Journal profile · ETHICS
HEC Forum
ISSN 0956-2737 · eISSN 1572-8498 · Springer Nature · 4 issues per year
HEC Forum: CAS Zone 4 · Philosophy (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.58; hybrid open access; APC about USD 2,290; median 96 days to acceptance (50 articles, last 24 months); 27 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
HEC Forum is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 4 of Philosophy in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Ethics in medical practice, Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare and Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues, together about 45.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
HEC Forum is an international, peer-reviewed publication featuring original contributions of interest to practicing physicians, nurses, social workers, risk managers, attorneys, ethicists, and other HEC committee members. Contributions are welcomed from any pertinent source, but the text should be written to be appreciated by HEC members and lay readers. HEC Forum publishes essays, research papers, and features the following sections:Essays on Substantive Bioethical/Health Law IssuesAnalyses of Procedural or Operational Committee IssuesDocument ExchangeSpecial ArticlesInternational PerspectivesMt./St. Anonymous: Cases and Institutional PoliciesPoint/Counterpoint ArgumentationCase Reviews, Analyses, and ResolutionsChairperson's Section`Tough Spot'Critical AnnotationsHealth Law AlertNetwork NewsLetters to the Editors
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): ETHICS
Editor-in-chief Mark J. CherryPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 3%); most named United States 25, Mainland China 1, Hong Kong, China 1, Japan 1, Germany 1 (30 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Ethics in medical practiceHealth Professions27.8%
- Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric HealthcareMedicine9.7%
- Palliative Care and End-of-Life IssuesMedicine8.1%
- Patient Dignity and PrivacyMedicine7.4%
- Medical Malpractice and Liability IssuesHealth Professions6.4%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering4.8%
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance3.5%
- Ethics in Clinical ResearchMedicine2.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Philosophy Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Ethics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Philosophy Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Ethics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Philosophy Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Ethics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEMEDLINEERIH PLUSCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
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
- 1.58LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.44LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.27LetPub ·
- h-index
- 40OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 305OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.67OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 18.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 35.38%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 25LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 179,700Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,366 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 41 | 21 | 2 |
| 2025 | 27 | 13 | 25 |
| 2024 | 28 | 8 | 133 |
| 2023 | 15 | 8 | 69 |
| 2022 | 38 | 17 | 288 |
| 2021 | 35 | 23 | 522 |
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
96 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 64 days – 161 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 20 days (73 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 121 days
- Sample
- 50 articles with submission and acceptance dates (76 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
- 11 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 2,290 / EUR 3,190 | — | — |
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 prepare2 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, 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 ·- Publication ethics Compliance with Ethical Standards
To ensure objectivity and transparency in research and to ensure that accepted principles of ethical and professional conduct have been followed, authors should include information regarding sources of funding, potential conflicts of interest (financial or non-financial), informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved an…
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 HEC Forum, 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
- 0956-2737
- Electronic ISSN
- 1572-8498
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 38, Issue 3 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about HEC Forum
What CAS zone is HEC Forum in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, HEC Forum is in Zone 4 of Philosophy, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Ethics. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Philosophy. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of HEC Forum?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.58; CiteScore 4, h-index 40.
How long does peer review take at HEC Forum?
Based on the dates recorded on 50 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 96 days (interquartile range 64–161 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 HEC Forum?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–250 words; Keywords: ≥ 4. 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 HEC Forum based?
Of the 30 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 3%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (25), Mainland China (1) and Hong Kong, China (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index HEC Forum?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, HEC Forum is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE, MEDLINE, ERIH PLUS and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is HEC Forum open access, and what is the APC?
HEC Forum is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 2,290.
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: .