Journal profile · Surgery
Journal of Refractive Surgery
ISSN 1081-597X · eISSN 1938-2391 · Slack Incorporated · UNITED STATES · Monthly · Founded 1995
Journal of Refractive Surgery: CAS Zone 2 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.86; hybrid open access; review 4–8 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 177 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Refractive Surgery is published by Slack Incorporated 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 Corneal surgery and disorders, Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies and Corneal Surgery and Treatments, together about 62% of its articles. Its main subfields are Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging and Ophthalmology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Journal of Refractive Surgery, the official journal of the International Society of Refractive Surgery, a partner of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, has been a monthly peer-reviewed forum for original research, review, and evaluation of refractive and lens-based surgical procedures for more than 30 years. Practical, clinically valuable articles provide readers with the most up-to-date information regarding advances in the field of refractive surgery. Begin to explore the Journal and all of its great benefits such as: • Columns including “Translational Science,” “Surgical Techniques,” and “Biomechanics” • Supplemental videos and materials available for many articles • Access to current articles, as well as several years of archived content • Articles posted online just 2 months after acceptance.
Source: LetPub
Research area (LetPub): Surgery
Editor-in-chief J. Bradley RandlemanPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Corneal surgery and disordersMedicine30.5%
- Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment StudiesMedicine20.5%
- Corneal Surgery and TreatmentsMedicine10.9%
- Intraocular Surgery and LensesMedicine10.5%
- Glaucoma and retinal disordersMedicine10%
- Ocular Surface and Contact LensMedicine6.6%
- Retinal and Macular SurgeryMedicine3.6%
- Ocular Infections and TreatmentsMedicine1.6%
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 | Ophthalmology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Surgery | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Ophthalmology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Surgery | Zone 2 |
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 | Ophthalmology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Surgery | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
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
- 2.86LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.1LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.15LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.55LetPub ·
- h-index
- 89LetPub ·
- h-index
- 131OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,921OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.28OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 17.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 27.2%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 144LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 5,431 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 135 | 40 | 33 |
| 2025 | 177 | 74 | 400 |
| 2024 | 151 | 72 | 623 |
| 2023 | 122 | 47 | 1,069 |
| 2022 | 113 | 26 | 1,652 |
| 2021 | 133 | 20 | 1,787 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- 4–8 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
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.
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
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.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Slack Incorporated
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 1995
- ISSN
- 1081-597X
- Electronic ISSN
- 1938-2391
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 42 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Refractive Surgery
What CAS zone is Journal of Refractive Surgery in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Refractive Surgery is in Zone 2 of Medicine, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Ophthalmology / Surgery. 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 Journal of Refractive Surgery?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.86; CiteScore 5.1, h-index 131.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Refractive Surgery?
Authors report an average review time of 4–8 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”. 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.
Which databases index Journal of Refractive Surgery?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Refractive Surgery is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Journal of Refractive Surgery open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Refractive Surgery is a hybrid journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
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: .