Contraception: review time and acceptance speed

ISSN 0010-7824 · ISSN 1879-0518 · Elsevier BV · Medicine

Half of the articles Contraception accepted in 2025 were accepted within 131 days of submission (n = 198); the middle half took 98–200 days.

Submission → acceptance (2025)
131 days median
middle half 98–200 · n = 198
Acceptance → online
4 days median
middle half 2–6 · n = 197
Change since 2023
No clear change since 2023 (median 126 → 131 days; 90% CI -14 to +23 days).
Open access · fees
OA status not determined · ≈$3,500

Accepted articles only · dates deposited by the publisher in PubMed · data as of Sep 15, 2026

Plan submissions to a deadline — free

How long does Contraception take to accept a paper?

days0751502253002020: middle half 96–182 days1282020n=1492021: middle half 82–196 days1372021n=2082022: middle half 100–227 days1492022n=1542023: middle half 86–175 days1262023n=1512024: middle half 81–192 days1312024n=1572025: middle half 98–200 days1312025n=198
Line = median; shaded box = middle half of articles (25th–75th percentile). Year of acceptance.
Days from submission to acceptance, by year of acceptance
YearArticles (n)25th pctMedian75th pct90th pctAccepted <14 daysHave a revised date
2025198981312000.5%98%
2024157811311920.6%98%
2023151861261750.7%99%
20221541001492271.9%100%
2021208821371962851.0%100%
2020149961281820.7%99%

Distribution in 2025

0–29 days: 2% (4 articles)030–59 days: 5% (10 articles)3060–89 days: 11% (21 articles)6090–119 days: 26% (51 articles)90120–149 days: 13% (25 articles)120150–179 days: 13% (26 articles)150180–209 days: 9% (17 articles)180210–239 days: 8% (15 articles)210240–269 days: 3% (5 articles)240270–299 days: 4% (7 articles)270300–329 days: 2% (4 articles)300330–359 days: 3% (6 articles)330360+ days: 4% (7 articles)360+days from submission to acceptance (30-day bins)
Show as a table
DaysArticlesShare
0–2942.0%
30–59105.1%
60–892110.6%
90–1195125.8%
120–1492512.6%
150–1792613.1%
180–209178.6%
210–239157.6%
240–26952.5%
270–29973.5%
300–32942.0%
330–35963.0%
360+73.5%

From acceptance to online publication

After acceptance, half of the 2025 articles appeared online within 4 days (middle half 2–6 days, n = 197).

From submission to online publication, the median was 139 days (middle half 107–210 days, n = 197).

Read these numbers carefully

  • These times describe articles the journal accepted. Rejected manuscripts never appear in public data, so they cannot tell you how long a rejection takes.
  • Dates are the ones the publisher deposited with PubMed. Some publishers record the date a revised manuscript arrived as the submission date, which makes review look faster.
  • Invited articles and special issues can move faster than regular submissions.

Open access status and publishing fees

Subscription or hybrid (not determined). Listed APC: about $3,500 (as reported by OpenAlex).

No institutional payments for this journal are recorded in OpenAPC.

Many journals waive or reduce fees for authors from eligible countries or institutions with publishing agreements — check with the journal and your library.

Integrity and indexing signals

Facts from public records, shown without judgement. See the methodology for why each can be worth a closer look.

Listed in DOAJNo
Articles indexed for MEDLINE in 2025Yes
Retractions0 retracted articles among 864 added to PubMed in 2021–2025 (0.00 per 1,000), per the Retraction Watch Database.
Accepted within 14 days of submission0.5% of 2025 articles
Publication volume186 articles added to PubMed in 2025 (+16% vs 2024).

Topics and scope

Medicine journalsPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health journals

Similar journals — faster or cheaper, side by side

Journals publishing on the most similar topics (OpenAlex), ordered by similarity. Only 2025 figures are compared with the 2025 median of Contraception, 131 days.

Paid APC medianDOAJMEDLINE
Contraception and Reproductive Medicine135 (2025, n = 82)$2,290YesNo
Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health481 (2025, n = 53)≈$3,120NoYes
Women s Health Issues235 (2025, n = 69)≈$3,969NoYes
Reproductive Health208 (2025, n = 308)$3,390$2,948 (9 payments)YesYes
Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology124 (2025, n = 118)≈$2,950NoYes
Frontiers in Global Women s Health138 (2025, n = 283)≈$3,117$2,061 (19 payments)YesNo
Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare134 (2025, n = 104)$2,260YesYes
BMC Women s Health169 (2025, n = 679)$3,090$2,648 (14 payments)YesYes
International Journal of Women s Health110 (2025, n = 500)$4,320YesNo

Frequently asked questions

How long does Contraception take to accept a paper?

Half of the articles Contraception accepted in 2025 were accepted within 131 days of submission (n = 198); the middle half took 98–200 days. Based on dates in PubMed for accepted articles only.

How long after acceptance are Contraception articles published online?

Half of the articles accepted in 2025 appeared online within 4 days of acceptance (n = 197).

Does Contraception charge an article processing charge (APC)?

Listed APC: about $3,500 (as reported by OpenAlex).

Sources and method

Journal identity: ISSN-L 0010-7824; NLM ID 0234361; OpenAlex record. Speed figures use 198 articles accepted in 2025 with valid dates; excluded records for that year: none.

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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.