Journal profile · Health Care Sciences & Services
Health Economics
ISSN 1057-9230 · eISSN 1099-1050 · John Wiley and Sons Ltd · ENGLAND · Bimonthly · Founded 1992
Health Economics: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.97; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,050; median 317 days to acceptance (85 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: easy; 151 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Health Economics is published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd 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 Healthcare Policy and Management, Global Health Care Issues and Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life, together about 52.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Economics and Econometrics and General Health Professions. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
This Journal publishes articles on all aspects of health economics: theoretical contributions, empirical studies and analyses of health policy from the economic perspective. Its scope includes the determinants of health and its definition and valuation, as well as: the demand for and supply of health care; planning and market mechanisms; micro-economic evaluation of individual procedures and treatments; and evaluation of the performance of health care systems.Contributions should be original and innovative. As a rule, the Journal does not include routine applications of cost-effectiveness analysis, discrete choice experiments and costing analyses. Editorials, which are regular features, should be concise and topical. Occasionally, commissioned reviews are published, and special issues bring together contributions on a single topic.Short Research Articles, also known as Health Economics Letters, are concise articles of new research findings that make a significant contribution to knowledge. As a rule, Health Economics Letters only considers contributions that can attain the standard quality expected of this Journal within the concise format. Health Economics Letters does not routinely consider opinion or commentary pieces.Contributions related to health economics issues in all geographies are welcome. While authors may submit on work done in any geographic area, involvement of authors from the country being studied is generally appropriate when possible. Involvement of in-country authors is particularly encouraged for studies of low and middle income (LMIC) countries.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Health Care Sciences & Services
Editor-in-chief W. DavidPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 4%); most named United Kingdom 15, United States 14, Italy 4, Mainland China 2, Taiwan, China 2 (52 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Healthcare Policy and ManagementEconomics, Econometrics and Finance19.6%
- Global Health Care IssuesHealth Professions18.7%
- Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of LifeEconomics, Econometrics and Finance14.5%
- Economic and Environmental ValuationEconomics, Econometrics and Finance5.5%
- Health disparities and outcomesSocial Sciences5%
- Employment and Welfare StudiesHealth Professions3.8%
- Healthcare Systems and ReformsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance3.5%
- Primary Care and Health OutcomesHealth Professions3.1%
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 | Economics | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Economics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | 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 | Economics | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIESSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceMEDLINEPubMedEmbasePsycINFOEconLitCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, RePEc
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
- 1.97LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 4.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 4.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.16LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.25LetPub ·
- h-index
- 99LetPub ·
- h-index
- 174OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,558OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.02OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 54.88%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 123LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 125Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 617,117Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,648 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 88 | 63 | 15 |
| 2025 | 151 | 101 | 221 |
| 2024 | 143 | 104 | 537 |
| 2023 | 161 | 127 | 1,070 |
| 2022 | 191 | 118 | 2,612 |
| 2021 | 204 | 105 | 2,999 |
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
317 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 249 days – 417 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 20 days (85 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 336 days
- Sample
- 85 articles with submission and acceptance dates (249 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)
- 4–8 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 10%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 10%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 16 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 16 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 333 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 16 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 4,050 / EUR 3,360 / GBP 2,720 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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)
Article types accepted12, with length limits
- commentaryResearch Articles (8,000 word limit) – reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge. Short Research…Length not stated
- editorialResearch Articles (8,000 word limit) – reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge. Short Research…main text ≤ 1,500 words
- hypothesisResearch Articles (8,000 word limit) – reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge. Short Research…Length not stated
- letterResearch Articles (8,000 word limit) – reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge. Short Research…Length not stated
- literature reviewResearch Articles (8,000 word limit) – reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge. Short Research…Length not stated
- opinionResearch Articles (8,000 word limit) – reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge. Short Research…Length not stated
- perspectiveResearch Articles (8,000 word limit) – reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge. Short Research…main text ≤ 2,000 words
- protocolResearch Articles (8,000 word limit) – reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge. Short Research…Length not stated
- research articleResearch Articles (8,000 word limit) – reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge. Short Research…main text ≤ 8,000 words
- reviewResearch Articles (8,000 word limit) – reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge. Short Research…Length not stated
- surveyResearch Articles (8,000 word limit) – reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge. Short Research…Length not stated
- systematic reviewResearch Articles (8,000 word limit) – reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge. Short Research…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics
- Publication ethics 5. EDITORIAL POLICIES AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Statement of Principles from the Editorial Boards of Leading Health Economics Journals
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
- John Wiley and Sons Ltd
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 1992
- ISSN
- 1057-9230
- Electronic ISSN
- 1099-1050
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 35, Issue 10 (October 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Health Economics
What CAS zone is Health Economics in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Health Economics is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Economics / Health Care Sciences & Services / Health Policy & Services. 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 Health Economics?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.97; CiteScore 4.9, h-index 174.
How long does peer review take at Health Economics?
Based on the dates recorded on 85 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 317 days (interquartile range 249–417 days); authors report an average review time of 4–8 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 10% (2025). 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Health Economics based?
Of the 52 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 4%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (15), United States (14) and Italy (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Health Economics?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Health Economics is indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, EconLit and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Health Economics open access, and what is the APC?
Health Economics is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,050.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .