Journal profile · CLINICAL NEUROLOGY
Journal of Pain Research
ISSN 1178-7090 · Dove Medical Press Ltd. · ENGLAND
Journal of Pain Research: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.06; JCR Q2 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 3,940; median 82 days to acceptance (155 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 18% (journal website); 625 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Pain Research 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 Pain Mechanisms and Treatments, Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation and Anesthesia and Pain Management, together about 33.9% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Editor-in-Chief: Dr Michael Schatman Journal of Pain Research is an international, open access journal that focuses on concise rapid reporting of high-quality laboratory and clinical findings in all fields of pain research and the prevention and management of pain. All meta-analyses require a pre-submission check prior to submitting to the Journal of Pain Research. Please complete the pre-submission check form here. Specific topics covered by the journal include: • Basic and applied pain research • Multidisciplinary pain research • Neuromodulation • Palliative care and pain management • Behavioral management of pain • Drug studies • Opioids • Genetics in pain • Pain mechanisms • Ethical decision makingOriginal research, reviews, symposium reports, hypothesis formation, study protocols and commentaries are all considered for publication. The journal welcomes submissions to the following sections: Acute Pain and Perioperative Care Behavioral Approaches to Pain Cancer Pain and Palliative Care Dental Pain Ethics/Policy Headache and Facial Pain Integrative/Acupuncture Minimally Invasive Spine Procedures, Neuromodulation and Interventional Pain Musculoskeletal Pain/Rehabilitation and Neuropathic Pain Nursing in Pain Care Opioids and Substance Abuse Pain Education and Early Career Investigators Pain in Older Adults Pediatric Pain Pharmacology Pre-Clinical/Scientific Regenerative Pain Medicine Surgical Approaches to Pain Case reports submitted to the Journal of Pain Research will be diverted to the International Medical Case Reports Journal (Journal metric data for this journal can be accessed here). The Journal of Pain Research will no longer consider bibliometric analyses for publication. Updated 25 November 2025
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): CLINICAL NEUROLOGY
Editor-in-chief Michael SchatmanPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 6 in mainland China (about 4%); most named United States 77, Italy 10, Australia 8, Mainland China 6, Germany 6 (145 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Pain Mechanisms and TreatmentsMedicine13%
- Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationMedicine10.9%
- Anesthesia and Pain ManagementMedicine10.1%
- Pain Management and Opioid UseMedicine9.5%
- Spine and Intervertebral Disc PathologyMedicine7.4%
- Pain Management and TreatmentMedicine5.6%
- Acupuncture Treatment Research StudiesMedicine5.1%
- Pediatric Pain Management TechniquesMedicine4.6%
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 | Clinical Neurology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Clinical Neurology | 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 | Clinical Neurology | 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
COPEPublisher 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
- 3.06LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.3Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 4.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 1.14Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.81LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.14LetPub ·
- h-index
- 37LetPub ·
- h-index
- 100OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,988OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.57OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 9.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.66%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 523LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 538,231Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,579 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 623 | 623 | 184 |
| 2025 | 625 | 625 | 1,486 |
| 2024 | 409 | 409 | 2,583 |
| 2023 | 350 | 350 | 3,308 |
| 2022 | 331 | 331 | 4,555 |
| 2021 | 357 | 357 | 6,774 |
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
82 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 61 days – 101 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 14 days (155 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 99 days
- Sample
- 155 articles with submission and acceptance dates (1,377 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)
- 18%Publisher website ·
- Desk decision
- 51 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 accepted2
- 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
- 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 websitePlagiarism
- Plagiarism
Plagiarism checking with Crossref Similarity Check (iThenticate) on all submitted manuscripts Model summary
Please be aware that Dove Medical Press checks ALL submitted manuscripts for plagiarism. We use Crossref Similarity Check (powered by iThenticate).
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
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1178-7090
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- 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 Pain Research
What CAS zone is Journal of Pain Research in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Pain Research is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Clinical Neurology. 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 Pain Research?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.06; CiteScore 4.2, h-index 100.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Pain Research?
Based on the dates recorded on 155 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 82 days (interquartile range 61–101 days); authors report an average review time of about 16 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 18%. 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 Pain Research 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 Pain Research based?
Of the 145 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 6 (about 4%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (77), Italy (10) and Australia (8). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Pain Research?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Pain Research is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Journal of Pain Research open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Pain Research 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .