians, translational researchers, scientists, and other stakeholders in medical research and healthcare.Clinics follows the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and is committed to ethics, respect, humanization, honesty, innovation, and excellence.Clinics is the official scientific journal of Faculdade de Medicina and Hospital das Clínicas – Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.Out of scope for Clinics:Clinics will no longer consider articles in the following areas:Non-commissioned Comments and Editorials.Case reports and Case seriesBibliometric analysis Datamining studies using single datasets without strong experimental validationStudies of complex datasets that rely solely on statistical projections or correlationsQualitative surveys with non-representative number of respondentsSingle center retrospective studies with limited sample size, except for rare conditions or special populationsMachine-learning or artificial intelligence methods without benchmarking against similar methods with demonstrated superior performanceIn silico studies without experimental validation in physiologically relevant modelsMendelian Randomization studies without strong experimental validation in original cohorts
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medicine, General & Internal
Editor-in-chief José Maria Soares-Jr.Publisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 2%); most named Brazil 71, United States 13, Italy 6, United Kingdom 4, India 3 (115 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Sepsis Diagnosis and TreatmentMedicine6.7%
- COVID-19 Clinical Research StudiesMedicine6%
- Respiratory Support and MechanismsMedicine5.7%
- Cardiovascular and exercise physiologyMedicine5.2%
- Organ Transplantation Techniques and OutcomesMedicine4.8%
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) ResearchMedicine4.6%
- Nutrition and Health in AgingMedicine4.6%
- Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic ControlMedicine4.3%
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 | Medicine, General & Internal | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Medicine, General & Internal | Zone 3 |
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 | Medicine, General & Internal | 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
PubMedPublisher website
Other: Crossref
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
- 2.35LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.66LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.74LetPub ·
- h-index
- 51LetPub ·
- h-index
- 107OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,258OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.83OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.83%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 252LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,387 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 285 | 285 | 52 |
| 2025 | 284 | 284 | 533 |
| 2024 | 240 | 240 | 898 |
| 2023 | 164 | 164 | 1,282 |
| 2022 | 149 | 149 | 1,520 |
| 2021 | 230 | 230 | 2,670 |
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
188 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 115 days – 258 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 31 days (129 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 248 days
- Sample
- 129 articles with submission and acceptance dates (638 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 1 monthLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 50%LetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 20 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 65 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 185 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 24 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 35 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous 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 | USD 1,700 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,700 / EUR 1,590 / GBP 1,360 / JPY 210,850 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 1,700 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 1,700 | — | — |
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
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 6,000 words
Article types accepted8, with length limits
- editorialEditorial Written, by invitation only, by the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors, editorial board members, or prestigious invited scientists and clinicians on c…Length not stated
- original articleComplete original studies reporting clinically relevant or translational research in medical and biomedical sciences. Clinical studies should have the potential…main text ≤ 6,000 words · references ≤ 50
- perspectiveThe journal publishes articles classified into the categories described below:Original ArticleComplete original studies reporting clinically relevant or transla…Length not stated
- practical guidelinesPractical Guidelines Guidelines regarding themes that are relevant to medical practice.Length not stated
- reviewThe journal publishes articles classified into the categories described below:Original ArticleComplete original studies reporting clinically relevant or transla…main text ≤ 10,000 words · references ≤ 100
- short communicationBrief reports of original clinical or translational research findings that are of immediate relevance to clinical practice, evidence-based medicine, or patient …main text ≤ 1,500 words · references ≤ 10
- short communicationsShort Communications Brief reports of original clinical or translational research findings that are of immediate relevance to clinical practice, evidence-based …Length not stated
- systematic reviewThe journal publishes articles classified into the categories described below:Original ArticleComplete original studies reporting clinically relevant or transla…main text ≤ 10,000 words · references ≤ 100
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing
Authors must declare the use of generative AI tools in the manuscript preparation process upon submission of the paper.Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI tools”) have been rapidly adopted in research and scholarly publishing, offering significant benefits while requiring clear standards for responsible and transparent use.Authors preparing a manuscript for this journal may use AI tool…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Author contributions
For transparency, we encourage corresponding authors to provide co-author contributions to the manuscript using the relevant CRediT roles. The CRediT taxonomy includes 14 different roles describing each contributor's specific contribution to the scholarly output. The roles are: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Funding acquisition; Investigation; Methodology; Project administratio…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interest
Corresponding authors, on behalf of all the authors of a submission, must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Availability
Manuscripts must be accompanied by a data availability statement for the data used or generated in the research underlying the texts. Kindly incorporate one of the three options below into the text:URL address of the dataset;Statement that all data are available within the text;Indication that the data must be requested from the corresponding author.
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) to assign to HCFMUSP the copyright in the manuscript and any tables, illustrations or other material submitted for publication as part of the manuscript (the "Article") in all forms and media (whether now known or later developed), throughout the world, in all languages,…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
Open access journal Model summary
Please visit our Open Access page from the Journal Homepage for more information.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Single anonymized peer review process Model summary
This journal operates a single anonymized review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor'…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprints can be shared anywhere at any time Model summary
Please note that preprints can be shared anywhere at any time, in line with Elsevier's sharing policy. Sharing your preprints e.g. on a preprint server will not count as prior publication (see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information).
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 ESPANA
- Country or region
- BRAZIL
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 2005
- ISSN
- 1807-5932
- Electronic ISSN
- 1980-5322
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- 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 Clinics
What CAS zone is Clinics in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Clinics is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Medicine, General & Internal. 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 Clinics?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.35; CiteScore 3, h-index 107.
How long does peer review take at Clinics?
Based on the dates recorded on 129 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 188 days (interquartile range 115–258 days); authors report an average review time of about 1 month; the community-reported acceptance is “about 50%”. 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 Clinics?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 6,000 words. 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 Clinics based?
Of the 115 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 2%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Brazil (71), United States (13) and Italy (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Clinics?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Clinics is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists PubMed; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Clinics open access, and what is the APC?
Clinics is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,700.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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: .