Journal profile · Medicine-Surgery
Frontiers in Surgery
ISSN 2296-875X · Frontiers Media S.A. · SWITZERLAND
Frontiers in Surgery: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.86; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 70 days to acceptance (195 articles, last 24 months); 970 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 Surgery is published by Frontiers Media S.A. 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 21.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Surgery. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Frontiers in Surgery is a multidisciplinary journal publishing advances and research findings in surgical practice to improve clinical management of patients and foster surgical innovation. The journal is indexed in PubMed Central (PMC), Scopus, and Web of Science (SCIE) among others. Led by Field Chief Editor Dr Dennis Paul Orgill (Harvard Medical School, USA), Frontiers in Surgery seeks to assemble clinical and experimental research across all surgical specialties to foster a collaborative dialogue amongst the surgical community. Although the advanced skills now required from surgeons have led to ever increasing specialization, these still share important fundamental principles. Topics include: • genitourinary surgery • heart surgery • neurosurgery • obstetrics and gynecological surgery • orthopedic surgery • otorhinolaryngology - head and neck surgery • pediatric orthopedics • pediatric surgery • pediatric urology • reconstructive and plastic surgery • surgical oncology • thoracic surgery • vascular surgery • visceral surgery. In particular, the journal welcomes submissions which support and advance the UN's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), notably SDG 3: ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Manuscripts that focus solely on the prognosis of diseases, the efficacy of non-surgical treatments, or the statistical analysis of patient outcomes without a relevance to surgical procedures or advancements are not suitable for publication in this journal. Studies that do not directly contribute to the field of surgery, such as those primarily concerned with general medical care or disease diagnosis, are also outside the journal's scope. Frontiers' journals require that manuscripts primarily comprising computational studies of public data, must include appropriate validation. Please refer to the Frontiers Standards for research methodology policy, for more information. Manuscripts not adhering to these standards will not be considered. Frontiers in Surgery is committed to advancing developments in the field of surgery by allowing unrestricted access to articles, and communicating scientific knowledge to researchers and the public alike, to enable the scientific breakthroughs of the future. Frontiers in Surgery is a proud partner journal for TROGSS – The Robotic Global Surgical Society. Frontiers in Surgery is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics. Frontiers in Surgery is an official partner of The Robotic Global Surgical Soc
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medicine-Surgery
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 4, Italy 4, United Kingdom 2, Japan 1, Germany 1 (17 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Spine and Intervertebral Disc PathologyMedicine8.6%
- Cervical and Thoracic MyelopathyMedicine6.9%
- Spinal Fractures and Fixation TechniquesMedicine6.1%
- Scoliosis diagnosis and treatmentMedicine4.8%
- Total Knee Arthroplasty OutcomesMedicine4.7%
- Colorectal Cancer Surgical TreatmentsMedicine4.6%
- Bone fractures and treatmentsMedicine4.1%
- Hernia repair and managementMedicine4.1%
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 | Surgery | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Surgery | 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 | Surgery | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
Early warning / risk: CAS Early Warning Journal List: listed in the 2023 edition (low risk); not listed in the other 5 editions.LetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePMCPublisher 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
- 1.86LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.57LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.02LetPub ·
- h-index
- 70OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,609OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.51OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.85%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 929LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 7,433 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,350 | 1,350 | 225 |
| 2025 | 970 | 970 | 1,519 |
| 2024 | 587 | 587 | 2,639 |
| 2023 | 1,250 | 1,250 | 7,490 |
| 2022 | 1,985 | 1,985 | 17,829 |
| 2021 | 717 | 717 | 9,474 |
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
70 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 46 days – 104 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 18 days (195 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 91 days
- Sample
- 195 articles with submission and acceptance dates (2,418 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 | — |
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
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
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 Peer review
Our rigorous, transparent peer review process combines expert review and constructive dialogue to strengthen your manuscript.
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
- 2296-875X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- 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 ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Frontiers in Surgery
What CAS zone is Frontiers in Surgery in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Frontiers in Surgery is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Surgery. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Frontiers in Surgery?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.86; CiteScore 3.9, h-index 70.
How long does peer review take at Frontiers in Surgery?
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 70 days (interquartile range 46–104 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 Surgery?
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 Surgery based?
Of the 17 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (4), Italy (4) and United Kingdom (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Frontiers in Surgery?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Frontiers in Surgery is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science and PMC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Frontiers in Surgery open access, and what is the APC?
Frontiers in Surgery 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: .