Journal profile · Medicine-Rehabilitation
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open
ISSN 2665-9131 · Elsevier · United Kingdom
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2026 Xinrui edition); impact factor 2.9 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 1,850; median 135 days to acceptance (94 articles, last 24 months); 157 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open is published by Elsevier and is classed under Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Osteoarthritis Treatment and Mechanisms, Total Knee Arthroplasty Outcomes and Knee injuries and reconstruction techniques, together about 61.8% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open is the official open access journal of the Osteoarthritis Research Society International, and a companion title to the respected Osteoarthritis and Cartilage.Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open is an international, fully peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal. It publishes findings from the basic, translational and clinical sciences in all fields of research of relevance to osteoarthritis, cartilage, and intervertebral disc. It also accepts clinical study protocols and manuscripts describing the large data sets obtained from experimental or clinical studies.The Journal fosters the cross-fertilization of findings from both the basic and clinical sciences of the various disciplines involved, including, but not limited to:Osteoarthritis.Cartilage and subchondral bone.Intervertebral disc.Tendons, ligaments and other musculoskeletal tissues.Molecular biology.Clinical pharmacology.Orthopaedics and traumatology.Rheumatology.Physical medicine.Biochemistry.Epidemiology.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medicine-Rehabilitation
Editor-in-chief Henning MadryPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 3%); most named United States 26, Germany 8, Australia 5, United Kingdom 3, France 3 (72 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Osteoarthritis Treatment and MechanismsMedicine37.3%
- Total Knee Arthroplasty OutcomesMedicine17.3%
- Knee injuries and reconstruction techniquesMedicine7.2%
- Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and TherapiesMedicine6.1%
- Lower Extremity Biomechanics and PathologiesEngineering4.1%
- Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationMedicine3.1%
- Bone and Joint DiseasesMedicine2.2%
- Pain Mechanisms and TreatmentsMedicine2%
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)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Orthopedics | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Rheumatology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
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 (publisher)
- 2.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 4.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.88LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.05LetPub ·
- h-index
- 29OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 184OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 136LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 766 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 134 | 134 | 24 |
| 2025 | 157 | 157 | 503 |
| 2024 | 119 | 119 | 703 |
| 2023 | 82 | 82 | 773 |
| 2022 | 88 | 88 | 981 |
| 2021 | 84 | 84 | 974 |
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
135 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 96 days – 183 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 6 days (94 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 147 days
- Sample
- 94 articles with submission and acceptance dates (315 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 15 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 119 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 7 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 19 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 1,850 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,610 / EUR 1,510 / GBP 1,290 / JPY 199,690 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 1,400 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 1,400 / USD 768 / USD 960 | — | — |
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 prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 3
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 3,000 words
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
Article types accepted8, with length limits
- brief report of original research1.2 Brief report of original researchLength not stated
- editorialdates or changes in editorial policies. Editorials should be no longer than 1500 words with a maximum of 2 figures and/or tables and 15 referencesmain text ≤ 1,500 words
- full length original research article1.1 Full length original research articleLength not stated
- letter to the editor1.6 Letter to the editorLength not stated
- narrative reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analyses1.5 Narrative Reviews, Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses'Length not stated
- original research articleilage 2011;19:1079-80. 1.1. Full length original research article Full length original articles should amount to no more than 4000 words, 8 figures and tables, …main text ≤ 4,000 words
- protocollts - a description of the Experimental Protocol/Discussion and should not exceed 3000 words. 1.3.2 Clinical Protocols Clinical Protocols should includemain text ≤ 3,000 words
- protocols1.3 ProtocolsLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- AI use 1.9.11 Declaration of Generative AI in scientific writing
The below guidance only refers to the writing process, and not to the use of AI tools to analyse and draw insights from data as part of the research process. Where authors use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, authors should only use these technologies to improve readability and language. Applying the technology should be done with human o…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Changes to authorship
The editors of this journal generally will not consider changes to authorship once a manuscript has been submitted. It is important that authors carefully consider the authorship list and order of authors and provide a definitive author list at original submission. The policy of this journal around authorship changes: All authors must be listed in the manuscript and their details entered into the …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest 1.9.10 Competing interests
At the end of the manuscript text, under a subheading "Competing interest statement" every author must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could potentially and inappropriately influence (bias) their work and conclusions. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testi…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Supplementary data accepted Model summary
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open now accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Scientific misconduct
The Editor in Chief of Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open considers very seriously all possible forms of misconduct. We follow guidance and definitions provided by e.g. the Committee on Publication Ethics (http://publicationethics.org/) the World Association of Medical Editors (http://www.wame.org/) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (http://www.icmje.org/). Submitte…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright
Permissions required Model summary
If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
Article Publishing Charge (APC): USD 2,450 (excluding taxes). Review this journal’s open access policy.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review 5. PEER REVIEW
Editorial team peer review Model summary
This Journal operates a single blind review process. All manuscripts submitted to Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open are peer reviewed, internally and or externally. A significant proportion of the submitted articles are rejected after a first review by the Editor-in-chief for reasons of insufficient originality, scientific flaws, or an absence of message important to the readers of the Journal. Th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines
CONSORT guidelines for RCTs Model summary
All randomized controlled trials submitted for publication in the journal should follow the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guidelines, and include a completed CONSORT flow chart as a manuscript figure.
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
- Elsevier
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2665-9131
- Society / sponsor
- Osteoarthritis Research Society International
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open
What CAS zone is Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open in?
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 Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 2.9; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 4.1, h-index 29.
How long does peer review take at Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open?
Based on the dates recorded on 94 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 135 days (interquartile range 96–183 days); authors report an average review time of about 15 weeks. 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 Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: ≥ 3; Manuscript length: ≤ 3,000 words; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation. 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 Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open based?
Of the 72 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 3%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (26), Germany (8) and Australia (5). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open open access, and what is the APC?
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,850.
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: .