Journal profile · HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES
Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology
ISSN 1387-3741 · eISSN 1572-9400 · Springer Nature · 4 issues per year
Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.2 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC about USD 2,590; median 193 days to acceptance (58 articles, last 24 months); 30 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology is published by Springer Nature 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 Healthcare Policy and Management, Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life and Advanced Causal Inference Techniques, together about 44.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are Statistics and Probability and General Health Professions. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The journal reflects the multidisciplinary nature of the field of health services and outcomes research. It addresses the needs of multiple, interlocking communities, including methodologists in statistics, econometrics, social and behavioral sciences; designers and analysts of health policy and health services research projects; and health care providers and policy makers who need to properly understand and evaluate the results of published research. The journal strives to enhance the level of methodologic rigor in health services and outcomes research and contributes to the development of methodologic standards in the field. In pursuing its main objective, the journal also provides a meeting ground for researchers from a number of traditional disciplines and fosters the development of new quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods by statisticians, econometricians, health services researchers, and methodologists in other fields.Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology publishes: Research papers on quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods; Case Studies describing applications of quantitative and qualitative methodology in health services and outcomes research; Review Articles synthesizing and popularizing methodologic developments; Tutorials; Articles on computational issues and software reviews; Book reviews; and Notices. Special issues will be devoted to papers presented at important workshops and conferences.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES
Editor-in-chief Xueya CaiPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 22, United Kingdom 1, France 1, Canada 1, Netherlands 1 (26 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 Finance16.5%
- Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of LifeEconomics, Econometrics and Finance15.4%
- Advanced Causal Inference TechniquesMathematics12.4%
- Statistical Methods and Bayesian InferenceMathematics8.3%
- Statistical Methods and InferenceMathematics5.9%
- Health disparities and outcomesSocial Sciences5.1%
- Primary Care and Health OutcomesHealth Professions4.9%
- Global Health Care IssuesHealth Professions4.9%
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 | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EmbasePublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS, Semantic Scholar
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 (publisher) 2025
- 2.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.8LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.47LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.94LetPub ·
- h-index
- 46OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 185OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.76OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 39.13%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 30LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 122,700Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 482 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 26 | 15 | 3 |
| 2025 | 30 | 19 | 54 |
| 2024 | 19 | 9 | 150 |
| 2023 | 23 | 12 | 113 |
| 2022 | 32 | 18 | 356 |
| 2021 | 34 | 19 | 402 |
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
193 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 164 days – 282 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 26 days (58 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 234 days
- Sample
- 58 articles with submission and acceptance dates (58 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
- Submission to first decision
- 14 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 2,590 / EUR 3,990 | — | — |
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)
What to prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- AI use Generative AI Images
Please check Springer’s policy on generative AI images and make sure your work adheres to the principles described therein. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship principles
These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to. Authorship clarified The Journal and Publisher assume all authors agreed with the content and that all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Disclosures and declarations
All authors are requested to include information regarding sources of funding, financial or non-financial interests, study-specific approval by the appropriate ethics committee for research involving humans and/or animals, informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved animals (as appropriate). The decision whether such …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
All original research must include a data availability statement. This statement should explain how to access data supporting the results and analysis in the article, including links/citations to publicly archived datasets analysed or generated during the study. Please see our full policy here. If it is not possible to share research data publicly, for instance when individual privacy could be com…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Open Choice articles do not require transfer of copyright as the copyright remains with the author. In opting for open access, the author(s) agree to publish the article under a Creative Commons license. Details of the OA licences offered to authors can be found on the individual journal website, in the journal's How to publish with us guide. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical Trial Registration
The World Health Organization (WHO) definition of a clinical trial is "any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on health outcomes". The WHO defines health interventions as “A health intervention is an act performed for, with or on behalf of a person or population whose purpose is to ass…
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
- Springer Nature
- Frequency
- 4 issues per year
- ISSN
- 1387-3741
- Electronic ISSN
- 1572-9400
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 26, Issue 3 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology
What CAS zone is Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Health Care Sciences & Services. 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 Services and Outcomes Research Methodology?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 2.2 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 4.8, h-index 46.
How long does peer review take at Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology?
Based on the dates recorded on 58 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 193 days (interquartile range 164–282 days). 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 Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–250 words; Keywords: ≥ 4; Reference style: Author–date; Suggested reviewers: Optional. 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 Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology based?
Of the 26 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (22), United Kingdom (1) and France (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology is indexed in ESCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Embase; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology open access, and what is the APC?
Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 2,590.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .