Journal profile · Medicine-Medicine (miscellaneous)
Systematic Reviews
ISSN 2046-4053 · BioMed Central · ENGLAND · Founded 2012
Systematic Reviews: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 5.63; fully open access; APC about USD 3,190; median 255 days to acceptance (120 articles, last 24 months); 292 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Systematic Reviews is published by BioMed Central and is in Zone 3 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Meta-analysis and systematic reviews, Health Policy Implementation Science and Global Maternal and Child Health, together about 39.1% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The journal publishes high quality systematic review products including systematic review protocols, systematic reviews related to a very broad definition of human health, (animal studies relevant for human health), rapid reviews, updates of already completed systematic reviews, and methods research related to the science of systematic reviews, such as decision modelling. At this time Systematic Reviews does not accept reviews of in vitro studies. The journal also aims to ensure that the results of all well-conducted systematic reviews are published, regardless of their outcome. (You can now also prospectively register these reviews on PROSPERO.)
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medicine-Medicine (miscellaneous)
Editor-in-chief Craig LockwoodPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 6 in mainland China (about 4%); most named United Kingdom 39, United States 18, Canada 18, Australia 16, Brazil 13 (165 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Meta-analysis and systematic reviewsDecision Sciences22.1%
- Health Policy Implementation ScienceHealth Professions13.1%
- Global Maternal and Child HealthMedicine3.8%
- Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of LifeEconomics, Econometrics and Finance3.8%
- Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationMedicine3.5%
- Diabetes Management and EducationMedicine3.4%
- Physical Activity and HealthMedicine3.1%
- Delphi Technique in ResearchSocial Sciences3.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Medicine, General & Internal | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: yes
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Medicine, General & Internal | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Medicine, General & Internal | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: yes
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
MEDLINEEmbaseCASCAB AbstractsCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS, Semantic Scholar
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
- 5.63LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 5.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 12.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 7.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.48LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.89LetPub ·
- h-index
- 142OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,943OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.94OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 1.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.26%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 290LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 4,800,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,641 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 293 | 293 | 121 |
| 2025 | 292 | 292 | 1,459 |
| 2024 | 319 | 319 | 3,790 |
| 2023 | 241 | 241 | 5,430 |
| 2022 | 284 | 284 | 5,676 |
| 2021 | 317 | 317 | 26,257 |
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
255 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 150 days – 416 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 20 days (120 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 291 days
- Sample
- 120 articles with submission and acceptance dates (653 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 11 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 77 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 11 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Open 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 2,690 / USD 3,190 / GBP 2,390 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,090 / EUR 2,590 / GBP 2,290 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 2,090 / USD 2,890 / EUR 2,390 | Yes | — |
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)
Open calls for papers1, by deadline
- Realist SynthesisDeadline
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
- BioMed Central
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Founded
- 2012
- ISSN
- 2046-4053
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Systematic Reviews
What CAS zone is Systematic Reviews in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Systematic Reviews is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Medicine, General & Internal. 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 Systematic Reviews?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.63; CiteScore 7.2, h-index 142.
How long does peer review take at Systematic Reviews?
Based on the dates recorded on 120 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 255 days (interquartile range 150–416 days); authors report an average review time of about 11 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Systematic Reviews based?
Of the 165 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 6 (about 4%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (39), United States (18) and Canada (18). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Systematic Reviews?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Systematic Reviews is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists MEDLINE, Embase, CAS, CAB Abstracts and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Systematic Reviews open access, and what is the APC?
Systematic Reviews is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,190.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, 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: .