Journal profile · Medicine-Rheumatology
Open Rheumatology Journal
ISSN 1874-3129 · Bentham
Open Rheumatology Journal: fully open access; APC about USD 850; median 89 days to acceptance (14 articles, last 24 months); 8 articles in 2025; indexed in Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Open Rheumatology Journal is published by Bentham. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and Therapies, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Research and Autoimmune and Inflammatory Disorders Research, together about 37.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Rheumatology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Open Rheumatology Journal is an open-access journal that publishes research articles, reviews/mini-reviews, letters and guest-edited single-topic issues in all important areas of experimental and clinical research in rheumatology, which include epidemiology, etiology, pathogenesis, clinical outcomes and treatment of inflammatory, immunologic, pediatric and adult rheumatological and musculoskeletal conditions, as well as metabolic, and degenerative soft and hard connective tissue diseases. The Open Rheumatology Journal, a peer-reviewed journal, is an important and reliable source of current information on developments in the field. Emphasis is placed on publishing quality papers, making them freely available to researchers worldwide. The Open Rheumatology Journal is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal covering all aspects of rheumatology published continuously by Bentham Open.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medicine-Rheumatology
Editorial board by country: 3 in mainland China (about 25%); most named Mainland China 3, United States 2, India 2, Japan 1, South Korea 1 (12 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and TherapiesMedicine20.6%
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ResearchMedicine9.2%
- Autoimmune and Inflammatory Disorders ResearchMedicine7.7%
- Systemic Sclerosis and Related DiseasesMedicine7.5%
- Osteoarthritis Treatment and MechanismsMedicine6.8%
- Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationMedicine5.2%
- Spondyloarthritis Studies and TreatmentsMedicine4.6%
- Natural Compounds in Disease TreatmentMedicine4.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CiteScore quartiles (Scopus, June 2026 release)
| Subject | Quartile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rheumatology | Q4 | 65/77 | 16th |
Scopus ranks journals by CiteScore within each subject: the 75th percentile and above is Q1, then a quartile every 25 points. A different system from the CAS zones.LetPub
Database indexing
ScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EmbaseCASPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, CNKI, J-Gate, Scilit, Sherpa Romeo
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
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.2LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.19LetPub ·
- h-index
- 44OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 151OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.56OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Volume
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 2,023Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 298 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 8 | 8 | 295 |
| 2025 | 8 | 8 | 415 |
| 2024 | 2 | 2 | 470 |
| 2023 | 9 | 9 | 460 |
| 2022 | 7 | 7 | 509 |
| 2021 | 11 | 11 | 636 |
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 Crossref · to
96 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 81 days – 109 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 43 days (20 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 139 days
- Sample
- 20 articles with submission and acceptance dates (14 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
- Peer review
- Open 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 accessOpenAlex
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher website | USD 850 / USD 680 / USD 390 | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Submission fee
- USD 1,455
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
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 6
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 6,000 words
- Reference style
- ACS
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
Article types accepted17, with length limits
- book reviewournal. The total number of words for a book review is 850 to 1000 words excluding figures, structures, photographs, schemes, tablesmain text ≤ 1,000 words
- book reviewsThe total number of words for a book review is 850 to 1000 words excluding figures, structures, photographs, schemes, tables, etc.Length not stated
- case reporte total number of words for a published case report is 1500 to 2500 words with 40 or more references excluding figures, structures, pmain text ≤ 2,500 words
- commentaryted to the publications in the journal. Commentaries should contain less than 3000 words, including the abstract, main text, references, and figuremain text ≤ 3,000 words
- editorialEditorials are short papers on important topics related to the journal. The total number of words in an editorial should not exceed 1000 to 1500, and it should …references ≤ 15
- editorialsThe total number of words in an editorial should not exceed 1000 to 1500, and it should contain only 10-15 references.Length not stated
- letterres, photographs, schemes, tables, etc. Letter Articles Letters should be 3000-4000 words with 40 or more references excluding figures, structures, pmain text ≤ 4,000 words
- mini-review articlesMini-reviews should be 3000- 6000 words with 75 or more references excluding figures, structures, photographs, schemes, tables, etc.Length not stated
- perspectiveto the field. The length of a published perspective ranges from 1500 to 1800 words, with 20 or more references, excluding figures, structures,main text ≤ 1,800 words
- research articlel address contact us. Manuscript Length Research Articles Research articles should be of 4000-6000 words with 75 or more references excluding figures, structure…main text ≤ 6,000 words
