Journal profile · Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Health Physics
ISSN 0017-9078 · eISSN 1538-5159 · Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Ltd. · UNITED STATES · Monthly · Founded 1958
Health Physics: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.15; JCR Q3 (journal website); hybrid open access; review 3–8 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: easy; 172 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Health Physics is published by Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Ltd. 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 Radioactivity and Radon Measurements, Radioactive contamination and transfer and Radiation Dose and Imaging, together about 40.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Health Physics, first published in 1958, provides the latest research to a wide variety of radiation safety professionals including health physicists, nuclear chemists, medical physicists, and radiation safety officers with interests in nuclear and radiation science. The Journal allows professionals in these and other disciplines in science and engineering to stay on the cutting edge of scientific and technological advances in the field of radiation safety. The Journal publishes original papers, technical notes, articles on advances in practical applications, editorials, and correspondence. Journal articles report on the latest findings in theoretical, practical, and applied disciplines of epidemiology and radiation effects, radiation biology and radiation science, radiation ecology, and related fields.
Source: LetPub
Research area (LetPub): Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Editor-in-chief Brant A. UlshPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Radioactivity and Radon MeasurementsHealth Professions13.8%
- Radioactive contamination and transferEnvironmental Science13.8%
- Radiation Dose and ImagingMedicine13.4%
- Nuclear and radioactivity studiesEngineering9.3%
- Graphite, nuclear technology, radiation studiesMaterials Science7.4%
- Radiation Therapy and DosimetryMedicine4.9%
- Nuclear Physics and ApplicationsPhysics and Astronomy4.3%
- Radiation Detection and Scintillator TechnologiesPhysics and Astronomy4%
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 | Environmental Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Nuclear Science & Technology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Nuclear Science & Technology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging | 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 | Environmental Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Nuclear Science & Technology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q4 · ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES · rank 357/395
- JCR Q3 · NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY · rank 31/42
- JCR Q4 · PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH · rank 363/443
- JCR Q4 · RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MEDICAL IMAGING · rank 171/217
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
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
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
- 1.15LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.38LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.98LetPub ·
- h-index
- 64LetPub ·
- h-index
- 127OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 4,124OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.81OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 16.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 13.16%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 101LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 12,754 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 139 | 14 | 17 |
| 2025 | 172 | 24 | 114 |
| 2024 | 174 | 21 | 261 |
| 2023 | 147 | 21 | 286 |
| 2022 | 169 | 29 | 653 |
| 2021 | 145 | 42 | 613 |
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
Not usableThis publisher's "received" date is mostly when the revised manuscript arrived (29% of articles were "accepted" within 3 days), so it cannot measure review time
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- 3–8 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
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.
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
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.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Ltd.
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1958
- ISSN
- 0017-9078
- Electronic ISSN
- 1538-5159
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 131, Issue 4 (October 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Health Physics
What CAS zone is Health Physics in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Health Physics is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Environmental Sciences / Nuclear Science & Technology / Public, Environmental & Occupational Health / Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging. 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 Health Physics?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.15; CiteScore 2, h-index 127.
How long does peer review take at Health Physics?
Authors report an average review time of 3–8 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”. 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 Health Physics in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q3; by category, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Q4 (357/395), NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Q3 (31/42), PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH Q4 (363/443), RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MEDICAL IMAGING Q4 (171/217). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 4 of Medicine.
Which databases index Health Physics?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Health Physics is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Health Physics open access, and what is the APC?
Health Physics is a hybrid journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
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: .