Journal profile · Multiple
Health Systems & Reform
ISSN 2328-8604 · eISSN 2328-8620 · Taylor & Francis Group · United Kingdom
Health Systems & Reform: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.72; JCR Q2 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 2,990; median 162 days to acceptance (36 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 7% (journal website); 25 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Health Systems & Reform is published by Taylor & Francis Group 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 Systems and Reforms, Global Maternal and Child Health and Global Health Care Issues, together about 56% of its articles. Its main subfields are Economics and Econometrics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Health Systems & Reform (HS&R) is a fully open access journal publishing research, theory, and analysis for the field of health systems and reform. HS&R aims to be the catalyst for cross-national knowledge transfer and translation on innovative, equitable, and cost-effective approaches to improve the performance of health systems and health care delivery. The journal seeks to publish articles that share cutting-edge knowledge, skills, and lessons in health systems and reform. Most importantly, HS&R contributes to strengthening health systems and to improving care delivered to patients. The journal is committed to bringing research by scholars in emerging nations to the attention of the global academic community. The journal publishes articles that examine the processes and consequences of health reform efforts from around the world, from national and cross-national perspectives. These articles include both analyses and recommendations, as well as short reports on innovative policies. The journal also publishes commentaries from health care leaders—such as Ministers of Health, CEOs of healthcare companies, and heads of non-profit organizations and international agencies—who share their experiences and policy lessons with a global audience. Health Systems & Reform is most interested in the following topics: Health systems financing Health systems management Health care technologies Public health Health policy Health politics Health economics Health Systems & Reform accepts research articles, commentaries and policy reports. The journal operates a single anonymized peer review policy. Read the Instructions for Authors.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Michael R. ReichPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Healthcare Systems and ReformsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance23.5%
- Global Maternal and Child HealthMedicine18.3%
- Global Health Care IssuesHealth Professions14.2%
- Healthcare Policy and ManagementEconomics, Econometrics and Finance8.2%
- Global Public Health Policies and EpidemiologyBusiness, Management and Accounting8%
- Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of LifeEconomics, Econometrics and Finance6.7%
- Primary Care and Health OutcomesHealth Professions2.6%
- Pharmaceutical Economics and PolicyEconomics, Econometrics and Finance2.5%
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 | Health Policy & Services | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | 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 | Health Policy & Services | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q2 · best quartile · 2025
- CiteScore Q1 · 2025
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
SSCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEMEDLINECurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Journal Citation Reports/Social Sciences Edition
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
- 2.72LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.8Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.6LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 5.6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.86LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.86Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.86LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 0.86Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 45OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 232OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.96OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 17LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 407,000Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 407,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 425 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 16 | 16 | 6 |
| 2025 | 25 | 25 | 83 |
| 2024 | 39 | 39 | 308 |
| 2023 | 47 | 47 | 391 |
| 2022 | 39 | 39 | 515 |
| 2021 | 29 | 29 | 438 |
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
162 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 109 days – 223 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 30 days (37 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 207 days
- Sample
- 36 articles with submission and acceptance dates (71 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 16 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 7%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 7%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 12 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 12 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 16 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 | AUD 4,165 / EUR 2,875 / GBP 2,392 / USD 2,990 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC | |
| OpenAlex | GBP 1,880 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 2,630 / GBP 2,100 | 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)
Article types accepted3
- commentariesHealth Systems & Reform accepts research articles, commentaries and policy reports.Length not stated
- policy reportsHealth Systems & Reform accepts research articles, commentaries and policy reports.Length not stated
- research articlesHealth Systems & Reform accepts research articles, commentaries and policy reports.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
open access Model summary
Health Systems & Reform is an open access journal and only publishes open access articles. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open access? Increase the discoverability and readership of your article Make an impact and reach new readers, not just those…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
single anonymized peer review Model summary
The journal operates a single anonymized peer review policy.
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
- Taylor & Francis Group
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2328-8604
- Electronic ISSN
- 2328-8620
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 12, Issue 1 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- 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 Health Systems & Reform
What CAS zone is Health Systems & Reform in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Health Systems & Reform is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Health Policy & Services / Public, Environmental & Occupational Health. 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 Systems & Reform?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.72; CiteScore 5.6, h-index 45.
How long does peer review take at Health Systems & Reform?
Based on the dates recorded on 36 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 162 days (interquartile range 109–223 days); authors report an average review time of about 16 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 7% (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.
What JCR quartile is Health Systems & Reform in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q2 (best quartile). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 3 of Medicine.
Which databases index Health Systems & Reform?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Health Systems & Reform is indexed in SSCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists SCIE, MEDLINE and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Health Systems & Reform open access, and what is the APC?
Health Systems & Reform is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,990.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, 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: .