Journal profile
International Journal of Whole Person Care
ISSN 2291-918X · McGill University · Canada
International Journal of Whole Person Care: diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 8 weeks (community reports); 24 articles in 2025.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
International Journal of Whole Person Care is published by McGill University. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Empathy and Medical Education, Medicine, History, and Philosophy and Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare, together about 35.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are General Health Professions and Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Traditionally, the existential and spiritual aspects of illness and their relationship to healthcare outcomes have received limited attention within the educational and research environment of Western medicine. In recognition of this fact, the McGill University Programs in Whole Person Care were instituted in 1999 by the Faculty of Medicine.The Programs are based on the premise that in situations in which treatment is unable to modify the disease outcome, it may be possible to create a space in which healing can occur. While the existential/spiritual domain is known to be an important determinant of quality of life, there has been little emphasis on integration of these issues in healthcare systems. Programs in Whole Person Care therefore seek to integrate the physical aspects of personhood along with the psychological, cultural, social and existential/spiritual ones, and to respond to suffering experienced by the whole person within his or her particular context. This Journal will showcase the efforts of healthcare professionals and their patients, researchers and others working on these issues from a transdisciplinary perspective around the world with the aim to treat the person holistically with dignity and compassion.It will also encompass the whole person of the practitioner based on the postulate that well professionals foster well-being in those they serve.The views expressed by contributors to the IJWPC do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, the Editorial and Review Boards, or McGill University. Authors are responsible for following normal standards of scholarship and for ensuring that whenever the research involves human subjects, the appropriate consents are obtained from such subjects and all approvals are obtained from the appropriate ethics review board.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Editor-in-chief Timothy H. WidemanPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Canada 6 (6 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Empathy and Medical EducationMedicine15.3%
- Medicine, History, and PhilosophyMedicine10.4%
- Patient-Provider Communication in HealthcareHealth Professions10.1%
- Innovations in Medical EducationMedicine9%
- Palliative and Oncologic CareMedicine6.8%
- Palliative Care and End-of-Life IssuesMedicine6.2%
- Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnoutHealth Professions6.1%
- Mindfulness and Compassion InterventionsPsychology4.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
DOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
ÉruditPublisher website
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
- h-index
- 5OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.1OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 409 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 31 | 31 | 14 |
| 2025 | 24 | 24 | 34 |
| 2024 | 48 | 48 | 19 |
| 2023 | 16 | 16 | 39 |
| 2022 | 39 | 39 | 21 |
| 2021 | 27 | 27 | 17 |
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)
- about 8 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 8 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Editorial 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
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
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
- Keywords
- ≤ 5
- Reference style
- Vancouver
Article types accepted10, with length limits
- artistic offeringsArtistic Offerings Go West Rachel Gagen Poem PDFLength not stated
- case studies/narrativesCase studies/Narratives: Compelling stories of experiences that health care professionals, patients, or family members have had are welcome in this section.Length not stated
- commentaryThis type of manuscript allows for reflection on one’s experiences within the health care system, be it as a provider or recipient of care. The style chosen is …main text ≤ 1,000 words
- congressCongress: This section is only for authors who wish to submit abstracts, posters, etc. for the Congress on Whole Person Care.Length not stated
- editorialEditorial Community Spirit Timothy H. Wideman Article PDFLength not stated
- empirical studiesEmpirical studies: Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods studies should be described according to the standards of their respective methodologies.Length not stated
- narrative perspectivesNarrative Perspectives Finding Community in a Fishbowl Sarah Silverstein Article PDFLength not stated
- reviewwhole person care may be presented as a review or theoretical paper no longer than 5,000 words. For example, one may review the literature pertaining to mmain text ≤ 5,000 words
- the clinician's artThe Clinician's Art: This section is for reflective pieces on artful practices of care in the broadest healthcare contexts (i.e. physicianship, nursing, dentist…Length not stated
- theoretical papersTheoretical papers: Topics related to whole person care may be presented as a review or theoretical paper no longer than 5,000 words.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Publication ethics Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
The following publications ethics and publication malpractice statement is based on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and the Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright Notice
Copyright retained by authors; CC BY 4.0 license Model summary
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. Creative Comons 4.0 CC-BY Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-e…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access Policy
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.Please visit the McGill University Library website for more information about Open Access initiatives at McGill.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review Process
Blind review option for peer-reviewed sections Model summary
All papers submitted to the journal will be subject to a double-blind review process. Authors are requested to submit the names of 3 potential reviewers. Those submitted to the Commentary section will be reviewed by Editors. This journal uses double-blind review, which means that both the reviewer and author identities are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa, throughout the review process…
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
- McGill University
- Country or region
- Canada
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2291-918X
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 13, Issue 1 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about International Journal of Whole Person Care
How long does peer review take at International Journal of Whole Person Care?
Authors report an average review time of about 8 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 Journal of Whole Person Care?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Keywords: ≤ 5; Reference style: Vancouver. 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 International Journal of Whole Person Care based?
Of the 6 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Canada (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index International Journal of Whole Person Care?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, International Journal of Whole Person Care is indexed in DOAJ.
Is International Journal of Whole Person Care open access, and what is the APC?
International Journal of Whole Person Care is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .