Journal profile · SUBSTANCE ABUSE
Journal of Substance Use
ISSN 1465-9891 · eISSN 1475-9942 · Taylor & Francis
Journal of Substance Use: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.69; hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 168 days to acceptance (105 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 24% (journal website); 94 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Substance Use is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 4 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes, Opioid Use Disorder Treatment and HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk, together about 39.7% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Journal of Substance Use is a bimonthly international journal, publishing peer-reviewed, up-to-the-minute articles on a wide spectrum of issues relating to the use of legal and illegal substances. The Journal aims to educate, inform, update and act as a forum for standard setting for health and social care professionals working with individuals and families with substance use problems. It also informs and supports those undertaking research in substance use, developing substance use services, and participating in, leading and developing education and training programs. Journal of Substance Use adopts an eclectic stance and aims to provide a forum for the discussion and dissemination around subjects of innovative and proven practice. This includes issues of prevention, treatment and policy whilst ensuring that issues are examined from a variety of perspectives for instance, clinical, managerial, service development, problem use, service use, and family perspective. Papers may explore legal issues, therapeutic interventions and treatments, and behavioral approaches.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): SUBSTANCE ABUSE
Editor-in-chief Richard Pates VisitingPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Substance Abuse Treatment and OutcomesMedicine25%
- Opioid Use Disorder TreatmentMedicine8.2%
- HIV, Drug Use, Sexual RiskMedicine6.5%
- Homelessness and Social IssuesHealth Professions6.3%
- Smoking Behavior and CessationMedicine5.9%
- Alcohol Consumption and Health EffectsMedicine5.5%
- Cannabis and Cannabinoid ResearchMedicine4.8%
- Behavioral Health and InterventionsPsychology4.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Substance Abuse | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Substance Abuse | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Substance Abuse | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEEmbasePsycINFOCINAHLPublisher website
Other: Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, Social Care Online, Family Index Database, Russian Institute of Scientific and Technical Information, Journal Citation Reports/Social Sciences Edition
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
- 0.69LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 0.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 0.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1.7LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 1.7Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.34LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.34Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.49LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 0.49Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 47OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 558OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.64OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 6.53%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 94LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 125,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,346 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 95 | 17 | 4 |
| 2025 | 94 | 19 | 46 |
| 2024 | 126 | 29 | 152 |
| 2023 | 175 | 46 | 425 |
| 2022 | 159 | 23 | 493 |
| 2021 | 147 | 22 | 764 |
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
168 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 107 days – 258 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 16 days (105 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 186 days
- Sample
- 105 articles with submission and acceptance dates (217 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
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 24%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 10 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 64 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 13 daysPublisher 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access
- Open access Open access
Hybrid open access journal, part of Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program. Model summary
Journal of Substance Use is a hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open access? Increase the discoverability an…
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
- Taylor & Francis
- ISSN
- 1465-9891
- Electronic ISSN
- 1475-9942
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 31, Issue 5 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Substance Use
What CAS zone is Journal of Substance Use in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Substance Use is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Substance Abuse. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Substance Use?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 0.69; CiteScore 1.7, h-index 47.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Substance Use?
Based on the dates recorded on 105 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 168 days (interquartile range 107–258 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 24%. 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 Substance Use?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Substance Use is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE, Embase, PsycINFO and CINAHL; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Substance Use open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Substance Use is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC charged, amount not published.
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: .