Journal profile · RHEUMATOLOGY
Open Access Rheumatology-Research and Reviews
ISSN 1179-156X · Dove Medical Press · United Kingdom
Open Access Rheumatology-Research and Reviews: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.7 (journal website); JCR Q2 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 3,565; median 97 days to acceptance (44 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 40% (journal website); 20 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Open Access Rheumatology-Research and Reviews is published by Dove Medical Press 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 Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and Therapies, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Research and Spondyloarthritis Studies and Treatments, together about 46.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are Rheumatology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Editor-in-Chief: Professor Chuan-Ju Liu Open Access Rheumatology: Research and Reviews is an international, peer-reviewed, open access, online journal publishing original research, reports, editorials, reviews and commentaries on all aspects of clinical and experimental rheumatology in the clinic and laboratory. Open Access Rheumatology: Research and Reviews will no longer consider meta-analyses for publication. The journal covers the following topics: Pathology, pathophysiology of rheumatological diseases Investigation, treatment and management of rheumatological diseases Clinical trials and novel pharmacological approaches for the treatment of rheumatological disorders Although the main focus of the journal is to publish research and clinical results in humans; preclinical, animal and in vitro studies will be published where they will shed light on disease processes and potential new therapies. Updated 4 August 2025
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): RHEUMATOLOGY
Editor-in-chief Chuan-Ju LiuPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 4 in mainland China (about 40%); most named Mainland China 4, United States 4, Italy 1, Egypt 1 (10 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and TherapiesMedicine24.6%
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ResearchMedicine11.3%
- Spondyloarthritis Studies and TreatmentsMedicine10.4%
- Autoimmune and Inflammatory Disorders ResearchMedicine7.9%
- Osteoarthritis Treatment and MechanismsMedicine5.3%
- Musculoskeletal Disorders and RehabilitationMedicine4.2%
- Systemic Sclerosis and Related DiseasesMedicine3.6%
- Vasculitis and related conditionsMedicine3.1%
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 | Rheumatology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Rheumatology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q2 · best quartile · 2025
- CiteScore Q2 · 2025
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SJR, CiteScore, Impact FactorPublisher website
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 (publisher) 2025
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 5.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 1.24Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.89LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.24LetPub ·
- h-index
- 37OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 168OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.59OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 2.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 20LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 60,734Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 355 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 24 | 24 | 5 |
| 2025 | 20 | 20 | 49 |
| 2024 | 15 | 15 | 99 |
| 2023 | 23 | 23 | 210 |
| 2022 | 31 | 31 | 339 |
| 2021 | 33 | 33 | 540 |
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
97 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 82 days – 112 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 13 days (44 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 114 days
- Sample
- 44 articles with submission and acceptance dates (46 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 16 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 40%Publisher website ·
- Desk decision
- 64 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 16 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
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 accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | USD 3,565 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,320 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 2,990 | Yes | — |
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 accepted2
- case reportAuthors may use these detailed descriptions of different paper types accepted by Dove Medical Press (case reports, reviews, etc) to decide how to label their pa…Length not stated
- reviewAuthors may use these detailed descriptions of different paper types accepted by Dove Medical Press (case reports, reviews, etc) to decide how to label their pa…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics
- Publication ethics
Member of and subscribes to the principles of COPE Model summary
This journal is a member of and subscribes to the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
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
- Dove Medical Press
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1179-156X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Open Access Rheumatology-Research and Reviews
What CAS zone is Open Access Rheumatology-Research and Reviews in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Open Access Rheumatology-Research and Reviews is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Rheumatology. 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 Open Access Rheumatology-Research and Reviews?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 2.7 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 5.1, h-index 37.
How long does peer review take at Open Access Rheumatology-Research and Reviews?
Based on the dates recorded on 44 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 97 days (interquartile range 82–112 days); authors report an average review time of about 16 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 40%. 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 JCR quartile is Open Access Rheumatology-Research and Reviews in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q2 (best quartile). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 4 of Medicine.
Where are the editorial board members of Open Access Rheumatology-Research and Reviews based?
Of the 10 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 4 (about 40%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (4), United States (4) and Italy (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Open Access Rheumatology-Research and Reviews?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Open Access Rheumatology-Research and Reviews is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Open Access Rheumatology-Research and Reviews open access, and what is the APC?
Open Access Rheumatology-Research and Reviews is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,565.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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: .