Journal profile · PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL
Journal of Behavioral Medicine
ISSN 0160-7715 · eISSN 1573-3521 · Springer Nature · 6 issues per year
Journal of Behavioral Medicine: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.63; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,790; median 204 days to acceptance (98 articles, last 24 months); 77 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Behavioral Medicine is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 3 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Behavioral Health and Interventions, Eating Disorders and Behaviors and Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation, together about 24.5% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Journal of Behavioral Medicine is a broadly conceived interdisciplinary publication devoted to furthering understanding of physical health and illness through the knowledge, methods, and techniques of behavioral science. A significant function of the journal is the application of this knowledge to prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation and to the promotion of health at the individual, community, and population levels.The content of the journal spans all areas of basic and applied behavioral medicine research, conducted in and informed by all related disciplines including but not limited to: psychology, medicine, the public health sciences, sociology, anthropology, health economics, nursing, and biostatistics. Topics welcomed include but are not limited to: prevention of disease and health promotion; the effects of psychological stress on physical and psychological functioning; sociocultural influences on health and illness; adherence to medical regimens; the study of health related behaviors including tobacco use, substance use, sexual behavior, physical activity, and obesity; health services research; and behavioral factors in the prevention and treatment of somatic disorders. Reports of interdisciplinary approaches to research are particularly welcomed.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL
Editor-in-chief Alan ChristensenPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 47, United Kingdom 9, Canada 1, Netherlands 1 (58 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Behavioral Health and InterventionsPsychology12.8%
- Eating Disorders and BehaviorsPsychology5.9%
- Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationMedicine5.7%
- Obesity, Physical Activity, DietMedicine5.7%
- Cardiac Health and Mental HealthMedicine4.9%
- Smoking Behavior and CessationMedicine4.7%
- Physical Activity and HealthMedicine4.6%
- Optimism, Hope, and Well-beingPsychology4.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychology, Clinical | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychology, Clinical | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychology, Clinical | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEMEDLINEPsycINFOCAB AbstractsERIH PLUSCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, 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
- 2.63LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.88LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1LetPub ·
- h-index
- 171OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,051OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.85OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 28.76%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 76LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 556,100Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,725 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 95 | 57 | 42 |
| 2025 | 77 | 50 | 264 |
| 2024 | 77 | 35 | 404 |
| 2023 | 78 | 49 | 648 |
| 2022 | 117 | 87 | 1,740 |
| 2021 | 72 | 50 | 1,252 |
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
204 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 131 days – 276 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 27 days (100 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 232 days
- Sample
- 98 articles with submission and acceptance dates (194 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
- Submission to first decision
- 15 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double 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 4,790 / EUR 3,790 / GBP 2,990 | — | — |
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)
What to prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Article types accepted8
- brief reportRegular Articles The majority of journal pages are devoted to the publication of original empirical articles, such as reports of randomized controlled trials, o…Length not stated
- letterRegular Articles The majority of journal pages are devoted to the publication of original empirical articles, such as reports of randomized controlled trials, o…Length not stated
- letter to the editorRegular Articles The majority of journal pages are devoted to the publication of original empirical articles, such as reports of randomized controlled trials, o…Length not stated
- letters to the editorRegular Articles The majority of journal pages are devoted to the publication of original empirical articles, such as reports of randomized controlled trials, o…Length not stated
- literature reviewRegular Articles The majority of journal pages are devoted to the publication of original empirical articles, such as reports of randomized controlled trials, o…Length not stated
- opinionRegular Articles The majority of journal pages are devoted to the publication of original empirical articles, such as reports of randomized controlled trials, o…Length not stated
- regular articleRegular Articles The majority of journal pages are devoted to the publication of original empirical articles, such as reports of randomized controlled trials, o…Length not stated
- regular articlesRegular Articles The majority of journal pages are devoted to the publication of original empirical articles, such as reports of randomized controlled trials, o…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- AI use
LLMs do not satisfy authorship criteria; use must be documented in Methods Model summary
Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, do not currently satisfy our authorship criteria.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship principles
These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to. Authorship clarified The Journal and Publisher assume all authors agreed with the content and that all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Disclosures and declarations
Competing interests disclosure required Model summary
All authors are requested to include information regarding sources of funding, financial or non-financial interests, study-specific approval by the appropriate ethics committee for research involving humans and/or animals, informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved animals (as appropriate). The decision whether such …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
Data availability statement required for all original research Model summary
All original research must include a data availability statement. This statement should explain how to access data supporting the results and analysis in the article, including links/citations to publicly archived datasets analysed or generated during the study. Please see our full policy here. If it is not possible to share research data publicly, for instance when individual privacy could be com…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Compliance with Ethical Standards
To ensure objectivity and transparency in research and to ensure that accepted principles of ethical and professional conduct have been followed, authors should include information regarding sources of funding, potential conflicts of interest (financial or non-financial), informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved an…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Open Choice articles do not require transfer of copyright as the copyright remains with the author. In opting for open access, the author(s) agree to publish the article under a Creative Commons license. Details of the OA licences offered to authors can be found on the individual journal website, in the journal's How to publish with us guide. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Journal of Behavioral Medicine, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical Trial Registration
The World Health Organization (WHO) definition of a clinical trial is "any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on health outcomes". The WHO defines health interventions as “A health intervention is an act performed for, with or on behalf of a person or population whose purpose is to ass…
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
- Springer Nature
- Frequency
- 6 issues per year
- ISSN
- 0160-7715
- Electronic ISSN
- 1573-3521
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 49, Issue 4 (August 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Behavioral Medicine
What CAS zone is Journal of Behavioral Medicine in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Behavioral Medicine is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Psychology, Clinical. 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 Journal of Behavioral Medicine?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.63; CiteScore 5.5, h-index 171.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Behavioral Medicine?
Based on the dates recorded on 98 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 204 days (interquartile range 131–276 days). 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 Journal of Behavioral Medicine?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–250 words; Keywords: ≥ 4; Reference style: Author–date; 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Journal of Behavioral Medicine based?
Of the 58 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (47), United Kingdom (9) and Canada (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Behavioral Medicine?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Behavioral Medicine is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CAB Abstracts, ERIH PLUS and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Behavioral Medicine open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Behavioral Medicine is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,790.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, 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: .