Journal profile · CLINICAL NEUROLOGY
Scandinavian Journal of Pain
ISSN 1877-8860 · eISSN 1877-8879 · Elsevier · Germany
Scandinavian Journal of Pain: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.6 (journal website); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 153 days to acceptance (90 articles, last 24 months); 46 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Scandinavian Journal of Pain 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 Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation, Pain Mechanisms and Treatments and Pain Management and Opioid Use, together about 46.6% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
About this journal SJPAIN became an Open Access Journal from 2024 Any new submissions made to the journal after the 10th of December 2023 will be published Open Access under a CC-BY License and will be subject to an Article Processing charge, if they are accepted for publication. Further information can be found on the submit tab. For any queries relating to the change to Open Access, please contact the SJPAIN editorial office ObjectiveThe Scandinavian countries have a long and distinguished tradition of excellent scientific and medical contributions to pain research. Following this tradition, the Scandinavian Journal of Pain (SJPAIN) has been publishing internationally relevant articles on all aspects of pain since 2010. The journal is the official organ of the Scandinavian Association for the Study of Pain and serves as a comprehensive forum for original research on the nature of pain, pain mechanisms, and pain management. In order to bring pain-researchers and pain-clinicians up-to-date on important issues, the journal also encourages submissions of topical reviews. Topics Clinical Sciences: Acute Pain Clinical Sciences: Cancer-related pain Clinical Sciences: Chronic Pain Clinical Sciences: Neuropathic Pain Epidemiology, Omics and Economics of Pain Experimental Pain Methods, Measurements and Biostatistics Neurobiology, Pharmacology and Basic Science Nursing and Pain Management Psychology of Pain and Pain Management Article formatsOriginal articles (basic and clinical research), comprehensive systematic and topical reviews, hypothesis-generating case-reports and observational studies, short communications, letters to the Editor Your Benefits If you would like to hand in a paper, consult our instructions for authors and submit your manuscript online at: http://www.editorialmanager.com/sjpain.Benefits: Broad and stimulating approach to pain-related researchPublication of editorial comments that put research papers into contextHigh quality single-blind peer-reviewInternational and renowned editorial boardIf you have questions please contact SJPAIN's Editorial Office at: sjpain.editorial@degruyter.comFollow @ScandJPain on Twitter! Scandinavian Association for the Study of PainSASP 2026Anniversary Conference: 50 Years of Pain Science Networking in the Nordic CountriesPain and the EnvironmentRefresher course: May 20, 2026Conference: May 21-22, 2026Website: https://www.saspconference.com/Program: https://www.saspconference.com/programmeThe Scandinavian Associat
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): CLINICAL NEUROLOGY
Editor-in-chief Mads WernerPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationMedicine20.8%
- Pain Mechanisms and TreatmentsMedicine16.4%
- Pain Management and Opioid UseMedicine9.5%
- Pediatric Pain Management TechniquesMedicine6.9%
- Anesthesia and Pain ManagementMedicine6.6%
- Pain Management and Placebo EffectNeuroscience6.5%
- Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ResearchMedicine6.3%
- Pain Management and TreatmentMedicine4.7%
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 | Clinical Neurology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Clinical Neurology | 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
Indexing the journal's website claims
EBSCO, ProQuest, Baidu, OCLCPublisher website
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 (publisher)
- 1.6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.62LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.73LetPub ·
- h-index
- 54OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 505OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.75OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 83.12%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 39LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,637 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 41 | 41 | 6 |
| 2025 | 46 | 46 | 51 |
| 2024 | 74 | 74 | 225 |
| 2023 | 53 | 40 | 287 |
| 2022 | 83 | 58 | 737 |
| 2021 | 101 | 69 | 991 |
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
153 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 106 days – 205 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 47 days (90 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 216 days
- Sample
- 90 articles with submission and acceptance dates (94 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 26 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 40 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 2,000 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | EUR 2,000 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | EUR 2,000 | — | — |
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access
- Open access Open Access
Scandinavian Journal of Pain became an Open Access Journal from 2024 onwards.
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
- Germany
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1877-8860
- Electronic ISSN
- 1877-8879
- Society / sponsor
- Scandinavian Association for the Study of Pain
- 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 Scandinavian Journal of Pain
What CAS zone is Scandinavian Journal of Pain in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Scandinavian Journal of Pain is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Clinical Neurology. 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 Scandinavian Journal of Pain?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.6; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 3.9, h-index 54.
How long does peer review take at Scandinavian Journal of Pain?
Based on the dates recorded on 90 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 153 days (interquartile range 106–205 days); authors report an average review time of about 26 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.
Which databases index Scandinavian Journal of Pain?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Scandinavian Journal of Pain is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Scandinavian Journal of Pain open access, and what is the APC?
Scandinavian Journal of Pain is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website, 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: .