Journal profile · INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine
ISSN 0255-2922 · eISSN 1577-7014 · Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine · China · Quarterly · Founded 1981
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.67; fully open access; review about 2 months (community reports); community-reported acceptance: about 56.25%; 144 articles a year; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine is published by Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 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 Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies, Acupuncture Treatment Research Studies and Healthcare and Venom Research, together about 52.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Complementary and alternative medicine and Pharmacology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine was first published in 1981 and listed as the source journal of Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) in 2010. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine is an open access journal publishing evidence-based, scientifically justified original articles and review papers in all aspects of Chinese medicine, and essays relating to complementary and alternative medicine. Areas of particular interest include: Basic scientific research in Traditional Chinese Medicine; Outcomes of hypothesis-driven, rationally-designed pre-clinical and clinical research; New compounds of herbal medicine; Molecular/cellular targets and mechanisms of action for Chinese medicine; Modern drug delivery and molecular pharmaceutic tools for Chinese medicine; Special treatment of complementary and alternative medicine; We now publish research and review papers, both unsolicited and solicited. We may publish Viewpoint, Idea and Opinion, or commentary papers which are by invitation only. Viewpoint Personal views are welcome and the length should be about 1500 words (not including tables, figures, and references). Authors of this type of articles should sign their real names; no anonymous pieces are published. Idea and Opinion Essays representing opinions, presenting hypotheses, or considering controversial issues. The text is limited to no more than 1000 words, without abstract and keywords, 10 or fewer references. Typically no tables or figures but occasional exception at the editors’ discretion. Comment Most comments are commissioned, but spontaneous comments are welcome on a paper or other report or event within the past month or so, or in the near future. The text is limited to no more than 700 words, without abstract and keywords, 5 or fewer references. Normally, we do not publish such types of papers as Expert experience, Data mining articles unless the topic is of exceptionally significance and urgency.
Source: LetPub
Research area (LetPub): INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Traditional Chinese Medicine StudiesMedicine20.2%
- Acupuncture Treatment Research StudiesMedicine19.7%
- Healthcare and Venom ResearchMedicine13%
- Medical Research and TreatmentsMedicine10.3%
- Traditional Chinese Medicine AnalysisMedicine6.4%
- Pharmacological Effects of Natural CompoundsPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics3.2%
- Myofascial pain diagnosis and treatmentBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology2.7%
- Neurological Disease Mechanisms and TreatmentsNeuroscience2.6%
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 | Integrative & Complementary Medicine | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Integrative & Complementary Medicine | Zone 3 |
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 | Integrative & Complementary Medicine | Zone 4 |
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
- 1.67LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.4LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.5LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.62LetPub ·
- h-index
- 23LetPub ·
- h-index
- 43OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 550OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 11.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 144LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,013Publisher website ·
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)
- about 2 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- 56.25%LetPub ·
- 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
Fully open accessLetPub
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
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)
What to prepare8 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 350 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 3
- Reference style
- Vancouver
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Required
- Cover letter
- Required
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteConflicts of interest, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Peer review
- Conflicts of interest
All authors must disclose any conflicts of interest related to the manuscript, institutions, products, or competing products. Model summary
All authors must disclose any and all conflicts of interest, they may have with publication of the manuscript or an institution or product that is mentioned in the manuscript and/or is important to the outcome of the study presented.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
Clinical trials must state registration institution and ID; human studies require ethics committee approval and informed consent; animal studies must follow institutional/national care guidelines; a statement on ethics committee permission must be included in the Methods section of all research arti Model summary
A statement on ethics committee permission and ethical practices must be included in all research articles under the “Methods” section.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright
Articles are protected by copyright; authors must sign a Copyright Transfer Statement after acceptance and before publication. Model summary
The articles published in the Journals of Traditional Chinese Medicine (JTCM) are protected by copyright, and cannot be legally published elsewhere in any form without written permission from JTCM. All author(s) should sign the Copyright Transfer Statement after the paper is accepted and before it is published in JTCM.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Double-blind peer review; manuscripts suitable for publication are sent to two or more expert reviewers, and an editorial team member makes the final decision based on reviewer comments. Model summary
The journal follows a double-blind review process, wherein the reviewers and authors are unaware of each other’s identity.
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
- Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Country or region
- China
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 1981
- ISSN
- 0255-2922
- Electronic ISSN
- 1577-7014
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine
What CAS zone is Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Integrative & Complementary Medicine. 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 Traditional Chinese Medicine?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.67; CiteScore 3.4, h-index 43.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine?
Authors report an average review time of about 2 months; the community-reported acceptance is “about 56.25%”. 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 are the manuscript requirements of Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 350 words; Keywords: ≥ 3; Reference style: Vancouver; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required; Highlights: Required; Graphical abstract: Required; Cover letter: Required. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Which databases index Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine is a fully open-access journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
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 2026-08-28). Last updated: .