Journal profile · Medicine, Research & Experimental
Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
ISSN 1750-1172 · BioMed Central · ENGLAND · Irregular · Founded 2006
Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases: CAS Zone 2 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.6; fully open access; APC about USD 3,090; median 182 days to acceptance (129 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: moderate; 663 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases is published by BioMed Central 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 Genomics and Rare Diseases, Lysosomal Storage Disorders Research and Metabolism and Genetic Disorders, together about 34.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Genetics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that encompasses all aspects of rare diseases and orphan drugs. The journal publishes high-quality reviews on specific rare diseases. In addition, the journal may consider articles on clinical trial outcome reports, either positive or negative, and articles on public health issues in the field of rare diseases and orphan drugs. The journal does not accept case reports which do not present clinical or pathological findings that can provide information about the mechanisms of a disease. Case reports which just present phenotype information, should not be considered.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medicine, Research & Experimental
Editor-in-chief Francesc PalauPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Genomics and Rare DiseasesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology15.1%
- Lysosomal Storage Disorders ResearchMedicine11.7%
- Metabolism and Genetic DisordersBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology8.1%
- Glycogen Storage Diseases and MyoclonusMedicine6.1%
- Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of LifeEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.6%
- Connective tissue disorders researchBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.2%
- Neurogenetic and Muscular Disorders ResearchMedicine4%
- Mitochondrial Function and PathologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology3.7%
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 | Genetics & Heredity | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Medicine, Research & Experimental | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Genetics & Heredity | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Medicine, Research & Experimental | Zone 3 |
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 | Genetics & Heredity | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Medicine, Research & Experimental | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEEmbaseCASPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS, Semantic Scholar
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
- 3.6LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.22LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.74LetPub ·
- h-index
- 87LetPub ·
- h-index
- 182OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 3,060OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.35OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 630LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 6,000,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 5,498 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 441 | 441 | 127 |
| 2025 | 663 | 663 | 1,847 |
| 2024 | 496 | 496 | 3,378 |
| 2023 | 395 | 395 | 5,170 |
| 2022 | 453 | 453 | 8,767 |
| 2021 | 524 | 524 | 12,474 |
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
182 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 120 days – 264 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 20 days (129 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 222 days
- Sample
- 129 articles with submission and acceptance dates (1,237 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)
- 4–8 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- ModerateLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 41 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 | EUR 2,590 / USD 3,090 / GBP 2,290 | Yes | CC BY, CC0 | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,990 / EUR 2,490 / GBP 2,190 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 2,090 / USD 2,890 / EUR 2,390 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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)
Open calls for papers3, by deadline
Publisher websiteExcerpts 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
- BioMed Central
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Irregular
- Founded
- 2006
- ISSN
- 1750-1172
- Society / sponsor
- Orphanet
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- 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 Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
What CAS zone is Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases is in Zone 2 of Medicine, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Genetics & Heredity / Medicine, Research & Experimental. 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 Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.6; CiteScore 5.5, h-index 182.
How long does peer review take at Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases?
Based on the dates recorded on 129 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 182 days (interquartile range 120–264 days); authors report an average review time of 4–8 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Moderate”. 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.
Which databases index Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, Embase and CAS; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases open access, and what is the APC?
Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,090.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, Publisher website; 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: .