Journal profile · PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL
Cognitive Therapy and Research
ISSN 0147-5916 · eISSN 1573-2819 · Springer Nature · 6 issues per year
Cognitive Therapy and Research: CAS Zone 3 · Psychology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.3; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,090; median 140 days to acceptance (62 articles, last 24 months); 137 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Cognitive Therapy and Research is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 3 of Psychology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes, Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development and Mental Health Research Topics, together about 55.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Clinical Psychology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Cognitive Therapy and Research (COTR) is an interdisciplinary journal that focuses on the investigation of all aspects of cognitive processes and cognitive behavioral therapies. The journal welcomes submissions from diverse areas of clinical science focusing on cognitions, behaviors, treatment mechanism and predictors, experimental psychopathology, biomarkers, affective neuroscience, and dissemination. In addition, the scope of the journal includes developmental and cultural aspects of psychopathology and treatment. More specifically, the journal encourages submissions on the following topics: Enhancing the clinical science of cognitive behavioral therapies. Clinical science is an ever-changing process. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a major part of it, leading to new and improved therapeutic strategies. Dissemination of effective treatments. Although therapies are effective in clinical settings, they often fail in real-world clinical practices. Effective dissemination is desperately needed. Understanding the treatment mechanisms. Cognitive behavioral therapies work for a wide range of different disorders, but the mechanisms of action (i.e., why do they work?) remain uncertain or unknown. The search for the generative mechanism may require new methodological strategies using a biopsychosocial perspective. Widening the perspective of cognitive and behavioral therapies. The journal encourages submissions of research at the cutting-edge of clinical science, such as topics on translational research, complex network analyses, machine learning, and treatment processes of new or promising pharmacotherapies, such as psychedelics.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL
Editor-in-chief Michael ZvolenskyPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 42, Germany 4, Canada 4, Netherlands 2, Sweden 2 (59 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesPsychology24.2%
- Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentPsychology18%
- Mental Health Research TopicsPsychology12.8%
- Behavioral Health and InterventionsPsychology3.3%
- Attachment and Relationship DynamicsPsychology3%
- Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum DisordersPsychology3%
- Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety StudiesPsychology3%
- Eating Disorders and BehaviorsPsychology2.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Psychology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychology, Clinical | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Psychology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychology, Clinical | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Psychology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychology, Clinical | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEEmbasePsycINFOERIH PLUSCurrent 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
- 2.3LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.3Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.11LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.17LetPub ·
- h-index
- 177OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,188OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.06OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 8.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 40.63%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 134LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 772,300Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,209 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 88 | 50 | 28 |
| 2025 | 137 | 77 | 201 |
| 2024 | 107 | 57 | 456 |
| 2023 | 110 | 60 | 827 |
| 2022 | 60 | 37 | 665 |
| 2021 | 98 | 57 | 1,900 |
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
140 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 94 days – 208 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 21 days (102 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 167 days
- Sample
- 62 articles with submission and acceptance dates (251 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
- Submission to first decision
- 3 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 4,090 / EUR 3,090 / GBP 2,690 | — | — |
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 prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, 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. 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 ·- Publication ethics Compliance with Ethical Standards
To ensure objectivity and transparency in research and to ensure that accepted principles of ethical and professional conduct have been followed, authors should include information regarding sources of funding, potential conflicts of interest (financial or non-financial), informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved an…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Originality of Work and Copyright
Submission of a manuscript assumes that the paper is original to the authors; that it has not been published before; that it is not under consideration for publication anywhere else; that its publication has been approved by all co-authors, if any, as well as by the responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – at the institute where the work has been carried out. The publisher will not be hel…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Cognitive Therapy and Research, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
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 Nature
- Frequency
- 6 issues per year
- ISSN
- 0147-5916
- Electronic ISSN
- 1573-2819
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 50, Issue 4 (August 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Cognitive Therapy and Research
What CAS zone is Cognitive Therapy and Research in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Cognitive Therapy and Research is in Zone 3 of Psychology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Psychology, Clinical. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Psychology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Cognitive Therapy and Research?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.3; CiteScore 4.6, h-index 177.
How long does peer review take at Cognitive Therapy and Research?
Based on the dates recorded on 62 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 140 days (interquartile range 94–208 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 are the manuscript requirements of Cognitive Therapy and Research?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Keywords: ≥ 4; Reference style: Author–date; 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 Cognitive Therapy and Research based?
Of the 59 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (42), Germany (4) and Canada (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Cognitive Therapy and Research?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Cognitive Therapy and Research is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE, Embase, PsycINFO, ERIH PLUS and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Cognitive Therapy and Research open access, and what is the APC?
Cognitive Therapy and Research is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,090.
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: .