Journal profile · Multiple
Critical Public Health
ISSN 0958-1596 · eISSN 1469-3682 · Taylor & Francis
Critical Public Health: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.55; JCR Q2 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 3,300; median 158 days to acceptance (116 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 35% (journal website); 245 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Critical Public Health is published by Taylor & Francis 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 Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology, Obesity and Health Practices and Public Health Policies and Education, together about 25.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are General Health Professions. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Critical Public Health , also known as CPH , is an international, multidisciplinary peer-reviewed open access journal on public health. The Journal publishes the latest research in the aspects, research, implementation, and management of public health, health promotion, sociology, political economy of health, and related fields. Open Access from 2024, CPH brings together international scholarship from health researchers, social scientists, and those working within health services. CPH considers original articles, empirical research articles, short reports, reviews, case studies, short communications, and commentary articles on the following topics. All perspectives, including those with a critical view, are welcome. Epidemiology Infectious and Chronic Diseases Mental Health and Well-being Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Health Promotion and Prevention Environmental and Occupational Health Global and Community Health Health Systems, Policy, and Equity Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Lifestyle What can you expect if you publish in CPH ? Rigorous peer review featuring constructive dialogue with experts Immediate, free access to your article for anyone anywhere in the world Fast publication on a state-of-the-art platform Innovative article-level performance metrics Global marketing and high production values Authors retain copyright of their work When considering submission of a paper utilizing publicly available data (e.g. SEER/GWAS/TCGA/GEO/Vigibase etc.), authors should ensure that such studies add significantly to the body of knowledge about a specific disease or relevant phenotype and that they are validated using the authors’ own data through replication in an independent sample set and functional follow-up. Bioinformatics studies should also conform to these criteria. Read the Instructions for Authors and submit your article. Please note that Critical Public Health converted to a full Open Access journal from Volume 34 (2024). Previous volumes will continue to provide access through a Pay to Read model. From 2024 the Print ISSN is not in active use as this journal is no longer published in print.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Joe ThomasPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Australia 2, Canada 1 (3 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Global Public Health Policies and EpidemiologyBusiness, Management and Accounting10.9%
- Obesity and Health PracticesHealth Professions8.3%
- Public Health Policies and EducationHealth Professions6.3%
- Health disparities and outcomesSocial Sciences6.1%
- Health Policy Implementation ScienceHealth Professions6.1%
- Community Health and DevelopmentHealth Professions5.2%
- Food Security and Health in Diverse PopulationsHealth Professions5.1%
- Mental Health and Patient InvolvementHealth Professions4.6%
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 | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Biomedical | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Biomedical | 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 | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Biomedical | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q2 · best quartile · 2025
- CiteScore Q2 · 2025
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
SSCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEEmbasePsycINFOCINAHLCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: CommunityWISE, Community Care, Educational Research Abstracts online (ERA), Family Studies Database, Gay and Lesbian Abstracts (Sexual Diversity Studies), Journal Citation Reports/Social Sciences Edition, International Bibliography of Social Sciences (IBSS), National Information Services Corporation (NISC), Occupational Safety and Health Database (OSH-DB), Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, Studies on Women and Gender Abstracts
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
- 2.55LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.8LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.8Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.8LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.8Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.03LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.03Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 79OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 772OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.97OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 7.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 91.29%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 174LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 384,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,088 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 292 | 292 | 45 |
| 2025 | 245 | 245 | 307 |
| 2024 | 35 | 35 | 205 |
| 2023 | 42 | 29 | 258 |
| 2022 | 39 | 25 | 523 |
| 2021 | 47 | 30 | 847 |
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
158 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 116 days – 309 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 14 days (116 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 180 days
- Sample
- 116 articles with submission and acceptance dates (536 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
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 35%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 29 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 84 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 14 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 14 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 3,300 / GBP 2,640 / EUR 3,170 / AUD 4,595 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access
- Open access Open access
Critical Public Health is an open access journal and only publishes open access articles. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open access? Increase the discoverability and readership of your article Make an impact and reach new readers, not just those …
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
- Taylor & Francis
- ISSN
- 0958-1596
- Electronic ISSN
- 1469-3682
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 36, Issue 1 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- 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 Critical Public Health
What CAS zone is Critical Public Health in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Critical Public Health is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Public, Environmental & Occupational Health / Social Sciences, Biomedical. 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 Critical Public Health?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.55; CiteScore 3.8, h-index 79.
How long does peer review take at Critical Public Health?
Based on the dates recorded on 116 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 158 days (interquartile range 116–309 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 35%. 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 Critical Public Health in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q2 (best quartile). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 3 of Medicine.
Where are the editorial board members of Critical Public Health based?
Of the 3 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Australia (2) and Canada (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Critical Public Health?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Critical Public Health is indexed in SSCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists SCIE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Critical Public Health open access, and what is the APC?
Critical Public Health is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,300.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, DOAJ, OpenAlex; 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: .