Journal profile · Health Care Sciences & Services
INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing
ISSN 0046-9580 · eISSN 1945-7243 · SAGE Publications Inc. · UNITED STATES · Quarterly · Founded 1963
INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.05; fully open access; APC about USD 2,400; review over 12 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: easy; 264 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing is published by SAGE Publications Inc. 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, Global Health Care Issues and Primary Care and Health Outcomes, together about 43.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are General Health Professions. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
INQUIRY is a health care and public health focused, peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to publishing research that informs healthcare practice and policy, with the goal of improving health outcomes. Published since 1964, the journal covers a wide range of topics, delivering valuable insights through our core sections, expert-led thematic sections, and View full journal description … | This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Health Care Sciences & Services
Editorial board by country: 11 in mainland China (about 10%); most named United States 63, Mainland China 11, India 4, United Kingdom 3, Australia 3 (113 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 Finance22.8%
- Global Health Care IssuesHealth Professions11.2%
- Primary Care and Health OutcomesHealth Professions9.6%
- Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of LifeEconomics, Econometrics and Finance5.7%
- Healthcare Systems and ReformsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance5.4%
- Geriatric Care and Nursing HomesHealth Professions5%
- Patient Satisfaction in HealthcareHealth Professions4.8%
- Health disparities and outcomesSocial Sciences4.3%
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 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 3 |
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 | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIESSCIScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- 3.05LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.9LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.8LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.09LetPub ·
- h-index
- 40LetPub ·
- h-index
- 62OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 707OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.2OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 260LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,255 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 251 | 251 | 71 |
| 2025 | 264 | 264 | 492 |
| 2024 | 225 | 225 | 1,068 |
| 2023 | 195 | 195 | 2,362 |
| 2022 | 208 | 208 | 2,364 |
| 2021 | 199 | 199 | 2,748 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 30.2%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 5 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 37 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 12 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double 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 | USD 2,400 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,400 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 3,000 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 3,200 | — | — |
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 prepare8 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Reference style
- AMA
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted20, with length limits
- brief reportView our topical sections currently accepting submissions View our Special Collections currently accepting submissions. Article types published by INQUIRY are g…main text ≤ 2,000 words
- brief reportsBrief Reports (2000 words, 2 tables)Length not stated
- case studiesCase Studies (2000 words, 2 tables)Length not stated
- case studyView our topical sections currently accepting submissions View our Special Collections currently accepting submissions. Article types published by INQUIRY are g…main text ≤ 2,000 words
- commentaryand inform practice or policy. Comments/Commentaries (1000 words, no tables or figures) – Intended for responses to publishemain text ≤ 1,000 words
- editorialll be waived for comments/commentaries. Editorials (3000 words, 3 tables) – Commissioned only. Original research articles,main text ≤ 3,000 words
- literature reviewView our topical sections currently accepting submissions View our Special Collections currently accepting submissions. Article types published by INQUIRY are g…main text ≤ 5,000 words
- literature reviewsLiterature Reviews (5000 words, 3 tables)Length not stated
- meta-analysisView our topical sections currently accepting submissions View our Special Collections currently accepting submissions. Article types published by INQUIRY are g…Length not stated
- original research articleView our topical sections currently accepting submissions View our Special Collections currently accepting submissions. Article types published by INQUIRY are g…main text ≤ 5,000 words
- original research articles and reproducibility studiesOriginal Research Articles and Reproducibility Studies (5000 words, 3 tables)Length not stated
- perspectiveView our topical sections currently accepting submissions View our Special Collections currently accepting submissions. Article types published by INQUIRY are g…main text ≤ 1,000 words
- perspectivesPerspectives (1000 words, 1 table/figure)Length not stated
- pilot studiesPilot Studies (2000 words, 2 tables)Length not stated
- policy analysesPolicy Analyses (5000 words, 3 tables)Length not stated
- policy briefsPolicy Briefs (1500 words, 1 table)Length not stated
- policy insightsPolicy Insights (1500 words, 1 table)Length not stated
- systematic reviewView our topical sections currently accepting submissions View our Special Collections currently accepting submissions. Article types published by INQUIRY are g…main text ≤ 5,000 words
- systematic reviews and meta-analysesSystematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (5000 words, 3 tables)Length not stated
- viewpointView our topical sections currently accepting submissions View our Special Collections currently accepting submissions. Article types published by INQUIRY are g…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Authorship Authorship
Minimum 5 keywords required. Model summary
Please view our authorship policies, which includes information on criteria for authorship, who should be the corresponding author and more. Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages. Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to: Share your research data in a relevant public data repository Include a data ava…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Ethical considerations
Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing is an open access, peer-reviewed journal. All accepted articles are made freely available online immediately upon publication, are published under a Creative Commons license, and hosted online in perpetuity. If, after peer review, your manuscript is accepted for publication, a one-time article processing charge (APC) is pay…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Peer review identity transparency: Double anonymized. Model summary
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency: Double-anonymized Reviewer interacts with: Editor Review information published: None Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscripts may be desk rejec…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
The journal will consider submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers. Please enter the preprint DOI in the designated field when submitting your manuscript. We advise that you inform the Journal Editorial office about your posted preprint at submission. Note that you should not post an updated version of your manuscript on a preprint server while it is being peer reviewed…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical trial registration
The journal conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first participant enrollment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.
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
- SAGE Publications Inc.
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 1963
- ISSN
- 0046-9580
- Electronic ISSN
- 1945-7243
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- 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 INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing
What CAS zone is INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Health Care Sciences & Services / Health Policy & Services. 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 INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.05; CiteScore 3.9, h-index 62.
How long does peer review take at INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing?
Authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 30.2%. 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 INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Reference style: AMA; Templates: LaTeX and Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Highlights: Required; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: Required. 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 INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing based?
Of the 113 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 11 (about 10%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (63), Mainland China (11) and India (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing is indexed in SCIE, SSCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing open access, and what is the APC?
INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,400.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .