Journal profile · Nursing
Western Journal of Nursing Research
ISSN 0193-9459 · eISSN 1552-8456 · SAGE Publications Inc. · UNITED STATES · Bimonthly · Founded 1979
Western Journal of Nursing Research: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.16; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,150; review about 205 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); community-reported acceptance: easy; 147 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Western Journal of Nursing Research is published by SAGE Publications Inc. 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 Nursing Education, Practice, and Leadership, Health Sciences Research and Education and Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes, together about 22.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are General Health Professions. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Western Journal of Nursing Research (WJNR) is a widely read and respected peer-reviewed journal published twelve times a year providing an innovative forum for nurse researchers, students, and clinical practitioners to participate in ongoing scholarly dialogue. WJNR … | View full journal description This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Nursing
Editor-in-chief Todd RupparPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 25, Hong Kong, China 1, South Korea 1, Norway 1 (28 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Nursing Education, Practice, and LeadershipNursing9.7%
- Health Sciences Research and EducationHealth Professions6.9%
- Geriatric Care and Nursing HomesHealth Professions6.3%
- Nursing education and managementNursing5.2%
- Health and Wellbeing ResearchHealth Professions4.7%
- Palliative Care and End-of-Life IssuesMedicine4.4%
- Nursing Diagnosis and DocumentationNursing4.2%
- Health disparities and outcomesSocial Sciences4%
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 | Nursing | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Nursing | Zone 4 |
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 | Nursing | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIESSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
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
- 2.16LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.79LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.2LetPub ·
- h-index
- 55LetPub ·
- h-index
- 110OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,764OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.35OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 13.69%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 126LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,486 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 101 | 39 | 21 |
| 2025 | 147 | 57 | 210 |
| 2024 | 118 | 46 | 630 |
| 2023 | 105 | 44 | 638 |
| 2022 | 61 | 22 | 575 |
| 2021 | 146 | 59 | 2,222 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
205 dayssubmission to acceptance · community reports over 12 weeks
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Average review time (community reports)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 14.2%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 4 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 205 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 53 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 4,150 / GBP 3,043 | — | — | |
| 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 prepare8 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Reference style
- AMA
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
- Highlights
- Required
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted12, with length limits
- editorialOriginal research (quantitative, intervention, qualitative, mixed methods) Pilot studies testing interventions Reviews of empirical studies (scoping reviews, in…Length not stated
- editorialsEditorials (we do not typically publish unsolicited editorials. Please contact the Editor prior to submitting an editorial)Length not stated
- letters to the editorOriginal research (quantitative, intervention, qualitative, mixed methods) Pilot studies testing interventions Reviews of empirical studies (scoping reviews, in…Length not stated
- meta-analysisOriginal research (quantitative, intervention, qualitative, mixed methods) Pilot studies testing interventions Reviews of empirical studies (scoping reviews, in…Length not stated
- methodological researchMethodological researchLength not stated
- original researchOriginal research (quantitative, intervention, qualitative, mixed methods) Pilot studies testing interventions Reviews of empirical studies (scoping reviews, in…Length not stated
- pilot studies testing interventionsPilot studies testing interventionsLength not stated
- research reportluding references, tables, and figures. Research reports may be 4500 words (title page, abstract, references, tables, and figures do nmain text ≤ 4,500 words
- reviewOriginal research (quantitative, intervention, qualitative, mixed methods) Pilot studies testing interventions Reviews of empirical studies (scoping reviews, in…Length not stated
- review articleOriginal research (quantitative, intervention, qualitative, mixed methods) Pilot studies testing interventions Reviews of empirical studies (scoping reviews, in…Length not stated
- special topics papersSpecial topics papers (Please contact the editor before submitting a special topic paper)Length not stated
- systematic reviewOriginal research (quantitative, intervention, qualitative, mixed methods) Pilot studies testing interventions Reviews of empirical studies (scoping reviews, in…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Authorship Author contributions
You will be asked to list the contribution of each author as part of the submission process. Please include the Author Contributions heading within your submission after the Acknowledgements section. The information you give on submission will then show under the Author Contributions heading later at the proofing stage.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages. Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to: Share your research data in a relevant public data repository Include a data ava…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Ethical considerations
Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Figures submitted in color will be published in color in the online version of the journal at no cost. WJNR does not publish color figures in the printed version. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice program, and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or fr…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Double anonymized peer review Model summary
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency: Double-anonymized Reviewer interacts with: Editor Review information published: None Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscripts may be desk rejec…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
The journal will consider submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers. Please enter the preprint DOI in the designated field when submitting your manuscript. We advise that you inform the Journal Editorial office about your posted preprint at submission. Note that you should not post an updated version of your manuscript on a preprint server while it is being peer reviewed…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical trial registration
The journal conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first participant enrollment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.
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
- SAGE Publications Inc.
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 1979
- ISSN
- 0193-9459
- Electronic ISSN
- 1552-8456
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Western Journal of Nursing Research
What CAS zone is Western Journal of Nursing Research in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Western Journal of Nursing Research is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Nursing. 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 Western Journal of Nursing Research?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.16; CiteScore 4.5, h-index 110.
How long does peer review take at Western Journal of Nursing Research?
The publisher reports about 205 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 14.2%. 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 Western Journal of Nursing Research?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: ≥ 4; Reference style: AMA; Templates: LaTeX and Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required; Highlights: Required; 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 Western Journal of Nursing Research based?
Of the 28 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (25), Hong Kong, China (1) and South Korea (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Western Journal of Nursing Research?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Western Journal of Nursing Research is indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Is Western Journal of Nursing Research open access, and what is the APC?
Western Journal of Nursing Research is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,150.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .