Journal profile · DENTISTRY, ORAL SURGERY & MEDICINE
Special Care in Dentistry
ISSN 0275-1879 · eISSN 1754-4505 · Wiley-Blackwell
Special Care in Dentistry: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.4 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,240; median 147 days to acceptance (103 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 26% (journal website); 148 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Special Care in Dentistry is published by Wiley-Blackwell 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 Dental Health and Care Utilization, Oral microbiology and periodontitis research and Dental Education, Practice, Research, together about 46% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The mission of Special Care in Dentistry is to provide a forum for research findings, case reports, clinical techniques, and scholarly discussion relevant to the oral health and oral health care of patients with special needs. The designation of the patient with special needs is not limited to hospitalized, disabled or older individuals, but includes all patients with special needs for whom oral health and oral health care are complicated by physical, emotional, financial and/or access factors.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): DENTISTRY, ORAL SURGERY & MEDICINE
Editor-in-chief Pedro Diz DiosPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 9, Spain 2, Ireland 2, India 1, Belgium 1 (18 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Dental Health and Care UtilizationDentistry27.5%
- Oral microbiology and periodontitis researchDentistry12.5%
- Dental Education, Practice, ResearchHealth Professions6.1%
- Dental Research and COVID-19Dentistry5.7%
- Dental Anxiety and Anesthesia TechniquesDentistry5.2%
- Oral health in cancer treatmentMedicine4.3%
- HIV/AIDS oral health manifestationsMedicine3%
- Oral and gingival health researchHealth Professions3%
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 | Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine | 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
ESCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceMEDLINEPubMedPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest
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)
- 1.4Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.36LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.63LetPub ·
- h-index
- 70OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 989OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.33OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 14.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 30.86%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 111LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 135Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 185,965Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,714 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 140 | 88 | 22 |
| 2025 | 148 | 87 | 151 |
| 2024 | 146 | 78 | 406 |
| 2023 | 147 | 80 | 596 |
| 2022 | 136 | 32 | 689 |
| 2021 | 137 | 29 | 928 |
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
147 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 97 days – 248 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 16 days (103 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 168 days
- Sample
- 103 articles with submission and acceptance dates (304 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
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 26%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 26%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 18 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 18 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 112 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 14 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 3,240 / EUR 2,670 / GBP 2,160 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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 prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 200 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 3,500 words
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
Article types accepted11, with length limits
- case history reportCase History Report - case reports should be concise and do not need to be as formally structured as scientific articles.Length not stated
- case reportOriginal Papers - reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge (3500 word limit). Review articles -…Length not stated
- letters to the editorOriginal Papers - reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge (3500 word limit). Review articles -…main text ≤ 1,000 words
- literature reviewOriginal Papers - reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge (3500 word limit). Review articles -…Length not stated
- original paperOriginal Papers - reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge (3500 word limit). Review articles -…Length not stated
- original papersOriginal Papers - reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge (3500 word limit).Length not stated
- reviewOriginal Papers - reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge (3500 word limit). Review articles -…Length not stated
- review articleOriginal Papers - reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge (3500 word limit). Review articles -…Length not stated
- review articlesReview articles - articles of special interest and those entailing an update on any of the topics identified as subjects for this journal will be considered (35…Length not stated
- systematic reviewOriginal Papers - reports of new research findings or conceptual analyses that make a significant contribution to knowledge (3500 word limit). Review articles -…Length not stated
- systematic review articlesSystematic review articles - systematic review is a review of published literature addressing a specific research question.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, Peer review, Plagiarism, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Authorship Authorship
The list of authors should accurately illustrate who contributed to the work and how. All those listed as authors should qualify for authorship according to the following criteria:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of Interest Statement
Authors will be asked to provide a conflict of interest statement during the submission process. For details on what to include in this section, see the ‘Conflict of Interest’ section in the Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations section below. Submitting authors should ensure they liaise with all co-authors to confirm agreement with the final statement.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Data sharing encouraged Model summary
Special Care in Dentistry encourages data sharing wherever possible, unless this is prevented by ethical, privacy, or confidentiality matters.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics
COPE member Model summary
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Note this journal uses iThenticate’s CrossCheck software to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. Read Wiley’s Top 10 Publishing Ethics Tips for Authors here. Wiley’s Publication Ethics Guidelines can be found here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review 1. Submission and Peer Review Process
Double-blind peer review Model summary
New submissions should be made via the Wiley Authors submission portal https://authors.wiley.com/journal/SCD. Should your manuscript proceed to the revision stage, you will be directed to make your revisions via the same submission portal. You may check the status of your submission at anytime by logging on to submission.wiley.com and clicking the “My Submissions” button. For technical help with t…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism
iThenticate CrossCheck Model summary
Note this journal uses iThenticate’s CrossCheck software to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical Trial Registration
The journal requires that clinical trials are prospectively registered in a publicly accessible database and clinical trial registration numbers should be included in all papers that report their results. Authors are asked to include the name of the trial register and the clinical trial registration number at the end of the abstract. If the trial is not registered, or was registered retrospectivel…
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
- Wiley-Blackwell
- ISSN
- 0275-1879
- Electronic ISSN
- 1754-4505
- Society / sponsor
- Special Care Dentistry Association
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 46, Issue 5 (October 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Special Care in Dentistry
What CAS zone is Special Care in Dentistry in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Special Care in Dentistry is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Dentistry, Oral Surgery & Medicine. 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 Special Care in Dentistry?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.4 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 2.1, h-index 70.
How long does peer review take at Special Care in Dentistry?
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 147 days (interquartile range 97–248 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 26% (2025). 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 Special Care in Dentistry?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 200 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 3,500 words; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not 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 Special Care in Dentistry based?
Of the 18 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (9), Spain (2) and Ireland (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Special Care in Dentistry?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Special Care in Dentistry is indexed in ESCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, MEDLINE and PubMed; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Special Care in Dentistry open access, and what is the APC?
Special Care in Dentistry is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,240.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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: .