Rheumatology journals by time to acceptance (2025)
33 journals with 2025 figures · median days from submission to acceptance, measured from PubMed dates · data as of Sep 15, 2026
Sorted by median days from submission to acceptance in 2025. Faster is not better — this is a planning aid, not a ranking of quality. Click a column to re-sort.
| Open access | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Musculoskeletal Care | 16 (11–25) | 130 | — | ≈$3,240 | — | 0.0 |
| The Lancet Rheumatology | 54 (3–101) | 119 | 65 | ≈$7,280 | — | 0.0 |
| Rheumatology International | 62 (40–88) | 267 | 18 | ≈$4,990 | — | 0.0 |
| JCR Journal of Clinical Rheumatology | 65 (13–98) | 66 | 42 | — | — | 0.0 |
| Joint Bone Spine | 76 (49–109) | 104 | 9 | ≈$3,020 | Hybrid | 0.0 |
| Rheumatology and Therapy | 77 (53–105) | 74 | 30 | $7,675 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
| Autoimmunity Reviews | 83 (53–131) | 141 | 2 | ≈$4,730 | Hybrid | 0.0 |
| International Urogynecology Journal | 84 (59–120) | 335 | 38 | ≈$3,790 | Hybrid | 0.0 |
| Modern Rheumatology Case Reports | 85 (59–112) | 85 | — | ≈$1,071 | — | 0.0 |
| Biologics | 91 (72–118) | 51 | 13 | $4,320 | Open access (DOAJ) | — |
| Modern Rheumatology | 92 (62–129) | 127 | — | ≈$3,208 | — | 0.0 |
| Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology | 93 (65–127) | 272 | 49 | — | Hybrid | 0.0 |
| ACR Open Rheumatology | 94 (42–146) | 162 | — | $3,910 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
| Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases | 99 (71–137) | 195 | 31 | ≈$4,870 | Hybrid | 0.0 |
| Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism | 102 (72–148) | 219 | 10 | ≈$4,370 | — | 0.0 |
| RMD Open | 104 (81–137) | 229 | 23 | ≈$4,827 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
| Reumatología Clínica (English Edition) | 106 (68–168) | 83 | — | ≈$3,170 | — | 0.0 |
| Lara D. Veeken | 109 (83–150) | 504 | — | ≈$4,597 | Hybrid | 0.31 |
| Lupus Science & Medicine | 109 (82–143) | 146 | 21 | ≈$3,223 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
| Clinical Rheumatology | 111 (77–160) | 520 | 15 | ≈$4,890 | — | 0.0 |
| Neurourology and Urodynamics | 112 (58–164) | 188 | 20 | ≈$3,860 | — | 0.0 |
| International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases | 118 (80–202) | 193 | — | ≈$3,700 | — | 0.0 |
| Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open | 119 (62–183) | 143 | 6 | $1,850 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
| Reumatologia/Rheumatology | 121 (67–159) | 62 | 142 | ≈$231 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
| Current Rheumatology Reviews | 121 (91–152) | 50 | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| Rheumatology Advances in Practice | 123 (93–165) | 103 | 21 | ≈$2,896 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
| BMC Rheumatology | 125 (89–223) | 149 | 19 | $2,290 | Open access (DOAJ) | 2.4 |
| Arthritis Research & Therapy | 128 (89–179) | 248 | 17 | $3,790 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
| Therapeutic Advances in Musculoskeletal Disease | 140 (107–161) | 58 | 34 | $2,650 | Open access (DOAJ) | 2.79 |
| Arthritis & Rheumatology | 141 (93–194) | 236 | 100 | ≈$5,190 | Hybrid | 0.97 |
| Arthritis Care & Research | 158 (119–204) | 190 | 93 | ≈$4,640 | — | 0.0 |
| Osteoarthritis and Cartilage | 163 (123–203) | 136 | 7 | ≈$3,700 | Hybrid | 0.0 |
| Revista Brasileira de Reumatologia | 189 (153–268) | 76 | 24 | $2,590 | Open access (DOAJ) | 0.0 |
Journals are listed where at least 25% of their articles' topics fall in Rheumatology (OpenAlex).
Latest available year: 2024
2 journals without enough usable 2025 data. Their 2024 figures are shown separately so they are never compared with 2025 figures.
| Open access | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology | 41 (9–69) | 53 | 14 | ≈$4,180 | — | 0.0 |
| Mediterranean Journal of Rheumatology | 63 (42–100) | 81 | 148 | — | Open access | 0.0 |
Latest available year: 2023
1 journal without enough usable 2025 data. Their 2023 figures are shown separately so they are never compared with 2025 figures.
| Open access | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archives of Rheumatology | 92 (55–153) | 55 | 169 | — | Open access | 0.0 |
Latest available year: 2021
1 journal without enough usable 2025 data. Their 2021 figures are shown separately so they are never compared with 2025 figures.
| Open access | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case Reports in Rheumatology | 99 (63–140) | 52 | 11 | $870 | Open access (DOAJ) | — |
Latest available year: 2020
1 journal without enough usable 2025 data. Their 2020 figures are shown separately so they are never compared with 2025 figures.
| Open access | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Journal of Rheumatology | 70 (15–168) | 54 | 80 | $1,950 | Open access (DOAJ) | — |
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Which Rheumatology journals accepted papers fastest in 2025?
Among 33 Rheumatology journals with enough dated articles in 2025, the shortest median time from submission to acceptance was 16 days (Musculoskeletal Care). The middle journal's median was 106 days. Speed is not a measure of quality; check scope, indexing and fees too.
How are these times measured?
From the submission and acceptance dates publishers deposit in PubMed, for accepted articles only. Each journal needs at least 50 dated articles in the year shown, and a table headed with a year contains only that year's figures.
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Data sources. Submission, acceptance and publication dates: Courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (PubMed, entries through Sep 15, 2026). NLM does not endorse Journal Clock, and these figures may not reflect the most current PubMed data. Journal fees and open-access listing: DOAJ (CC0, retrieved Sep 16, 2026). Fees paid by institutions: OpenAPC (Open Database License, retrieved Sep 16, 2026). Retractions: Retraction Watch Database via Crossref (retrieved Sep 16, 2026). Journal identifiers and topics: OpenAlex (CC0). Currency conversion: ECB reference rates (Sep 15, 2026). How these numbers are calculated · For organisations.