Journal profile · ONCOLOGY
Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
ISSN 2253-5969 · DOVE MEDICAL PRESS LTD · NEW ZEALAND
Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.89; JCR Q2 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 3,940; median 84 days to acceptance (110 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 17% (journal website); 219 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma is published by DOVE MEDICAL PRESS LTD 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 Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and Prognosis, Cholangiocarcinoma and Gallbladder Cancer Studies and Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment, together about 50.8% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Editor-in-Chief: Dr Ahmed Kaseb The Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal. The journal provides the international community with a platform for the dissemination and study of clinical, translational, and basic research findings in this rapidly developing field. Primary liver tumors, primarily hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), are the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide, with around 750,000 new cases annually, and around 700,000 deaths. While 80% occurs in the developing world, the incidence is beginning to decline due to hepatitis B vaccination and developments in food hygiene; conversely, there is an increasing incidence in the developed world, partly due to metabolic syndrome, obesity and diabetes. The journal welcomes original research manuscripts, reviews, clinical trial reports, expert opinions and commentaries relating to all aspects of HCC, spanning from basic laboratory research through to clinical and translational research. The Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma will no longer consider meta-analyses for publication. Specific topics covered by the journal include: cell signalling pathways molecular tumor classification and prognostication new drugs and other therapies new radiology approaches epidemiology, surveillance, and prevention psychosocial aspects and quality of life issues The journal will consider case reports only if they make a valuable and original contribution to the literature. Study protocols are not suitable unless at least pilot or baseline data are provided. When considering submission of a paper utilizing publicly available data, authors should ensure that such studies add significantly to the body of knowledge and that they are validated using the authors’ own data through replication in an original sample. Updated 4 August 2025
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): ONCOLOGY
Editor-in-chief Ahmed KasebPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 12 in mainland China (about 16%); most named United States 27, Egypt 15, Mainland China 12, Japan 5, Italy 4 (77 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and PrognosisMedicine31.6%
- Cholangiocarcinoma and Gallbladder Cancer StudiesMedicine12.1%
- Liver Disease Diagnosis and TreatmentMedicine7.1%
- Ferroptosis and cancer prognosisMedicine6.4%
- Radiomics and Machine Learning in Medical ImagingMedicine4.4%
- Cancer Immunotherapy and BiomarkersMedicine4.3%
- Inflammatory Biomarkers in Disease PrognosisMedicine4.1%
- Cancer Mechanisms and TherapyMedicine3.4%
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 | Oncology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Oncology | 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 | Oncology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q2 · best quartile · 2025
- CiteScore Q2 · 2025
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SJR, CiteScore, Impact FactorPublisher 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
- 3.89LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 3.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.7LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 0.79Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.81LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.79LetPub ·
- h-index
- 47OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 352OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.94OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.65%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 216LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 96,781Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,142 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 217 | 217 | 32 |
| 2025 | 219 | 219 | 597 |
| 2024 | 182 | 182 | 1,187 |
| 2023 | 175 | 175 | 1,957 |
| 2022 | 101 | 101 | 1,459 |
| 2021 | 120 | 120 | 3,250 |
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
84 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 69 days – 104 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 15 days (110 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 103 days
- Sample
- 110 articles with submission and acceptance dates (482 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 16 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 17%Publisher website ·
- Desk decision
- 44 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 16 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 3,940 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,836 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 3,300 | 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)
Article types accepted3
- case reportAuthors may use these detailed descriptions of different paper types accepted by Dove Medical Press (case reports, reviews, etc) to decide how to label their pa…Length not stated
- original researchOriginal Research Bibliometric Analysis of Gut Microbiota and Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Research Trends and FrontiersLength not stated
- reviewAuthors may use these detailed descriptions of different paper types accepted by Dove Medical Press (case reports, reviews, etc) to decide how to label their pa…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics, Peer review
- Publication ethics
Member of COPE Model summary
This journal is a member of and subscribes to the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Accelerated Publication Model summary
This journal offers Accelerated Publication.
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
- DOVE MEDICAL PRESS LTD
- Country or region
- NEW ZEALAND
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2253-5969
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
What CAS zone is Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Oncology. 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 Hepatocellular Carcinoma?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.89; CiteScore 3.7, h-index 47.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma?
Based on the dates recorded on 110 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 84 days (interquartile range 69–104 days); authors report an average review time of about 16 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 17%. 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 JCR quartile is Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q2 (best quartile). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 3 of Medicine.
Where are the editorial board members of Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma based?
Of the 77 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 12 (about 16%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (27), Egypt (15) and Mainland China (12). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,940.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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: .