Journal profile · Medicine-General Medicine
Frontiers in Medicine
ISSN 2296-858X · Frontiers Media S.A. · Switzerland
Frontiers in Medicine: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.52; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 61 days to acceptance (195 articles, last 24 months); 4,831 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus; flagged on an early-warning list or for an indexing change: check before submitting.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Frontiers in Medicine is published by Frontiers Media S.A. 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 COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies, Sepsis Diagnosis and Treatment and Respiratory Support and Mechanisms, together about 20.8% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Frontiers in Medicine is a broad-scope, multidisciplinary journal covering all established medical disciplines to improve clinical practice and patient care. Led by Field Chief Editor Prof Michel Goldman (Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium), Frontiers in Medicine is indexed in PubMed Central (PMC), Web of Science (SCIE), and Scopus, among others, and welcomes basic and clinical medical research that facilitate the translation of scientific advances into new therapies or diagnostic tools. Topics include, but are not limited to: dermatology family medicine and primary care gastroenterology gene and cell therapy geriatric medicine healthcare professions education hematology hepatobiliary diseases infectious diseases: pathogenesis and therapy intensive care medicine and anesthesiology nephrology medical imaging and nuclear medicine obstetrics and gynecology ophthalmology pathology precision medicine respiratory Medicine regulatory science rheumatology translational medicine urological disorders In addition to papers that provide a link between basic research and clinical practice, a particular emphasis is given to studies that are directly relevant to patient care. As well as the established medical disciplines, Frontiers in Medicine aims to publish research that will facilitate: access to medicinal products and medical devices worldwide addressing the grand health challenges around the world the exploitation of big data and the use of novel information and communication tools in the assessment of new medicines the scientific bases for guidelines and decisions from regulatory authorities the use of patient-reported outcomes under real world conditions. All studies must contribute insights into the field of medicine. Papers which do not primarily focus on a medical discipline are not suitable for publication in this journal. Manuscripts that focus solely on the molecular or cellular mechanisms of diseases without a foundation in clinical medicine are not suitable for publication in this journal. Similarly, studies that are purely descriptive or observational, without a clear hypothesis or mechanistic investigation, are not within the scope of this journal. Research that is primarily epidemiological or public health-oriented, without a foundation in the pathophysiology or treatment of disease, is also not appropriate for this journal. Frontiers’ journals require that manuscripts primarily comprising computational studies of public data, must include appropri
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medicine-General Medicine
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 6%); most named United States 4, Australia 3, Taiwan, China 2, Italy 2, Mainland China 1 (17 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- COVID-19 Clinical Research StudiesMedicine8.1%
- Sepsis Diagnosis and TreatmentMedicine7.7%
- Respiratory Support and MechanismsMedicine5%
- Liver Disease Diagnosis and TreatmentMedicine4.6%
- Retinal Diseases and TreatmentsMedicine4.6%
- Long-Term Effects of COVID-19Medicine4.6%
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) ResearchMedicine4.4%
- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchMedicine4.3%
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 | Medicine, General & Internal | Zone 3 |
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 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Medicine, General & Internal | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
Early warning / risk: CAS Early Warning Journal List: listed in the 2021 edition (low risk); not listed in the other 5 editions.LetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePMCEmbasePublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, CLOCKSS, 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
- 3.52LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 5.4Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.95LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.16LetPub ·
- h-index
- 151OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 7,519OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.56OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.93%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 4,546LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 26,149 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 6,487 | 6,487 | 1,989 |
| 2025 | 4,831 | 4,831 | 14,482 |
| 2024 | 2,789 | 2,789 | 19,677 |
| 2023 | 2,848 | 2,848 | 31,493 |
| 2022 | 4,191 | 4,191 | 63,380 |
| 2021 | 2,846 | 2,846 | 65,552 |
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
61 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 39 days – 90 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 19 days (195 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 82 days
- Sample
- 195 articles with submission and acceptance dates (11,722 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 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 12 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 | CHF 3,150 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 3,150 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 3,295 | Yes | — | |
| 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)
What to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Keywords
- 5–8
- Reference style
- Harvard
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- AI use Use of AI to create written or visual content
Authors should not list a generative AI technology as a co-author or author of any submitted manuscript. Generative AI technologies cannot be held accountable for all aspects of a manuscript and consequently do not meet the criteria required for authorship. If the author of a submitted manuscript has used written or visual content produced by or edited using a generative AI technology, this use mu…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Safeguards against financial conflicts of interest
Only leading researchers acting as Associate Editors, who are not part of Frontiers' staff, can make acceptance decisions based on reviews performed by external experts acting as Community Reviewers or Reviewers. None have a financial incentive to accept articles, i.e. they are not paid for their role as Associate Editor or community Reviewer, and any award scheme is not linked to acceptances of m…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Open access and copyright
Figures, tables, and images published under CC-BY; permission required for copyrighted third-party material. Model summary
All Frontiers' articles from July 2012 onwards are published with open access under the Creative Commons CC-BY license (the current version is CC-BY, version 4.0). This means that the author(s) retains copyright, but the content is free to download, distribute, and adapt for commercial or non-commercial purposes, given appropriate attribution to the original article. Upon submission, the author(s)…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access and copyright
Open access under CC-BY license (version 4.0) for all articles from July 2012 onwards; authors retain copyright. Model summary
All Frontiers' articles from July 2012 onwards are published with open access under the Creative Commons CC-BY license (the current version is CC-BY, version 4.0). This means that the author(s) retains copyright, but the content is free to download, distribute, and adapt for commercial or non-commercial purposes, given appropriate attribution to the original article. Upon submission, the author(s)…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
CrossMark policy to maintain published content and alert readers to changes. Model summary
CrossMark is a multi-publisher initiative to provide a standard way for readers to locate the current version of a piece of content. By applying the CrossMark logo Frontiers is committed to maintaining the content it publishes and to alerting readers to changes if and when they occur.
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
- Frontiers Media S.A.
- Country or region
- Switzerland
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2296-858X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Frontiers in Medicine
What CAS zone is Frontiers in Medicine in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Frontiers in Medicine is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 3 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 Frontiers in Medicine?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.52; CiteScore 5.4, h-index 151.
How long does peer review take at Frontiers in Medicine?
Based on the dates recorded on 195 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 61 days (interquartile range 39–90 days); authors report an average review time of about 12 weeks. 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 Frontiers in Medicine?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Keywords: 5–8; Reference style: Harvard; Templates: LaTeX and Word. 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 Frontiers in Medicine based?
Of the 17 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 6%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (4), Australia (3) and Taiwan, China (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Frontiers in Medicine?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Frontiers in Medicine is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, PMC and Embase; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Frontiers in Medicine open access, and what is the APC?
Frontiers in Medicine is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website, 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: .