Journal profile · RHEUMATOLOGY
International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases
ISSN 1756-1841 · eISSN 1756-185X · Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd · AUSTRALIA · Quarterly · Founded 2008
International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.02; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,700; median 105 days to acceptance (118 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 500 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases is published by Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd 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 Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and Therapies, Spondyloarthritis Studies and Treatments and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Research, together about 39.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Rheumatology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases (formerly APLAR Journal of Rheumatology) is the official journal of the Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology. The Journal accepts original articles on clinical or experimental research pertinent to the rheumatic diseases, work on connective tissue diseases and other immune and allergic disorders. The acceptance criteria for all papers are the quality and originality of the research and its significance to our readership. Except where otherwise stated, manuscripts are peer reviewed by two anonymous reviewers and the Editor.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): RHEUMATOLOGY
Editor-in-chief James Cheng-Chung WeiPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 37 in mainland China (about 26%); most named Mainland China 37, Taiwan, China 20, Japan 10, India 10, Australia 10 (141 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and TherapiesMedicine20.4%
- Spondyloarthritis Studies and TreatmentsMedicine9.7%
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ResearchMedicine9.7%
- Autoimmune and Inflammatory Disorders ResearchMedicine6.6%
- Vasculitis and related conditionsMedicine5.2%
- Systemic Sclerosis and Related DiseasesMedicine5.2%
- Osteoarthritis Treatment and MechanismsMedicine4.3%
- Gout, Hyperuricemia, Uric AcidMedicine4.2%
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 | Rheumatology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Rheumatology | Zone 4 |
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 | Rheumatology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEPubMedEmbaseCASPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest
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
- 2.02LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.55LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.62LetPub ·
- h-index
- 33LetPub ·
- h-index
- 79OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,555OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.16OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 17.22%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 197LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 457Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 573,925Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 5,190 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 528 | 195 | 50 |
| 2025 | 500 | 245 | 638 |
| 2024 | 490 | 261 | 1,067 |
| 2023 | 495 | 279 | 2,020 |
| 2022 | 274 | 72 | 2,024 |
| 2021 | 241 | 67 | 2,384 |
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
105 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 55 days – 136 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 13 days (133 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 116 days
- Sample
- 118 articles with submission and acceptance dates (1,122 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 3 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 20%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 20%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 15 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 15 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 111 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 12 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single 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 3,700 / EUR 3,070 / GBP 2,500 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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)
Article types accepted12, with length limits
- case reportEditorial Description: Most Editorials are commissioned, but spontaneous submissions are welcome on a paper or other report or event within the past months or i…Length not stated
- clinical imageClinical Image Description: Clinical images provide clinical or imaging pictures that physicians experience every day in clinical practice. Word count: 300 word…Length not stated
- editorialEditorial Description: Most Editorials are commissioned, but spontaneous submissions are welcome on a paper or other report or event within the past months or i…Length not stated
- letterEditorial Description: Most Editorials are commissioned, but spontaneous submissions are welcome on a paper or other report or event within the past months or i…main text ≤ 1,500 words
- letter to the editorEditorial Description: Most Editorials are commissioned, but spontaneous submissions are welcome on a paper or other report or event within the past months or i…Length not stated
- letters to the editorEditorial Description: Most Editorials are commissioned, but spontaneous submissions are welcome on a paper or other report or event within the past months or i…Length not stated
- literature reviewEditorial Description: Most Editorials are commissioned, but spontaneous submissions are welcome on a paper or other report or event within the past months or i…Length not stated
- original articleEditorial Description: Most Editorials are commissioned, but spontaneous submissions are welcome on a paper or other report or event within the past months or i…Length not stated
- reviewEditorial Description: Most Editorials are commissioned, but spontaneous submissions are welcome on a paper or other report or event within the past months or i…Length not stated
- review articleEditorial Description: Most Editorials are commissioned, but spontaneous submissions are welcome on a paper or other report or event within the past months or i…Length not stated
- short communicationEditorial Description: Most Editorials are commissioned, but spontaneous submissions are welcome on a paper or other report or event within the past months or i…Length not stated
- systematic reviewEditorial Description: Most Editorials are commissioned, but spontaneous submissions are welcome on a paper or other report or event within the past months or i…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePeer review, Preprints
- Peer review 1. Submission and Peer Review Process
New submissions should be made via the Research Exchange submission portal https://authors.wiley.com/journal/APL. Should your manuscript proceed to the revision stage, you will be directed to make your revisions via the same submission portal. You may check the status of your submission at anytime by logging on to authors.wiley.com and clicking the “My Submissions” button. For technical help with …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint policy
Preprint policy: accepts articles previously published on preprint servers Model summary
This journal accepts articles previously published on preprint servers.
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
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd
- Country or region
- AUSTRALIA
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 2008
- ISSN
- 1756-1841
- Electronic ISSN
- 1756-185X
- Society / sponsor
- Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 29, Issue 9 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases
What CAS zone is International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Rheumatology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.02; CiteScore 3.5, h-index 79.
How long does peer review take at International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases?
Based on the dates recorded on 118 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 105 days (interquartile range 55–136 days); authors report an average review time of about 3 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 20% (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.
Where are the editorial board members of International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases based?
Of the 141 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 37 (about 26%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (37), Taiwan, China (20) and Japan (10). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase and CAS; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases open access, and what is the APC?
International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,700.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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: .