Journal profile · REHABILITATION
South African Journal of Physiotherapy
ISSN 0379-6175 · eISSN 2410-8219 · AOSIS · South Africa
South African Journal of Physiotherapy: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 143 days to acceptance (60 articles, last 24 months); 31 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
South African Journal of Physiotherapy is published by AOSIS 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 Occupational Therapy Practice and Research, Human auditory perception and evaluation and Diverse Scientific and Economic Studies, together about 30.7% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The concluding article of our special collection, 'Beyond Skills: Reimagining Clinical Education for a Transformative Future,' guest edited by Dr Tania van der Merwe and Dr Tonderai Shumba, is now available! Explore ‘Beyond skills: Reimagining clinical education for a transformative future’ by Hellen Myezwa, Tania R van der Merwe and Tonderai W. Shumba and delve into the final insights on advancing scholarship on transformative approaches to clinical education that strengthen physiotherapy teaching, learning, and practice. Read it here: Beyond Skills: Reimagining Clinical Education for a Transformative Future. Thank you for following along and enjoying the complete collection! If you are interested in launching a special collection, please contact special-issues@aosis.co.za.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): REHABILITATION
Editor-in-chief Witness MudziPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named South Africa 19, Canada 2, Netherlands 1, Brazil 1, Saudi Arabia 1 (27 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Occupational Therapy Practice and ResearchHealth Professions10.3%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering10.3%
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance10.1%
- Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationMedicine8.4%
- Cerebral Palsy and Movement DisordersMedicine6.7%
- Educational Robotics and EngineeringComputer Science5.9%
- Stroke Rehabilitation and RecoveryMedicine4.8%
- Musculoskeletal Disorders and RehabilitationMedicine4.6%
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 | Rehabilitation | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Rehabilitation | 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
Web of SciencePMCEmbaseSciELOPublisher website
Other: EBSCO
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
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 1.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.47LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.75LetPub ·
- h-index
- 28OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 182OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.28OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 7.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 24LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,715 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 35 | 35 | 2 |
| 2025 | 31 | 31 | 31 |
| 2024 | 36 | 36 | 98 |
| 2023 | 42 | 42 | 168 |
| 2022 | 46 | 46 | 266 |
| 2021 | 55 | 55 | 434 |
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
143 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 117 days – 159 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 70 days (60 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 213 days
- Sample
- 60 articles with submission and acceptance dates (68 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 30 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 30 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 | ZAR 13,690 | No | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | ZAR 8,000 | — | — | |
| LetPub | ZAR 10,880 | No | — |
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 prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- 8
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 5,500 words
- Reference style
- Harvard
- Highlights
- Optional
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Disclosure of AI-assisted technologies
Authors using AI-assisted technology must disclose their use in manuscripts Model summary
The Acknowledgements section must include a clear statement disclosing any use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies (e.g., for data analysis, dataset or artefact creation) in conducting the research. This statement should: Be specific by naming the exact AI tool(s) used. State the purpose of the tool’s use, such as artefact creation or data analysis. Disclose human oversight by confirming …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Disclosure of contributors not qualifying for authorship
The acknowledgement section includes listing those who contributed to the work but did not meet authorship criteria, with the corresponding description of the contribution. Acknowledge anyone who provided intellectual assistance, technical help (incl. editing), or special equipment and/or materials. Authors are responsible for ensuring that anyone named in the Acknowledgements agrees to be named. …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Disclosures
Authors are required to disclose any prior dissemination of the manuscript content. This includes, but is not limited to: Thesis-based work (e.g., master's or doctoral theses). Preprint versions that are published on open repositories. Refer to our Frequently Asked Questions: Questions from Authors - Preprints. Conference papers or presentations that were expanded into an article. Additionally, au…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statement
All research articles should have a data availability statement included in the manuscript in the form of a sentence under a separate heading entitled ‘Data availability statement’. The following are examples of a data availability statement. If you use one of the examples, you should modify it to fit your specific relationship. Availability of data Suggested data availability statements Example 1…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright
Authors retain copyright. Model summary
The author(s) retain copyright on work published by AOSIS unless specified otherwise.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access OPEN ACCESS
Open access under CC BY 4.0. Model summary
All articles published in this journal are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, unless otherwise stated.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Double-blinded peer review; authors must anonymise manuscripts. Model summary
The journal follows a double-blinded peer-review process, and you need to make your manuscript anonymous.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Disclosure of preprint-based content
Scenario Suggested preprint-based disclosures Example 1 A preprint version of this work was previously published on [Preprint Server Name] ([DOI or link]), and we acknowledge its role in shaping the final article. Example 2 – preprint feedback incorporated in the final manuscript We acknowledge the initial version of this work published as a preprint on [Preprint Server Name] ([DOI or link]). Feed…
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
- AOSIS
- Country or region
- South Africa
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 0379-6175
- Electronic ISSN
- 2410-8219
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about South African Journal of Physiotherapy
What CAS zone is South African Journal of Physiotherapy in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, South African Journal of Physiotherapy is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Rehabilitation. 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.
How long does peer review take at South African Journal of Physiotherapy?
Based on the dates recorded on 60 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 143 days (interquartile range 117–159 days); authors report an average review time of about 30 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 South African Journal of Physiotherapy?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: 8; Manuscript length: ≤ 5,500 words; Reference style: Harvard; Highlights: Optional; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: Required. 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 South African Journal of Physiotherapy based?
Of the 27 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are South Africa (19), Canada (2) and Netherlands (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index South African Journal of Physiotherapy?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, South African Journal of Physiotherapy is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, PMC, Embase and SciELO; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is South African Journal of Physiotherapy open access, and what is the APC?
South African Journal of Physiotherapy 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .