Journal profile · RHEUMATOLOGY
RMD Open
ISSN 2056-5933 · BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP · ENGLAND
RMD Open: CAS Zone 2 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 5.2; fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 107 days to acceptance (112 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 20% (journal website); 250 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
RMD Open is published by BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP and is in Zone 2 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and Therapies, Spondyloarthritis Studies and Treatments and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Research, together about 53.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Rheumatology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Acceptance Rate:20%Time to first decision without review:1 days*Time to first decision with review:40 days*Acceptance to publication:22 days*Impact Factor (JCR):5.3Citescore:8.1More journal metricsHow we get these metrics*median number of days Aims & scope Editorial Board Ownership Journal information Journal Statistics 2025 Contact information For authors To advertise Rights and permissions Affiliations Related BMJ sites
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): RHEUMATOLOGY
Editor-in-chief João Eurico FonsecaPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and TherapiesMedicine28.3%
- Spondyloarthritis Studies and TreatmentsMedicine17.6%
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ResearchMedicine7.7%
- Autoimmune and Inflammatory Disorders ResearchMedicine6.1%
- Psoriasis: Treatment and PathogenesisImmunology and Microbiology4.3%
- Systemic Sclerosis and Related DiseasesMedicine4.3%
- Osteoarthritis Treatment and MechanismsMedicine3.2%
- Vasculitis and related conditionsMedicine3%
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 | Rheumatology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Rheumatology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Rheumatology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- 5.2LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 5.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 8.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.8LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.55LetPub ·
- h-index
- 87OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,160OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.11OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 221LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,160 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 220 | 220 | 93 |
| 2025 | 250 | 250 | 1,008 |
| 2024 | 306 | 306 | 2,865 |
| 2023 | 310 | 310 | 4,854 |
| 2022 | 244 | 244 | 4,909 |
| 2021 | 160 | 160 | 5,134 |
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
107 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 84 days – 134 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 29 days (115 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 139 days
- Sample
- 112 articles with submission and acceptance dates (537 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 14 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 20%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 22 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 | GBP 3,580 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | GBP 1,950 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 2,163 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | GBP 3,690 / GBP 1,240 | — | — |
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
- Keywords
- ≤ 5
Article types accepted8, with length limits
- clinical caseOriginal research Short report Clinical case Review Letter Editorial and Viewpoint SupplementsLength not stated
- editorialRMD Open adheres to the highest standards concerning its editorial policies on publication ethics and scientific misconduct. consent and peer review criteria. T…main text ≤ 1,500 words
- editorial and viewpointOriginal research Short report Clinical case Review Letter Editorial and Viewpoint SupplementsLength not stated
- letterShort clinical or laboratory observations (eg preliminary or confirmatory data) may be presented as a Letter. Letters are not divided into sections, while instr…main text ≤ 600 words
- original researchOriginal research Short report Clinical case Review Letter Editorial and Viewpoint SupplementsLength not stated
- reviewAlthough these are usually commissioned, authors are invited to discuss possible topics directly with the Editor. Research reviews that systematically synthesis…main text ≤ 5,000 words · abstract ≤ 250 words
- short reportOriginal research Short report Clinical case Review Letter Editorial and Viewpoint SupplementsLength not stated
- supplementsOriginal research Short report Clinical case Review Letter Editorial and Viewpoint SupplementsLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteConflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Peer review
- Conflicts of interest
Authors must disclose competing interests using the ICMJE Conflict of Interest disclosure form. Model summary
To make the best decision on how to deal with a manuscript RMD Open needs to know about any competing interests authors may have
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data sharing
RMD Open adheres to BMJ’s Tier 3 data policy. All research articles must contain a Data Availability Statement. Model summary
RMD Open adheres to BMJ’s Tier 3 data policy. We strongly encourage that data generated by your research that supports your article be made available as soon as possible, wherever legally and ethically possible.All research articles must contain a Data Availability Statement. For more information and FAQs, please see BMJ’s full Data Sharing Policy page.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
Authors are required to submit a statement that their study obtained ethics approval (or a statement that it was not required and why) and that participants gave informed consent. Model summary
Authors are required to submit a statement that their study obtained ethics approval (or a statement that it was not required and why) and that participants gave informed consent.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright and authors’ rights
As an open access journal, RMD Open adheres to the Budapest Open Access Initiative definition of open access.. Articles are published under an exclusive licence or non-exclusive licence for UK Crown employees or where BMJ has agreed CC BY applies. For US Federal Government officers or employees acting as part of their official duties, the terms are as stated in accordance with our licence terms. A…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Provenance and peer review
All articles submitted to RMD Open are subject to external peer review. The journal operates single anonymised peer review whereby the names of the reviewers are hidden from the author; usually two external reviewer reports are obtained before an Original research or Review article is accepted for p Model summary
Original research submissions to RMD Open are unsolicited, Editorials, Viewpoints and Review articles are predominantly commissioned. All articles submitted to RMD Open are subject to external peer review. The journal operates single anonymised peer review whereby the names of the reviewers are hidden from the author; usually two external reviewer reports are obtained before an Original research o…
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
- BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2056-5933
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- 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 RMD Open
What CAS zone is RMD Open in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, RMD Open is in Zone 2 of Medicine, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Rheumatology; it is a Top journal. 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 RMD Open?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.2; CiteScore 8.1, h-index 87.
How long does peer review take at RMD Open?
Based on the dates recorded on 112 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 107 days (interquartile range 84–134 days); authors report an average review time of about 14 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 20%. 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 RMD Open?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, RMD Open is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is RMD Open open access, and what is the APC?
RMD Open is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
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: .