Journal profile · Medicine, General & Internal
PRIMARY CARE
ISSN 0095-4543 · eISSN 1558-299X · W.B. Saunders Ltd · UNITED STATES · Quarterly · Founded 1974
PRIMARY CARE: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.79; subscription journal; APC about USD 3,500; review over 12 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: easy; 86 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
PRIMARY CARE is published by W.B. Saunders Ltd 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 Diverse Scientific and Economic Studies, Legal case studies and regulations and Legal Cases and Commentary, together about 23.7% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice updates you on the latest trends in patient management, keeps you up to date on the newest advances, and provides a sound basis for choosing treatment options. Each quarterly issue (March, June, September, and December) focuses on a single topic in primary care. Topics covered include allergy and immunology, cardiology, adolescent health, endocrinology, ENT, gastroenterology, geriatrics, hematology/oncology, infectious disease, gynecology and women's health, nephrology, neurology, orthopedics/sports medicine, pediatrics, preventive medicine, psychiatry, rheumatology, and urology.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medicine, General & Internal
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 3 (3 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance10.1%
- Legal case studies and regulationsSocial Sciences7.2%
- Legal Cases and CommentaryMedicine6.4%
- Primary Care and Health OutcomesHealth Professions5.4%
- Obesity, Physical Activity, DietMedicine5%
- Diabetes Management and ResearchMedicine4.1%
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine StudiesMedicine4%
- Palliative Care and End-of-Life IssuesMedicine3.9%
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 | Medicine, General & Internal | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Primary Health Care | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: yes
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Primary Health Care | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Medicine, General & Internal | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Medicine, General & Internal | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Primary Health Care | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: yes
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
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
- 3.79LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 4.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 7.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.24LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.76LetPub ·
- h-index
- 40LetPub ·
- h-index
- 83OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,037OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.55OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 2.63%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 55LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,707 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 56 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025 | 86 | 3 | 76 |
| 2024 | 75 | 6 | 261 |
| 2023 | 93 | 8 | 968 |
| 2022 | 78 | 6 | 1,417 |
| 2021 | 63 | 3 | 780 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 53 daysPublisher 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
Subscription journalLetPub
A subscription journal: articles are read by subscription or purchase, and authors usually pay no publication charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,500 / EUR 3,060 / GBP 2,750 / JPY 376,130 | — | — |
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 prepare1 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
Article types accepted1
- reviewThe Clinics and Advances review article journals publish high-quality, invited review content on a bi-monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Each journal’s editori…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Publication ethics, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI use
Authors must declare the use of generative AI tools in the manuscript preparation process upon submission of the paper.Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI tools”) have been rapidly adopted in research and scholarly publishing, offering significant benefits while requiring clear standards for responsible and transparent use.Authors preparing a manuscript for this journal may use AI tool…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship
Preferred max 4 authors; all authors should have degrees (no students). Model summary
By adhering to the authorship requirements stated above, authors meet the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) criteria [updated version January 2024] on authorship.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interests
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential competing interests include:EmploymentConsultanciesStock ownershipHonorariaPaid expert testimonyPatent applications or registrationsGrants or any other fundingAffiliation with the journal as an Editor or Advisory Board …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
Authors must follow Elsevier's Publishing Ethics Policy. Model summary
Authors must follow ethical guidelines stated in Elsevier's Publishing Ethics Policy.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Submission by invitation only; unsolicited submissions not accepted. Model summary
Please note that authorship in the Clinics is by invitation only. We do not accept unsolicited submissions.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprint sharing allowed; does not count as prior publication. Model summary
Preprint sharingAuthors may share preprints in line with Elsevier's article sharing policy. Sharing preprints, such as on a preprint server, will not count as prior publication.We advise you to read our policy on multiple, redundant or concurrent publication.
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
- W.B. Saunders Ltd
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 1974
- ISSN
- 0095-4543
- Electronic ISSN
- 1558-299X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about PRIMARY CARE
What CAS zone is PRIMARY CARE in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, PRIMARY CARE is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Medicine, General & Internal / Primary Health Care. 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 PRIMARY CARE?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.79; CiteScore 7.2, h-index 83.
How long does peer review take at PRIMARY CARE?
Authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”. 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 PRIMARY CARE based?
Of the 3 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index PRIMARY CARE?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, PRIMARY CARE is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is PRIMARY CARE open access, and what is the APC?
PRIMARY CARE is a subscription journal. APC about USD 3,500.
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: .