Journal profile · SOCIAL SCIENCES, BIOMEDICAL
Social Theory & Health
ISSN 1477-8211 · eISSN 1477-822X · Springer Nature · 4 issues per year
Social Theory & Health: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.26; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,090; review about 21 days (submission to first decision, publisher); 30 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Social Theory & Health is published by Springer Nature 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 Mental Health and Patient Involvement, Mental Health and Psychiatry and Health disparities and outcomes, together about 29.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are General Health Professions. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Social Theory & Health provides an international scholarly forum for theoretical reflection and debate on contemporary health issues, many of which bear directly on the planning and delivery of services. The journal aims to consolidate, refine and extend theoretically informed work on the role of health in modern societies. Interest in issues of theory and health now informs many academic and practice-oriented disciplines and crosses discipline boundaries. The Editors encourage contributions from all relevant disciplines. Contributions from the global south are particularly welcome. The journal aims to include contributions from all theoretical perspectives.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): SOCIAL SCIENCES, BIOMEDICAL
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 12, United States 2, India 1, Australia 1, Sweden 1 (19 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Mental Health and Patient InvolvementHealth Professions12.4%
- Mental Health and PsychiatryArts and Humanities8.7%
- Health disparities and outcomesSocial Sciences8%
- Employment and Welfare StudiesHealth Professions7.4%
- Obesity and Health PracticesHealth Professions7%
- Empathy and Medical EducationMedicine5.5%
- Historical Psychiatry and Medical PracticesPsychology4.4%
- Global Public Health Policies and EpidemiologyBusiness, Management and Accounting3.9%
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 | Social Sciences, Biomedical | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Biomedical | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Biomedical | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEPsycINFOPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
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
- 2.26LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.3Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.9LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.59LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.28LetPub ·
- h-index
- 52OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 279OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.89OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 8.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 59.62%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 29LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 166,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 566 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 20 | 15 | 6 |
| 2025 | 30 | 20 | 28 |
| 2024 | 15 | 9 | 154 |
| 2023 | 9 | 7 | 57 |
| 2022 | 17 | 11 | 125 |
| 2021 | 21 | 13 | 156 |
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 Crossref · to
Too few articlesOnly 5 articles from the last 24 months carry both submission and acceptance dates, too few for a median
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".
Figures by source
- Submission to first decision
- 21 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher 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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,090 / EUR 2,490 / GBP 2,190 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
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
- 150–200 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteLicense & copyright, Open access, Self-archiving
- License & copyright Copyright and Permissions
Using third-party material in your articleAuthors are responsible for ensuring that any third-party material (e.g. figures, tables, photos, illustrations, trade literature, or data) is not used without permission. If such material is copyrighted, permission must be obtained and submitted with the final manuscript. The Editor and Publisher must be informed of any restricted-use content at submissio…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access & Self Archiving
Self-archiving (green open access)Where articles are published via the subscription route, authors are permitted to self-archive the accepted manuscript (the version post-peer review, but prior to copy-editing and typesetting) on their own personal website and/or in their funder or institutional repositories, for public release after an embargo period of 12 months after first publication.Learn mor…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving Open Access & Self Archiving
Self-archiving (green open access)Where articles are published via the subscription route, authors are permitted to self-archive the accepted manuscript (the version post-peer review, but prior to copy-editing and typesetting) on their own personal website and/or in their funder or institutional repositories, for public release after an embargo period of 12 months after first publication.Learn mor…
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
- Springer Nature
- Frequency
- 4 issues per year
- ISSN
- 1477-8211
- Electronic ISSN
- 1477-822X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Social Theory & Health
What CAS zone is Social Theory & Health in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Social Theory & Health is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Social Sciences, Biomedical. 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 Social Theory & Health?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.26; CiteScore 2.9, h-index 52.
How long does peer review take at Social Theory & Health?
The publisher reports about 21 days (submission to first decision); first decisions include desk rejections. 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 Social Theory & Health based?
Of the 19 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (12), United States (2) and India (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Social Theory & Health?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Social Theory & Health is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE and PsycINFO; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Social Theory & Health open access, and what is the APC?
Social Theory & Health is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,090.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website; 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: .