Statistics & Reports

Journal Metrics

The journal publishes manuscripts online as soon as they are accepted and copy-edited. The times below are medians for articles published in 2026, measured from the submission date recorded on each article.

Submission to acceptance (median): 35 days (2026)

Acceptance to online publication (median): 16 days (2026)

Submission to publication (median): 59 days (2026)

All times are medians. These figures are calculated from articles on which both the submission and the publication dates are recorded; a small number of manuscripts take considerably longer where authors undertake substantial revisions, and the longest interval recorded for articles published in 2026 was 188 days. The journal's initial editorial decision is normally reached within two to three weeks of submission, and manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally reviewed within four to ten weeks, as stated in the Author Guide.

Annual statistics, 2025

Manuscripts received 235; rejected 113; accepted 122; published 108; retracted 0.

Received counts all manuscripts submitted in 2025, regardless of outcome. Rejected combines manuscripts rejected at initial editorial screening without external review and manuscripts rejected after external peer review; the two categories are not currently recorded separately. Accepted refers to manuscripts that received a final editorial decision of acceptance; reviewer recommendations are advisory and the decision is taken by the editor. Published counts research articles; reviewer acknowledgements, editorials, and other non-research items are excluded. 

Acceptance does not guarantee publication in a particular issue. Accepted manuscripts may be withdrawn by the authors or may not be published following ethical, authorship, copyright, or production checks. The difference between accepted and published manuscripts in a given year therefore represents accepted manuscripts awaiting publication in a later year, together with any accepted manuscripts withdrawn or not published. Because publication follows acceptance by a variable interval, the number of articles published in a given year reflects decisions taken in that year and in earlier years.

Previous years

2024: received 227; rejected 107; accepted 120; published 107;   retracted 1.
2023: received 232; rejected 101; accepted 131; published   99;   retracted 0.
2022: received 243; rejected   95; accepted 148; published   93;   retracted 0.
2021: received 367; rejected 143; accepted 224; published  120;  retracted 1.

Statistics for each calendar year are compiled and published in the following year. Statistics for 2026 will be published in 2027. The journal follows the ethical guidelines of COPE; retraction notices are published under the journal's post-publication policy.