Journal profile · Medicine-Rehabilitation
JMIR Serious Games
ISSN 2291-9279 · JMIR Publications Inc. · CANADA
JMIR Serious Games: CAS Zone 2 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4.65; fully open access; APC about USD 2,950; median 180 days to acceptance (106 articles, last 24 months); 131 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
JMIR Serious Games is published by JMIR Publications Inc. 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 Educational Games and Gamification, Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts and Stroke Rehabilitation and Recovery, together about 36.9% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
JMIR Serious Games (JSG, ISSN 2291-9279; Journal Impact Factor™ 4.7, Journal Citation Reports™) is a multidisciplinary journal devoted to computer, web, virtual reality, mobile applications, and other emerging technologies that incorporate elements of gaming, gamification or novel hardware platforms such as virtual reality devices or wearables. The journal focuses on the use of this technology to solve serious problems such as health behavior change, physical exercise promotion (exergaming), medical rehabilitation, diagnosis and treatment of psychological/psychiatric disorders, medical education, health promotion, teaching and education (game-based learning), and social change. JSG also invites commentary and research in the fields of video game violence and video game addiction. While JMIR Serious Games maintains a strong focus on health, the journal also aims to highlight research exploring serious games in health-adjacent and other interdisciplinary contexts, including but not limited to military, education, industry, and workplace applications. In 2026, JMIR Serious Games received a Journal Impact Factor™ of 4.6 (ranked Q1 #29/194 journals in the category Health Care Sciences & Services) (Source: Journal Citation Reports™ from Clarivate, 2026) and a Scopus CiteScore™ of 8.5. This CiteScore™ places JMIR Serious Games in the 97th percentile (#4/172) as a Q1 journal in the field of Rehabilitation. The journal is also indexed in PubMed, PubMed Central, DOAJ, Scopus, SCIE (Clarivate), and PsycINFO. Need help choosing a journal? Use our Journal Finder tool to find the perfect match for your manuscript. Get Started
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medicine-Rehabilitation
Editor-in-chief Proposals Theme IssuesPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 3%); most named United States 5, Canada 4, Spain 3, Netherlands 3, Austria 3 (32 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Educational Games and GamificationPsychology16.6%
- Virtual Reality Applications and ImpactsComputer Science12.2%
- Stroke Rehabilitation and RecoveryMedicine8.1%
- Simulation-Based Education in HealthcareMedicine7.3%
- Digital Mental Health InterventionsPsychology7%
- Mobile Health and mHealth ApplicationsHealth Professions5.6%
- Technology Use by Older AdultsSocial Sciences4.3%
- Impact of Technology on AdolescentsSocial Sciences4%
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 | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Medical Informatics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Medical Informatics | 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 | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Medical Informatics | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
PMCPsycINFOPublisher 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
- Impact factor
- 4.65LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8.5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 8.5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.18LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.64LetPub ·
- h-index
- 70OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 502OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.83OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 8.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 98.38%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 133LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 898 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 97 | 97 | 42 |
| 2025 | 131 | 131 | 478 |
| 2024 | 114 | 114 | 1,132 |
| 2023 | 81 | 81 | 1,423 |
| 2022 | 117 | 117 | 2,938 |
| 2021 | 120 | 120 | 4,786 |
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 PubMed · to
180 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 128 days – 244 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 49 days (106 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 237 days
- Sample
- 106 articles with submission and acceptance dates (268 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 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 22 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 | USD 2,950 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,500 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 2,950 | Yes | — |
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship
ORCID required for all authors at time of publication Model summary
JMIR Publications requires that all authors / coauthors have an ORCID (a unique researcher identifier) at the time of publication.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Preprints Open for Peer Review
2026-09-07 | Share on Bluesky Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn A scoping review and pedagogical analysis of virtual reality interventions for children’s health education Open Peer Review Period: September 08, 2026 - November 03, 2026 Peer Review Me 2026-09-05 | Share on Bluesky Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Markerless serious games for motor–cognitive reh…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints Open for Peer Review
2026-09-07 | Share on Bluesky Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn A scoping review and pedagogical analysis of virtual reality interventions for children’s health education Open Peer Review Period: September 08, 2026 - November 03, 2026 Peer Review Me 2026-09-05 | Share on Bluesky Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Markerless serious games for motor–cognitive reh…
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
- JMIR Publications Inc.
- Country or region
- CANADA
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2291-9279
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about JMIR Serious Games
What CAS zone is JMIR Serious Games in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, JMIR Serious Games is in Zone 2 of Medicine, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Health Care Sciences & Services / Medical Informatics / Public, Environmental & Occupational Health. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of JMIR Serious Games?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.65; CiteScore 8.5, h-index 70.
How long does peer review take at JMIR Serious Games?
Based on the dates recorded on 106 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 180 days (interquartile range 128–244 days); authors report an average review time of about 12 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.
Where are the editorial board members of JMIR Serious Games based?
Of the 32 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 3%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (5), Canada (4) and Spain (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index JMIR Serious Games?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, JMIR Serious Games is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists PMC and PsycINFO; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is JMIR Serious Games open access, and what is the APC?
JMIR Serious Games is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,950.
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: .