- research articlesResearch articles should be of 4000-6000 words with 75 or more references excluding figures, structures, photographs, schemes, tables, etc.Length not stated
- review articleres, photographs, schemes, tables, etc. Review Articles The length of a published comprehensive review article is from 6000-10000 words with 100 or more referen…main text ≤ 10,000 words
- review articlesThe length of a published comprehensive review article is from 6000-10000 words with 100 or more references excluding figures, structures, photographs, schemes,…Length not stated
- short communicationsion of a full-length research article. Short communications should be 2000-3000 words with 25 or more references excluding figures, structures, pmain text ≤ 3,000 words
- short communicationsShort communications should be 2000-3000 words with 25 or more references excluding figures, structures, photographs, schemes, tables, etc.Length not stated
- systematic reviewe total number of words for a published systematic review is from 4000 to 6000 words with 100 or more references excluding figures, structures,main text ≤ 6,000 words
- systematic reviewsThe total number of words for a published systematic review is from 4000 to 6000 words with 100 or more references excluding figures, structures, photographs, s…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism
- AI use Transparent reporting on AI and AI-assisted Technologies
Authors who use AI tools for the production of images or graphical elements of the paper, or in the collection and analysis of data, must disclose the use of such tools in the Materials and Methods (or similar section) of the paper, stating how the AI tool was used and which tool was used.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship Criteria
Bentham Open requires that all individuals listed as authors must have made a substantial contribution to the design, performance, analysis, or reporting of the work. The role of authors is judged according to ICMJE and COPE guidelines.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
All conflict of interest disclosure forms are collected by the corresponding author. It is sufficient for the corresponding author to sign the disclosure form on behalf of all authors in author collaborations when legal agreements for representation allow it. The templates of the form can be found here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability AVAILABILITY OF DATA AND MATERIALS
The source of data and materials should be mentioned in the manuscript in support of the findings. Sharing research data is integral to its transparency and reproducibility. Data sharing involves the citation and availability of data that support the findings of the research. Bentham Open encourages authors to share the source of data and materials in the manuscript, in support of the findings. Re…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Authors who publish in Bentham Open journals retain copyright to their work. It is a condition of publication that manuscripts submitted to this journal have not been published and will not be simultaneously submitted or published elsewhere. Plagiarism is strictly forbidden, and by submitting the article for publication, the authors agree that the publishers have the legal right to take appropriat…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access
Open access journal licensed under CC-BY 4.0. Model summary
Open Access Articles are licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode, which permits unrestricted distribution and reproduction in any medium, as long as the work is properly credited/attributed.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Case 4: Data Sharing, Evidence of Data Sharing and Data for Peer-Review
All datasets on which the paper's conclusions are based must be made accessible to reviewers and readers, according to the journal's rules. Prior to peer review, authors must either deposit their datasets in publicly accessible repositories or provide them as supplementary materials with their submission. For further details, please visit the complete guidelines at: http://www.icmje.org/recommenda…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism PLAGIARISM PREVENTION
Plagiarism means copying or paraphrasing another writer’s content, be it a text, a result or an observation, and stating it as one’s own, without citing a reference to the original source. Therefore, authors should acknowledge and cite references to the work of other scientists in their manuscripts. The author should ensure that all the sources are authentic and that there is no discrepancy in the…
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
- Bentham
- ISSN
- 1874-3129
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Open Rheumatology Journal
How long does peer review take at Open Rheumatology Journal?
Based on the dates recorded on 14 articles published between November 2024 and November 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 89 days (interquartile range 78–102 days). 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 Open Rheumatology Journal?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: ≥ 6; Manuscript length: ≤ 6,000 words; Reference style: ACS; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not 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 Open Rheumatology Journal based?
Of the 12 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 3 (about 25%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (3), United States (2) and India (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Open Rheumatology Journal?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Open Rheumatology Journal is indexed in Scopus. The journal's website also lists Embase and CAS; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Open Rheumatology Journal open access, and what is the APC?
Open Rheumatology Journal is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 850.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .