Journal profile · Pathology
Laboratory Investigation
ISSN 0023-6837 · eISSN 1530-0307 · Springer Nature · UNITED STATES · Monthly · Founded 2000
Laboratory Investigation: CAS Zone 2 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.99; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,480; median 156 days to acceptance (96 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: fairly hard; 1,982 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Laboratory Investigation is published by Springer Nature 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 Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics, AI in cancer detection and Sarcoma Diagnosis and Treatment, together about 17.7% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Official Journal of the United States and Canadian Academy of PathologyLaboratory Investigation is an international journal owned by the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology. Laboratory Investigation offers prompt publication of high-quality original research that advances the understanding and classification of human disease.Types of ArticlesResearch Article: Research that elucidates the pathogenesis or classification of human disease, including original mechanistic or correlative studies that translate experimental, observational, computational, or technologic research findings. Review: Review Articles require prior approval of the Editor. Review articles must be of general interest to pathologists and contain original, in-depth analysis of the chosen topic.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Pathology
Editor-in-chief David M. BermanPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 8 in mainland China (about 8%); most named United States 62, Canada 12, Japan 10, Mainland China 8, Taiwan, China 2 (102 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Cancer Genomics and DiagnosticsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.3%
- AI in cancer detectionComputer Science5.8%
- Sarcoma Diagnosis and TreatmentMedicine5.6%
- Radiomics and Machine Learning in Medical ImagingMedicine5.1%
- Lymphoma Diagnosis and TreatmentMedicine5.1%
- Liver Disease Diagnosis and TreatmentMedicine4.6%
- Pancreatic and Hepatic Oncology ResearchMedicine4.4%
- Breast Cancer Treatment StudiesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.1%
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 | Medicine, Research & Experimental | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Pathology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Medicine, Research & Experimental | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Pathology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Medicine, Research & Experimental | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Pathology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
PubMedPublisher website
Other: Crossref
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
- 3.99LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 4.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 8.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.47LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.11LetPub ·
- h-index
- 140LetPub ·
- h-index
- 178OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 3,179OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.35OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 22.73%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 114LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 8,487 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,823 | 448 | 48 |
| 2025 | 1,982 | 1,918 | 485 |
| 2024 | 136 | 136 | 837 |
| 2023 | 194 | 194 | 2,245 |
| 2022 | 122 | 121 | 2,214 |
| 2021 | 199 | 196 | 4,544 |
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
156 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 107 days – 212 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 8 days (96 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 166 days
- Sample
- 96 articles with submission and acceptance dates (234 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 2 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly hardLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 6 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 45 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 167 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer review, Open 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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 4,480 / EUR 4,190 / GBP 3,590 / JPY 555,650 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 4,480 | — | — |
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)
What to prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 300 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
- Highlights
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted6
- correspondenceResearch Article: Research that elucidates the pathogenesis or classification of human disease, including original mechanistic or correlative studies that trans…Length not stated
- editorialResearch Article: Research that elucidates the pathogenesis or classification of human disease, including original mechanistic or correlative studies that trans…Length not stated
- letters to the editorResearch Article: Research that elucidates the pathogenesis or classification of human disease, including original mechanistic or correlative studies that trans…Length not stated
- research articleResearch Article: Research that elucidates the pathogenesis or classification of human disease, including original mechanistic or correlative studies that trans…Length not stated
- reviewResearch Article: Research that elucidates the pathogenesis or classification of human disease, including original mechanistic or correlative studies that trans…Length not stated
- review articleResearch Article: Research that elucidates the pathogenesis or classification of human disease, including original mechanistic or correlative studies that trans…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing
Authors must declare the use of generative AI tools in the manuscript preparation process upon submission of the paper.Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI tools”) have been rapidly adopted in research and scholarly publishing, offering significant benefits while requiring clear standards for responsible and transparent use.Authors preparing a manuscript for this journal may use AI tool…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship
Each author must have contributed sufficiently to the intellectual content of the submission. The corresponding author should list all authors and their contributions to the work. The corresponding author must confirm that he or she has had full access to the data in the study and final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.To qualify as a contributing author, one must meet all…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of interest
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential competing interests include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Authors must disclose any interests in two places:…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (see more information on this). An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles includ…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
Please visit our Open Access page from the Journal Homepage for more information.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Single anonymized review process Model summary
This journal operates a single anonymized review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor'…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Please note that preprints can be shared anywhere at any time, in line with Elsevier's sharing policy. Sharing your preprints e.g. on a preprint server will not count as prior publication (see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information).
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
- Springer Nature
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 2000
- ISSN
- 0023-6837
- Electronic ISSN
- 1530-0307
- Society / sponsor
- United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Laboratory Investigation
What CAS zone is Laboratory Investigation in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Laboratory Investigation is in Zone 2 of Medicine, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Medicine, Research & Experimental / Pathology. 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 Laboratory Investigation?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.99; CiteScore 8.3, h-index 178.
How long does peer review take at Laboratory Investigation?
Based on the dates recorded on 96 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 156 days (interquartile range 107–212 days); authors report an average review time of about 2 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly hard”. 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 Laboratory Investigation?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 300 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required; Highlights: Optional; 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Laboratory Investigation based?
Of the 102 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 8 (about 8%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (62), Canada (12) and Japan (10). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Laboratory Investigation?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Laboratory Investigation is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists PubMed; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Laboratory Investigation open access, and what is the APC?
Laboratory Investigation is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,480.
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: .