Journal profile · Medicine-Health Policy
Public Health in Practice
ISSN 2666-5352 · Elsevier · United Kingdom
Public Health in Practice: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.2 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 2,270; median 130 days to acceptance (103 articles, last 24 months); 137 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Public Health in Practice is published by Elsevier 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 Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy, COVID-19 and Mental Health and COVID-19 epidemiological studies, together about 26.7% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Putting research into actionPublic Health in Practice is an international, peer-reviewed, gold open access journal that seeks to improve the health of the public through high-quality actionable evidence. The journal aims to publish international articles focused on the art of translating and implementing public health evidence into practice. Research does not end once results are published. That is just the beginning. Translating research findings or policy to a local context and implementing findings is how we learn about what works and what doesn't. This learning refines our thinking and working practices and will lead to even better research questions, practice and ultimately public health.The journal will publish robust and ethically sound articles of any study type whereby the focus is consistent with our aim. This includes but is not limited to:• Public health practice and impact • Evaluation of public health policy, programmes or interventions • Implementation of programmes or interventions to improve health and/or reduce health inequalities • Community engagement to address public health issues • Improvement of health, social care services/support and wider determinant services such as education, welfare, employment services to improve public health • Knowledge translation • Applied epidemiology • Health protection including control of communicable diseases • Prevention of ill health • Action across the wider determinants to improve health and/or reduce health inequalities.Our five core values are: inclusive, multidisciplinary, innovative, international and efficient.The target market of the journal is researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who are engaged in in translating public health evidence into practice.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medicine-Health Policy
Editor-in-chief John FordPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 9%); most named United Kingdom 15, Mainland China 2, Nigeria 2, Hong Kong, China 1, Greece 1 (22 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Vaccine Coverage and HesitancySocial Sciences10.1%
- COVID-19 and Mental HealthPsychology8.4%
- COVID-19 epidemiological studiesMathematics8.1%
- Global Maternal and Child HealthMedicine6%
- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchMedicine5.1%
- Health disparities and outcomesSocial Sciences4.7%
- Health Policy Implementation ScienceHealth Professions4.4%
- Public Health Policies and EducationHealth Professions4.4%
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 | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | Zone 4 |
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)
- 2.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.68LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.77LetPub ·
- h-index
- 35OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 198OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.24OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 122LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 878 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 157 | 157 | 36 |
| 2025 | 137 | 137 | 314 |
| 2024 | 117 | 117 | 570 |
| 2023 | 107 | 107 | 585 |
| 2022 | 129 | 129 | 1,205 |
| 2021 | 148 | 148 | 2,178 |
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
130 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 95 days – 178 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 1 days (103 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 131 days
- Sample
- 103 articles with submission and acceptance dates (328 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 8 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 43 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 147 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 208 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 2 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 33 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double 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 2,270 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 2,060 / EUR 1,930 / GBP 1,650 / JPY 255,500 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 1,700 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 2,730 | — | — |
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 papers1, by deadline
- Work, Welfare and HealthDeadline
What to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 300 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 3
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 3,000 words
Article types accepted7, with length limits
- commentarywords (no tables/figures). Commissioned commentaries which have been requested or discussed with the editorial team should be up to 3,000 words. Study Protocols…main text ≤ 3,000 words
- letterReaders are encouraged to submit Letters to the Editors that respond to previously published articles.Authors will be given the opportunity to comment and respo…main text ≤ 750 words
- narrative reviewNarrative Review papers will be considered by Public Health in Practice. Whilst no formal guidelines for such reviews exist, authors should be very clear in wha…main text ≤ 3,000 words
- original research papered commentary Up to 3000 Up to 5 30 Yes Original Research Papers should be clear, precise and logical and should not normally exceed 3,000 words. Original resea…main text ≤ 3,000 words
- protocolematic reviews, scoping reviews). Study protocols may be up to 3000 words with 5 tables/figures. Formatting Details Titles The purposmain text ≤ 3,000 words
- reviewness of undertaking a narrative review. Review papers should not normally exceed 3000 words. Reviews can include up to five tables/figures. Please follmain text ≤ 3,000 words
- short communicationot warrant publication as a full paper. Short communications should be approximately no more than 1500 words in length and provide adequate information to allow…main text ≤ 1,500 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints
- AI use 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 ov…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship
All authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following: (1) the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, (3) final approval of the version to be submitted.
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 (bias) their work. Examples of potential competing interests include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Authors must disclose any interests as a summary d…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
Article Publishing Charge (APC): USD 2,730 (excluding taxes). Review this journal’s open access policy.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review
Double blind peer review process Model summary
This journal operates a double blind review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the Editor-in-Chief or Associate Editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper (unless otherwise stated in the Article types section). The Editorial team is respon…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract, a published lecture or academic thesis, see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible aut…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprints can be shared anywhere at any time Model summary
Please note that preprints can be shared anywhere at any time, in line with Elsevier's sharing policy. Sharing your preprints e.g. on a preprint server will not count as prior publication (see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information).
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
- 2666-5352
- 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 Public Health in Practice
What CAS zone is Public Health in Practice in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Public Health in Practice is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Public, Environmental & Occupational Health. 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 Public Health in Practice?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 2.2; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 3.5, h-index 35.
How long does peer review take at Public Health in Practice?
Based on the dates recorded on 103 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 130 days (interquartile range 95–178 days); authors report an average review time of about 8 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 Public Health in Practice?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 300 words; Keywords: ≥ 3; Manuscript length: ≤ 3,000 words. 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 Public Health in Practice based?
Of the 22 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 9%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (15), Mainland China (2) and Nigeria (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Public Health in Practice?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Public Health in Practice is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Public Health in Practice open access, and what is the APC?
Public Health in Practice is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,270.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .