Journal profile · Medical Ethics
Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics
ISSN 1556-2646 · eISSN 1556-2654 · SAGE Publications Inc. · UNITED STATES · Quarterly · Founded 2006
Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics: CAS Zone 3 · Philosophy (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.62; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,650; review about 168 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); community-reported acceptance: easy; 46 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics is published by SAGE Publications Inc. and is in Zone 3 of Philosophy in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Ethics in Clinical Research, Ethics in medical practice and Biomedical Ethics and Regulation, together about 50.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are General Health Professions. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics (JERHRE) is the only journal in the field of human research ethics dedicated exclusively to empirical research. Empirical knowledge translates ethical principles into procedures appropriate to specific … | View full journal description This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medical Ethics
Editor-in-chief Douglas WassenaarPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 32, South Africa 3, United Kingdom 2, Canada 2, Germany 1 (42 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Ethics in Clinical ResearchMedicine30.5%
- Ethics in medical practiceHealth Professions12.7%
- Biomedical Ethics and RegulationMedicine7%
- Academic integrity and plagiarismSocial Sciences4.2%
- Patient-Provider Communication in HealthcareHealth Professions3.8%
- Health Policy Implementation ScienceHealth Professions3.7%
- Mental Health and Patient InvolvementHealth Professions3.4%
- Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of LifeEconomics, Econometrics and Finance3.2%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Philosophy Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Ethics | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Medical Ethics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Philosophy Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Ethics | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Medical Ethics | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Philosophy Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Ethics | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Medical Ethics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIESSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
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
- 1.62LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.44LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.82LetPub ·
- h-index
- 23LetPub ·
- h-index
- 62OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 480OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.3OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 28.72%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 44LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,173 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 45 | 24 | 3 |
| 2025 | 46 | 36 | 94 |
| 2024 | 26 | 20 | 172 |
| 2023 | 33 | 21 | 158 |
| 2022 | 33 | 17 | 202 |
| 2021 | 60 | 29 | 816 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
168 dayssubmission to acceptance · community reports over 12 weeks
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Average review time (community reports)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 36.7%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 4 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 168 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 30 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 3,650 / GBP 2,676 | — | — | |
| 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 accepted5
- book reviewManuscripts may be major articles (see Manuscript Types Considered For Submission), brief reports of preliminary studies, or book reviews, which are usually by …Length not stated
- book reviewsManuscripts may be major articles (see Manuscript Types Considered For Submission), brief reports of preliminary studies, or book reviews, which are usually by …Length not stated
- brief reportManuscripts may be major articles (see Manuscript Types Considered For Submission), brief reports of preliminary studies, or book reviews, which are usually by …Length not stated
- brief reports of preliminary studiesManuscripts may be major articles (see Manuscript Types Considered For Submission), brief reports of preliminary studies, or book reviews, which are usually by …Length not stated
- major articlesManuscripts may be major articles (see Manuscript Types Considered For Submission), brief reports of preliminary studies, or book reviews, which are usually by …Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Authorship Authorship
Please view our authorship policies, which includes information on criteria for authorship, who should be the corresponding author and more. Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages. Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to: Share your research data in a relevant public data repository Include a data ava…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Ethical considerations
Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Figures submitted in color will be published in color in the online version of the journal at no cost. If you wish to have color figures in the printed version, fees will apply and be determined at the time of acceptance. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice program, and Open Access agreements, wh…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Double anonymized peer review Model summary
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency: Double-anonymized Reviewer interacts with: Editor and Associate Editors Review information published: None Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscr…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
The journal does not accept submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers. The journal will consider submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers. Please enter the preprint DOI in the designated field when submitting your manuscript. We advise that you inform the Journal Editorial office about your posted preprint at submission. Note that you should n…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical trial registration
The journal conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first participant enrollment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.
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
- SAGE Publications Inc.
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 2006
- ISSN
- 1556-2646
- Electronic ISSN
- 1556-2654
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics
What CAS zone is Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics is in Zone 3 of Philosophy, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Ethics / Medical Ethics. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Philosophy. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.62; CiteScore 3.5, h-index 62.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics?
The publisher reports about 168 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 36.7%. 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 Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics based?
Of the 42 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (32), South Africa (3) and United Kingdom (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics is indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Is Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,650.
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: .