Medical Care: review time and acceptance speed
ISSN 0025-7079 · ISSN 1537-1948 · Lippincott Williams & Wilkins · Health Professions
Half of the articles Medical Care accepted in 2025 were accepted within 210 days of submission (n = 51); the middle half took 118–237 days.
Accepted articles only · dates deposited by the publisher in PubMed · data as of Sep 15, 2026
How long does Medical Care take to accept a paper?
| Year | Articles (n) | 25th pct | Median | 75th pct | 90th pct | Accepted <14 days | Have a revised date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 51 | 118 | 210 | 237 | — | 11.8% | 0% |
- 2026: not shown yet — a year is reported once late-indexed articles have arrived (at least 180 days after it ends).
Distribution in 2025
Show as a table
| Days | Articles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 0–29 | 8 | 15.7% |
| 30–59 | 1 | 2.0% |
| 60–89 | 2 | 3.9% |
| 90–119 | 2 | 3.9% |
| 120–149 | 5 | 9.8% |
| 150–179 | 5 | 9.8% |
| 180–209 | 2 | 3.9% |
| 210–239 | 14 | 27.5% |
| 240–269 | 4 | 7.8% |
| 270–299 | 5 | 9.8% |
| 300–329 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 330–359 | 2 | 3.9% |
| 360+ | 1 | 2.0% |
From acceptance to online publication
After acceptance, half of the 2025 articles appeared online within 57 days (middle half 39–80 days, n = 51).
From submission to online publication, the median was 260 days (middle half 145–325 days, n = 51).
Read these numbers carefully
- Only 18% of this journal's 2025 articles in PubMed carry both a submission and an acceptance date, so these figures may not represent all of its articles.
- 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
Hybrid (subscription journal with an open-access option). No listed APC found in DOAJ or OpenAlex. That does not mean publishing is free — check the journal's author guidelines.
OpenAPC has fewer than 5 reported payments for this journal in 2023–2025, so no typical amount is shown.
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 DOAJ | No |
|---|---|
| Articles indexed for MEDLINE in 2025 | Yes |
| Retractions | 0 retracted articles among 748 added to PubMed in 2021–2025 (0.00 per 1,000), per the Retraction Watch Database. |
| Accepted within 14 days of submission | 11.8% of 2025 articles |
| Publication volume | 147 articles added to PubMed in 2025 (+13% vs 2024). |
Topics and scope
- Healthcare Policy and Management (20% of indexed topics)
- Primary Care and Health Outcomes (14% of indexed topics)
- Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life (7% of indexed topics)
- Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare (7% of indexed topics)
- Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes (5% of indexed topics)
- Chronic Disease Management Strategies (5% of indexed topics)
Health Professions journalsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance journalsGeneral Health Professions journalsEconomics and Econometrics 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 Medical Care, 210 days.
| Paid APC median | DOAJ | MEDLINE | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health Services Research | 158 (2025, n = 158) | ≈$3,750 | — | No | Yes |
| Health Affairs Scholar | 66 (2025, n = 246) | $3,150 | — | Yes | No |
| Milbank Quarterly | 136 (2025, n = 54) | ≈$4,430 | — | No | Yes |
| Health Policy | 220 (2025, n = 204) | ≈$4,220 | — | No | Yes |
| Australian Health Review | 70 (2025, n = 118) | — | — | No | Yes |
| The Annals of Family Medicine | 169 (2025, n = 80) | — | — | No | Yes |
| Journal of General Internal Medicine | 169 (2025, n = 496) | ≈$5,290 | — | No | Yes |
No journals match these filters.
Frequently asked questions
How long does Medical Care take to accept a paper?
Half of the articles Medical Care accepted in 2025 were accepted within 210 days of submission (n = 51); the middle half took 118–237 days. Based on dates in PubMed for accepted articles only.
How long after acceptance are Medical Care articles published online?
Half of the articles accepted in 2025 appeared online within 57 days of acceptance (n = 51).
Does Medical Care charge an article processing charge (APC)?
No listed APC found in DOAJ or OpenAlex. That does not mean publishing is free — check the journal's author guidelines.
Sources and method
Journal identity: ISSN-L 0025-7079; NLM ID 0230027; OpenAlex record. Speed figures use 51 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.