Journal profile · Medicine-Obstetrics and Gynecology
International Breastfeeding Journal
ISSN 1746-4358 · BioMed Central · United Kingdom · Founded 2006
International Breastfeeding Journal: CAS Zone 2 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.42; fully open access; APC about USD 3,190; median 163 days to acceptance (101 articles, last 24 months); 108 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
International Breastfeeding Journal is published by BioMed Central and is in Zone 2 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Breastfeeding Practices and Influences, Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum and Child Nutrition and Water Access, together about 59.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Obstetrics and Gynecology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
International Breastfeeding Journal is a high-quality, multidisciplinary journal that addresses breastfeeding as a critical public health, social, and equity priority that is embedded in sociocultural, political, and economic systems. As a species-specific biopsychosocial system, breastfeeding plays a crucial role in infant and young child survival and supports optimal growth, development, and overall health. As the first food system, breastfeeding is also foundational to food security, nutrition, sustainability, and population health. Breastfeeding is equally important for maternal health and well-being, with significant short- and long-term impacts. The impacts of breastfeeding are far-reaching, embedded across the lifecourse, and extend to community, global, and planetary health. While most communities globally support breastfeeding, and there is a strong desire to breastfeed, historical, structural, and social barriers result in many mothers not having the opportunity to breastfeed as they wish. This journal takes as foundational that optimal breastfeeding outcomes are not the responsibility of individual mothers or families, but rather the product of strong investment in systems that enable breastfeeding. Accordingly, we welcome submissions on all aspects of breastfeeding that contextualize the topic in relation to how we can create better systems that protect, promote, and support breastfeeding. This includes topics ranging from investigations of biological and physiological aspects of breastfeeding to the identification and implementation of effective interventions and policies that address challenges and create an enabling environment for breastfeeding.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medicine-Obstetrics and Gynecology
Editor-in-chief Sonia HernándezPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Breastfeeding Practices and InfluencesMedicine35.2%
- Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and PostpartumMedicine12.3%
- Child Nutrition and Water AccessNursing11.7%
- Infant Nutrition and HealthNursing10.5%
- Infant Development and Preterm CareMedicine5.7%
- Global Maternal and Child HealthMedicine3.4%
- Gestational Diabetes Research and ManagementMedicine2.9%
- COVID-19 Impact on ReproductionMedicine2.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Pediatrics | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Obstetrics & Gynecology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Obstetrics & Gynecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Pediatrics | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Pediatrics | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Obstetrics & Gynecology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINECASCAB AbstractsCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, AGRICOLA, 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
- 3.42LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.4Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.7LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.99LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.56LetPub ·
- h-index
- 32LetPub ·
- h-index
- 92OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 682OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.53OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 8.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 102LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 1,400,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,068 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 100 | 100 | 28 |
| 2025 | 108 | 108 | 342 |
| 2024 | 84 | 84 | 661 |
| 2023 | 70 | 70 | 912 |
| 2022 | 95 | 95 | 1,668 |
| 2021 | 94 | 94 | 2,408 |
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
163 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 121 days – 224 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 12 days (101 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 188 days
- Sample
- 101 articles with submission and acceptance dates (223 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 32 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 5 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 32 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 | EUR 2,690 / USD 3,190 / GBP 2,390 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,090 / EUR 2,590 / GBP 2,290 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 2,090 / USD 2,890 / EUR 2,390 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | GBP 2,390 / USD 3,190 / EUR 2,690 | — | — |
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 papers1, by deadline
Publisher websiteWhat to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Article types accepted7
- brief reportResearch Case report Comment Methodology Review Brief report Study protocolLength not stated
- case reportResearch Case report Comment Methodology Review Brief report Study protocolLength not stated
- commentResearch Case report Comment Methodology Review Brief report Study protocolLength not stated
- methodologyResearch Case report Comment Methodology Review Brief report Study protocolLength not stated
- researchResearch Case report Comment Methodology Review Brief report Study protocolLength not stated
- reviewResearch Case report Comment Methodology Review Brief report Study protocolLength not stated
- study protocolResearch Case report Comment Methodology Review Brief report Study protocolLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Authorship
Manuscripts must be submitted by an author, not a third party. Model summary
Please note that a manuscript can only be submitted by an author of the manuscript and may not be submitted by a third party.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- 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
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. International Breastfeeding Journal articles are published open access under a CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons…
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
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Founded
- 2006
- ISSN
- 1746-4358
- 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 International Breastfeeding Journal
What CAS zone is International Breastfeeding Journal in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, International Breastfeeding Journal is in Zone 2 of Medicine, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Pediatrics / Obstetrics & Gynecology. 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 International Breastfeeding Journal?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.42; CiteScore 5.7, h-index 92.
How long does peer review take at International Breastfeeding Journal?
Based on the dates recorded on 101 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 163 days (interquartile range 121–224 days); authors report an average review time of about 32 weeks. 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 International Breastfeeding Journal?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: Author–date; Templates: LaTeX and Word; 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.
Which databases index International Breastfeeding Journal?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, International Breastfeeding Journal is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, CAS, CAB Abstracts and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is International Breastfeeding Journal open access, and what is the APC?
International Breastfeeding Journal is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,190.
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: .