Journal profile · Health Care Sciences & Services
Implementation Science
ISSN 1748-5908 · BioMed Central · ENGLAND · Irregular · Founded 2006
Implementation Science: CAS Zone 1 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 10.07; fully open access; APC about USD 3,490; median 123 days to acceptance (89 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 67 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Implementation Science is published by BioMed Central and is in Zone 1 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Health Policy Implementation Science, Mental Health and Patient Involvement and Health Sciences Research and Education, together about 49.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are General Health Professions. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Implementation Science publishes research relevant to the scientific study of methods to promote the uptake of research findings into routine healthcare in clinical, organizational, or policy contexts. Applied health related research constantly produces new findings but often these are not routinely translated into healthcare practice. Implementation research is the scientific study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of proven clinical treatments, practices, organizational, and management interventions into routine practice, and hence to improve health. This also encompasses the de-implementation of interventions demonstrated to be of low or no clinical benefit and the study of influences on patient, healthcare professional, and organizational behavior in either healthcare or population settings. The lack of routine uptake of research findings is strategically important for the development of healthcare because it clearly places an invisible ceiling on the potential for research to enhance health. Further, it is scientifically important because it identifies the behavior of healthcare professionals and healthcare organizations as key sources of variance requiring improved empirical and theoretical understanding before effective uptake can be reliably achieved. Implementation science is an inherently interdisciplinary research area, and the journal is not constrained by any particular research tradition. Implementation Science publishes articles of high scientific rigor using the most appropriate methods to produce valid, generalizable answers to research questions. As well as hosting papers describing the effectiveness of implementation interventions, Implementation Science provides a unique home for rigorous and large-scale intervention development, evaluations of the process by which effects are achieved, economic evaluations of implementation, and the role of theory relevant to implementation research. The journal is also interested in publishing articles that present novel methods (particularly those that have a theoretical basis) for studying implementation processes and interventions. We are also interested in receiving articles that address methodologically robust study of the de-implementation of ineffective clinical and organizational practices. We welcome study protocols of large and innovative research, but these will only be considered if the study is received within 12 months of ethics approval and been approved for funding through ex
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Health Care Sciences & Services
Editor-in-chief Rinad BeidasPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 3%); most named United States 29, United Kingdom 12, Canada 8, Australia 8, Netherlands 5 (73 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Health Policy Implementation ScienceHealth Professions35.5%
- Mental Health and Patient InvolvementHealth Professions8.1%
- Health Sciences Research and EducationHealth Professions5.7%
- Clinical practice guidelines implementationMedicine5.5%
- Primary Care and Health OutcomesHealth Professions4.9%
- Community Health and DevelopmentHealth Professions4.8%
- Interprofessional Education and CollaborationHealth Professions3.5%
- Evaluation and Performance AssessmentDecision Sciences3.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIESSCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINECASCAB AbstractsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, 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
- 10.07LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 10.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 14.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 23.1LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 4.95LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 6.13LetPub ·
- h-index
- 78LetPub ·
- h-index
- 208OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,932OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 11.47OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 63LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 4,600,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,439 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 61 | 61 | 32 |
| 2025 | 67 | 67 | 516 |
| 2024 | 103 | 103 | 2,102 |
| 2023 | 73 | 73 | 2,184 |
| 2022 | 145 | 145 | 9,925 |
| 2021 | 110 | 110 | 6,564 |
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
123 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 72 days – 191 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 23 days (89 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 159 days
- Sample
- 89 articles with submission and acceptance dates (142 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)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 18 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 25 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Open 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 | EUR 2,990 / USD 3,490 / GBP 2,690 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,390 / EUR 2,890 / GBP 2,590 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 2,490 / USD 3,290 / EUR 2,790 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | GBP 2,690 / USD 3,490 / EUR 2,990 | — | — |
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)
Open calls for papers2, by deadline
Publisher websiteWhat to prepare1 items from the author guidelines
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Article types accepted9
- commentComment Debate Correspondence Methodology Research Short report Study protocol Systematic review Matters ArisingLength not stated
- correspondenceComment Debate Correspondence Methodology Research Short report Study protocol Systematic review Matters ArisingLength not stated
- debateComment Debate Correspondence Methodology Research Short report Study protocol Systematic review Matters ArisingLength not stated
- matters arisingComment Debate Correspondence Methodology Research Short report Study protocol Systematic review Matters ArisingLength not stated
- methodologyComment Debate Correspondence Methodology Research Short report Study protocol Systematic review Matters ArisingLength not stated
- researchComment Debate Correspondence Methodology Research Short report Study protocol Systematic review Matters ArisingLength not stated
- short reportComment Debate Correspondence Methodology Research Short report Study protocol Systematic review Matters ArisingLength not stated
- study protocolComment Debate Correspondence Methodology Research Short report Study protocol Systematic review Matters ArisingLength not stated
- systematic reviewComment Debate Correspondence Methodology Research Short report Study protocol Systematic review Matters ArisingLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteData availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Data availability Formatting the 'Availability of data and materials' section of your manuscript
The following format for the 'Availability of data and materials section of your manuscript should be used:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Licensing and copyright
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND or CC BY licence; authors retain copyright. Model summary
Creative Commons licences Open access articles in Springer Nature journals are published under Creative Commons licences. These provide an industry-standard framework to support easy re-use of open access material. Under Creative Commons licences, authors retain copyright of their articles. Implementation Science articles are published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Benefits of open access
Publishing open access (OA) offers a number of benefits, including greater reach and readership for your work: Cited more 1.6x more citations of OA articles than non-OA articles across all subjects Downloaded more 4x more downloads of OA articles than non-OA articles Greater impact 2.5x more Altmetric attention. OA articles attracted 1.9x more news mentions and 1.2x more policy mentions Open acces…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Peer review is the process used to evaluate the quality of a manuscript before publication. Independent researchers in the relevant field assess submitted manuscripts to check their validity and robustness. Their feedback guides editors in making publication decisions. Typically, two or more experts evaluate each manuscript based on three main criteria: scientific robustness: is the research metho…
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
- BioMed Central
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Irregular
- Founded
- 2006
- ISSN
- 1748-5908
- 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 Implementation Science
What CAS zone is Implementation Science in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Implementation Science is in Zone 1 of Medicine, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Health Care Sciences & Services / Health Policy & Services; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Implementation Science?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 10.07; CiteScore 23.1, h-index 208.
How long does peer review take at Implementation Science?
Based on the dates recorded on 89 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 123 days (interquartile range 72–191 days); authors report an average review time of 4–8 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Implementation Science based?
Of the 73 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 3%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (29), United Kingdom (12) and Canada (8). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Implementation Science?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Implementation Science is indexed in SCIE, SSCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, CAS and CAB Abstracts; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Implementation Science open access, and what is the APC?
Implementation Science is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,490.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, 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: .