Journal profile · Nursing
Nursing Ethics
ISSN 0969-7330 · eISSN 1477-0989 · SAGE Publications Ltd · ENGLAND · Bimonthly · Founded 1994
Nursing Ethics: CAS Zone 1 · Philosophy (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 3.75; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,900; review about 104 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); community-reported acceptance: easy; 152 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Nursing Ethics is published by SAGE Publications Ltd and is in Zone 1 of Philosophy in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Ethics in medical practice, Patient Dignity and Privacy and Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues, together about 54.3% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Nursing Ethics takes a practical approach to this complex subject and relates each topic to the working environment. The articles on ethical and legal issues are written in a comprehensible style and official documents are analysed in a user-friendly way. The international Editorial Board ensures the selection of a wide range of high quality articles of global significance. This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Submit your manuscript today at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ne.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Nursing
Editor-in-chief Ann GallagherPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 4%); most named United Kingdom 7, United States 4, Canada 2, Switzerland 2, Belgium 2 (27 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Ethics in medical practiceHealth Professions28.9%
- Patient Dignity and PrivacyMedicine13.8%
- Palliative Care and End-of-Life IssuesMedicine11.6%
- Nursing education and managementNursing5.4%
- Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric HealthcareMedicine5.1%
- Ethics in Business and EducationDecision Sciences3.5%
- Healthcare Decision-Making and RestraintsPsychology2.5%
- Grief, Bereavement, and Mental HealthPsychology2.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Philosophy Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Ethics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Nursing | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Philosophy Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Ethics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Nursing | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Philosophy Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Nursing | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Ethics | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview 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
- 3.75LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3.8Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 4.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.27LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.71LetPub ·
- h-index
- 50LetPub ·
- h-index
- 116OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,697OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.82OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 13.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 35.64%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 140LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,152 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 153 | 55 | 45 |
| 2025 | 152 | 78 | 498 |
| 2024 | 160 | 83 | 1,233 |
| 2023 | 146 | 87 | 1,825 |
| 2022 | 124 | 67 | 1,954 |
| 2021 | 94 | 52 | 2,725 |
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
104 dayssubmission to acceptance · community reports 6–12 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)
- 6–12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 16.7%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 6 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 104 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 33 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 3,900 / GBP 2,859 | — | — | |
| 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)
Article types accepted5, with length limits
- case studyNursing Ethics features commissioned and non-commissioned empirical research, philosophical/theoretical papers and reviews articles, case studies, commentaries,…main text ≤ 3,000 words
- commentaryNursing Ethics features commissioned and non-commissioned empirical research, philosophical/theoretical papers and reviews articles, case studies, commentaries,…main text ≤ 2,000 words
- correspondenceNursing Ethics features commissioned and non-commissioned empirical research, philosophical/theoretical papers and reviews articles, case studies, commentaries,…Length not stated
- empirical research1. Empirical researchLength not stated
- reviewNursing Ethics features commissioned and non-commissioned empirical research, philosophical/theoretical papers and reviews articles, case studies, commentaries,…main text ≤ 1,000 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- 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 and cite this data …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
COPE member Model summary
This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice program, and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. Open Access agreement …
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 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 rejected without peer review at this point if they are out of scope for …
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
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 number must be included at the end of the abstract.
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 Ltd
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 1994
- ISSN
- 0969-7330
- Electronic ISSN
- 1477-0989
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Nursing Ethics
What CAS zone is Nursing Ethics in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Nursing Ethics is in Zone 1 of Philosophy, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Ethics / Nursing; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Philosophy. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Nursing Ethics?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.75; CiteScore 6.3, h-index 116.
How long does peer review take at Nursing Ethics?
The publisher reports about 104 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of 6–12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 16.7%. 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Nursing Ethics based?
Of the 27 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 4%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (7), United States (4) and Canada (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Nursing Ethics?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Nursing Ethics is indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Is Nursing Ethics open access, and what is the APC?
Nursing Ethics is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,900.
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: .