Journal profile · Health Care Sciences & Services
Medical Care Research and Review
ISSN 1077-5587 · eISSN 1552-6801 · SAGE Publications Inc. · UNITED STATES · Bimonthly · Founded 1995
Medical Care Research and Review: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.72; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,400; review about 175 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); community-reported acceptance: moderate; 41 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Medical Care Research and Review is published by SAGE Publications Inc. 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 Healthcare Policy and Management, Primary Care and Health Outcomes and Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare, together about 51.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are General Health Professions. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Medical Care Research and Review has been a pioneering force in the area of health services research. During its time, the journal has evolved from publishing abstracts to a well-respected journal carrying critical reviews of literature on organizational structure, economics, and the financing of health and medical care systems. Today, the journal's focus has expanded to reflect the growth of the field and the increasing importance of health services research -- while still maintaining the high standards that have kept Medical Care Research and Review at the forefront of health care research for over half a century.2025 Article of the Year:“The Effects of Care Coordination on Service Utilization for Individuals Dually Enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid: Evidence From the Washington Health Home Managed Fee-For-Service Demonstration"Click here for access
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Health Care Sciences & Services
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 49 (49 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Healthcare Policy and ManagementEconomics, Econometrics and Finance27.4%
- Primary Care and Health OutcomesHealth Professions15.4%
- Patient Satisfaction in HealthcareHealth Professions8.8%
- Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of LifeEconomics, Econometrics and Finance6.6%
- Global Health Care IssuesHealth Professions6.5%
- Geriatric Care and Nursing HomesHealth Professions6.2%
- Health disparities and outcomesSocial Sciences2.7%
- Global Health Workforce IssuesHealth Professions2.4%
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 | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | 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 | Health Policy & Services | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIESSCIScopusLetPub
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
- 2.72LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.18LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.28LetPub ·
- h-index
- 77LetPub ·
- h-index
- 117OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 858OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.43OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 21.95%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 40LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,464 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 37 | 24 | 3 |
| 2025 | 41 | 26 | 84 |
| 2024 | 38 | 25 | 195 |
| 2023 | 46 | 26 | 460 |
| 2022 | 39 | 19 | 524 |
| 2021 | 51 | 27 | 807 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
175 dayssubmission to acceptance · community reports over 12 weeks
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Average review time (community reports)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- ModerateLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 8.8%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 4 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 175 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 45 daysPublisher website ·
- 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
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 4,400 / GBP 3,226 | — | — | |
| 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)
What to prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 150 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
Article types accepted7
- brief reportMedical Care Research and Review publishes peer-reviewed articles that focus on: (1) syntheses of empirical and theoretical research on health services; (2) in-…Length not stated
- empirical research articlesMANUSCRIPT TYPE: Empirical Research Articles Description: Methodologically rigorous empirical research that significantly advances previous knowledge.Length not stated
- research articleMedical Care Research and Review publishes peer-reviewed articles that focus on: (1) syntheses of empirical and theoretical research on health services; (2) in-…Length not stated
- reviewMedical Care Research and Review publishes peer-reviewed articles that focus on: (1) syntheses of empirical and theoretical research on health services; (2) in-…Length not stated
- review articleMedical Care Research and Review publishes peer-reviewed articles that focus on: (1) syntheses of empirical and theoretical research on health services; (2) in-…Length not stated
- review articlesMANUSCRIPT TYPE: Review Articles Description: Particular research or policy topics that comprehensively synthesize relevant theoretical and empirical literature…Length not stated
- systematic reviewAll reviews submitted for potential publication in Medical Care Research and Review should follow PRISMA guidelines for reporting of systematic reviews. Manuscr…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- AI use Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
While AI can be a useful tool to advance research, certain uses are prohibited and others must be disclosed. Sage Publication’s full AI policy can be found here:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship
Please view our authorship policies, which includes information on criteria for authorship, who should be the corresponding author and more. Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages. Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to: Share your research data in a relevant public data repository Include a data ava…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Ethical considerations
Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Figures submitted in color will be published in color in the online version of the journal at no cost. If you wish to have color figures in the printed version, you will receive information regarding costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice progr…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Double anonymized peer review Model summary
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency: Double-anonymized Reviewer interacts with: Editor Review information published: None Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscripts may be desk rejec…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
The journal will consider submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers. Please enter the preprint DOI in the designated field when submitting your manuscript. We advise that you inform the Journal Editorial office about your posted preprint at submission. Note that you should not post an updated version of your manuscript on a preprint server while it is being peer reviewed…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical trial registration
Please note that clinical trials considered for publication in MCRR are only those related to health services research. The journal conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first participant enrollment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration numb…
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
- SAGE Publications Inc.
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 1995
- ISSN
- 1077-5587
- Electronic ISSN
- 1552-6801
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Medical Care Research and Review
What CAS zone is Medical Care Research and Review in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Medical Care Research and Review is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Health Care Sciences & Services / Health Policy & Services. 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 Medical Care Research and Review?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.72; CiteScore 6.2, h-index 117.
How long does peer review take at Medical Care Research and Review?
The publisher reports about 175 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Moderate”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 8.8%. 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 Medical Care Research and Review?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 150 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: APA; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: 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 Medical Care Research and Review based?
Of the 49 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (49). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Medical Care Research and Review?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Medical Care Research and Review is indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Is Medical Care Research and Review open access, and what is the APC?
Medical Care Research and Review is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,400.
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: .