Journal profile · SURGERY
Spine Surgery and Related Research
ISSN 2432-261X · The Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research · Japan
Spine Surgery and Related Research: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.6 (journal website); diamond open access (no APC); no APC; median 51 days to acceptance (98 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 23% (journal website); 96 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Spine Surgery and Related Research is published by The Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research 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 Spine and Intervertebral Disc Pathology, Cervical and Thoracic Myelopathy and Spinal Fractures and Fixation Techniques, together about 53.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Surgery. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Spine Surgery and Related Research (SSRR), an official open-access journal of the Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research (JSSR), is an international, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal directed to spine physicians and scientists. SSRR publishes original articles in the form of basic, clinical, and translational research on anatomy, pathophysiology, biomechanics, diagnosis, medical and surgical treatments related to spine and spinal cord. SSRR accepts review articles from evidence-based perspective including systematic review, suggestive technical notes, and rare clinical cases. The Journal is published bi-monthly (January, March, May, July, September and November). SSRR requires that all manuscripts be prepared in accordance with the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): SURGERY
Editor-in-chief Yoshiharu KawaguchiPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Japan 8, Germany 1 (9 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Spine and Intervertebral Disc PathologyMedicine22.8%
- Cervical and Thoracic MyelopathyMedicine16.6%
- Spinal Fractures and Fixation TechniquesMedicine14.3%
- Scoliosis diagnosis and treatmentMedicine13.7%
- Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationMedicine4.8%
- Spinal Hematomas and ComplicationsMedicine3.5%
- Spondyloarthritis Studies and TreatmentsMedicine2.5%
- Management of metastatic bone diseaseMedicine2.5%
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 | Surgery | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Surgery | 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
J-STAGEPublisher 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) 2025
- 1.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.61LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.92LetPub ·
- h-index
- 31OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 149OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.88OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 12.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 83LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 826 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 89 | 89 | 2 |
| 2025 | 96 | 96 | 50 |
| 2024 | 102 | 102 | 201 |
| 2023 | 95 | 95 | 399 |
| 2022 | 99 | 99 | 639 |
| 2021 | 82 | 82 | 564 |
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
51 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 35 days – 77 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 36 days (98 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 90 days
- Sample
- 98 articles with submission and acceptance dates (198 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 15 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 23%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 17 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 28 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 15 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
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY-NC-ND | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
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)
Article types accepted1
- special articlesSpecial ArticlesLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics, License & copyright, Peer review, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Publication ethics Editorial Policy and Publication Ethics
SSRR observes the highest standards in journal publication ethics. The journal supports and adheres to the industry guidelines and best practices, including Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/) by the International Committee of Medical Journals Editors (ICMJE) and the Principles of …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Copyright of articles and their contents published in SSRR belong to the Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research. SSRR is an Open Access journal distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Anyone may download, reuse, copy, reprint, or distribute articles published in t…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review Process
Peer review is a critically important process of evaluation for any manuscript submitted to SSRR. Every article dispatched for full peer review will receive a comprehensive, fair, unbiased critical assessment. SSRR employs a double-anonymized review process. This means the identities of the peer reviewers and the authors remain anonymous to each other. The main document of the submitted manuscript…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Reporting Guidelines
Various reporting guidelines have been developed for different study designs. Authors are encouraged to follow published standard reporting guidelines for the study discipline. CONSORT for randomized clinical trials – this guideline is required for all randomized clinical trials, as noted above. CARE for case reports STROBE for observational studies PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses …
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
- The Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research
- Country or region
- Japan
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2432-261X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- 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 Spine Surgery and Related Research
What CAS zone is Spine Surgery and Related Research in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Spine Surgery and Related Research is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Surgery. 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 Spine Surgery and Related Research?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.6 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 2.5, h-index 31.
How long does peer review take at Spine Surgery and Related Research?
Based on the dates recorded on 98 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 51 days (interquartile range 35–77 days); authors report an average review time of about 15 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 23%. 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 Spine Surgery and Related Research based?
Of the 9 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Japan (8) and Germany (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Spine Surgery and Related Research?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Spine Surgery and Related Research is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Spine Surgery and Related Research open access, and what is the APC?
Spine Surgery and Related Research is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .