Fastest-accepting oncology journals 2026

196 oncology journals ranked by the median number of days from submission to acceptance, measured from the dates publishers deposit in PubMed for articles published 2024–2025. The interval includes peer review and revisions.

Journals: 196
Typical median: 111 d
Under 60 days: 17
Over 180 days: 17

Read this before using the ranking

Accepted papers only. Rejected manuscripts never receive an acceptance date, so these figures say nothing about desk-rejection speed, rejection rates or your chance of acceptance.
Not the time to a first decision. The interval runs from the “received” date to the “accepted” date the publisher deposits in PubMed. It includes editorial handling, peer review, every round of revision and the time authors spent revising.
Journals record dates differently. Some reset the received date when a revised manuscript arrives, and manuscripts transferred from another journal may keep or lose their earlier dates. Short medians are therefore not always comparable with long ones.
Past timelines are not a promise. Each figure comes from up to 100 recent articles published 2024–2025. Article types, special issues, editors and workload all change, and your paper may take much longer or much less time.
Fast is not the same as good. Check the journal’s scope, indexing, peer-review policy and editorial board before submitting. An unusually quick acceptance can be a warning sign of light peer review.

Journal Metrics is independent and is not affiliated with any journal or publisher listed. The figures are for information only, may contain errors and change as PubMed records are updated. Confirm current timelines on the journal’s own website. See how to spot predatory journals.

Oncology journals by median days from submission to acceptance

Oncology journals ranked by median days from submission to acceptance in PubMed
Rank	Journal	Median days	Middle half	Articles	Quartile	2026 score
1	CURRENT ISSUES IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY	28†	24–37	100	Q2	4.2
1	IN VIVO	28†	20–41	100	Q2	1.7
3	Cancers	32	24–42	100	Q1	4.9
4	Journal of Liquid Biopsy	36	23–49	98	Q1	2.9
4	INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES	36	28–52	100	Q1	6.3
6	Cancer Genomics & Proteomics	41	31–58	100	Q2	1.9
7	Current Oncology	46	39–56	100	Q1	3.2
8	JOURNAL OF CANCER RESEARCH AND CLINICAL ONCOLOGY	48	33–97	98	Q1	4.7
9	CRITICAL REVIEWS IN ONCOLOGY HEMATOLOGY	52	31–125	100	Q1	5.5
10	EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF HISTOCHEMISTRY	53	35–78	73	Q4	0.6
10	Trends in Cancer	53	25–81	100	Q1	10.4
12	INVESTIGATIONAL NEW DRUGS	56	37–77	100	Q1	3.8
12	Biomolecules and Biomedicine	56	42–82	98	Q1	2.8
12	CA-A CANCER JOURNAL FOR CLINICIANS	56	33–88	50	Q1	229.4
15	World Journal of Oncology	57	45–73	99	Q2	2.6
16	Non-Coding RNA	60	47–78	100	Q2	4.0
16	Precision Clinical Medicine	60	37–80	74	Q1	5.7
18	CANCER TREATMENT REVIEWS	63	45–91	100	Q1	9.2
19	Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology	66	43–97	100	Q1	4.5
20	Clinical Colorectal Cancer	72	46–169	100	Q2	1.5
21	Oncology and Therapy	74	51–114	100	Q2	2.2
22	Thoracic Cancer	75	54–99	99	Q2	2.2
22	Case Reports in Oncology	75	56–105	100	Q3	0.8
22	ANNALS OF SURGICAL ONCOLOGY	75	5–126	100	Q2	1.7
25	SURGERY TODAY	77	51–104	100	Q2	1.9
25	EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER	77	59–119	100	Q1	2.7
27	Genes & Genomics	79	41–109	98	Q2	1.7
28	Journal of Hematology & Oncology	80	58–106	99	Q1	31.9
28	Cancer Epidemiology	80	64–112	100	Q1	2.8
28	NEOPLASIA	80	48–116	100	Q1	4.7
28	MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR PROBES	80	56–124	100	Q1	3.2
32	INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY	82	53–122	100	Q1	12.5
33	ACTA ONCOLOGICA	83	55–106	100	Q1	2.4
33	Clinical & Translational Oncology	83	47–124	100	Q1	2.5
35	BREAST CANCER RESEARCH AND TREATMENT	84	65–112	100	Q1	3.2
35	SEMINARS IN ONCOLOGY	84	52–115	96	Q1	2.5
35	ANNALS OF ONCOLOGY	84	39–135	100	Q2	1.5
38	Translational Lung Cancer Research	86	58–101	100	Q2	2.3
38	CURRENT CANCER DRUG TARGETS	86	65–112	97	Q2	1.9
40	ONCOLOGY	87	66–132	98	Q2	1.6
41	MOLECULAR BIOLOGY REPORTS	88	65–125	98	Q2	3.1
41	JNCI-Journal of the National Cancer Institute	88	4–135	100	Q1	4.3
41	Molecular Cancer	88	59–136	98	Q1	26.9
44	American Journal of Cancer Research	89	56–142	99	Q1	2.7
45	BREAST	90	68–129	100	Q2	2.0
45	Hereditary Cancer in Clinical Practice	90	62–136	53	Q2	2.5
47	Familial Cancer	91	64–125	97	Q2	2.3
47	World Journal of Surgical Oncology	91	60–135	100	Q1	2.4
49	Clinical Breast Cancer	92	73–127	99	Q2	2.3
49	CANCER	92	66–134	96	Q1	4.2
49	Oncology Reviews	92	62–145	90	Q1	4.3
52	CANCER IMMUNOLOGY IMMUNOTHERAPY	93	64–135	100	Q1	5.3
53	Journal of Cancer	94	71–124	100	Q1	4.2
53	JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR HISTOLOGY	94	61–129	100	Q3	1.9
55	Annals of Gastroenterological Surgery	95	68–125	100	Q2	1.9
55	Journal of Thoracic Oncology	95	59–129	100	Q3	1.2
55	PATHOLOGY & ONCOLOGY RESEARCH	95	62–136	100	Q1	3.8
58	Cancer Drug Resistance	96	71–119	100	Q1	5.7
58	CELL PROLIFERATION	96	70–136	99	Q1	5.4
60	BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY	97	65–140	96	Q2	2.7
61	ONCOLOGY RESEARCH	98	79–116	91	Q3	2.3
61	BULLETIN DU CANCER	98	64–132	100	Q4	0.4
61	EJSO	98	69–148	100	Q3	0.9
61	Experimental Hematology & Oncology	98	73–157	100	Q1	12.9
61	Med	98	12–160	100	Q1	8.4
66	Translational Cancer Research	99	75–123	100	Q3	1.3
67	MOLECULAR CARCINOGENESIS	100	67–138	98	Q2	3.0
67	CLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL METASTASIS	100	73–148	100	Q1	4.0
67	Frontiers in Oncology	100	65–152	100	Q1	2.5
67	Cardio-Oncology	100	71–165	100	Q2	2.2
71	Translational Breast Cancer Research	101	77–127	58	Q1	3.4
71	ESMO Open	101	69–134	100	Q2	1.5
73	Lung Cancer-Targets and Therapy	102	74–118	36	Q1	2.5
74	Current Molecular Pharmacology	103	75–141	95	Q1	9.0
74	SURGICAL ONCOLOGY-OXFORD	103	75–153	100	Q3	1.4
74	ANGIOGENESIS	103	78–159	100	Q1	7.5
77	World Journal of Clinical Oncology	104	87–123	100	Q2	2.2
77	Antibody Therapeutics	104	78–130	55	Q1	3.0
77	Biomarker Research	104	71–138	100	Q1	14.0
77	Journal of Cell Communication and Signaling	104	65–161	88	Q3	2.0
81	International Journal of Medical Sciences	105	78–134	100	Q1	3.4
81	GENERAL PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOPHYSICS	105	73–160	94	Q3	1.4
83	ImmunoTargets and Therapy	106	87–130	100	Q1	5.1
83	Non-coding RNA Research	106	80–146	100	Q1	7.1
85	ONCOLOGY REPORTS	107	70–136	100	Q2	2.9
85	CANCER CHEMOTHERAPY AND PHARMACOLOGY	107	79–141	98	Q2	2.2
85	Immunotherapy Advances	107	82–152	50	Q2	2.9
85	Archives of Medical Science	107	72–164	100	Q3	1.4
89	CURRENT MOLECULAR MEDICINE	108	81–135	100	Q4	1.6
89	Reports of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	108	62–152	89	Q4	0.0
91	International Journal of Surgery	109	85–138	100	Q1	3.5
91	Clinical Lung Cancer	109	79–142	100	Q2	2.3
91	JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL & CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH	109	86–151	99	Q1	11.9
91	JOURNAL OF MAMMARY GLAND BIOLOGY AND NEOPLASIA	109	79–152	37	Q2	2.8
91	PATHOLOGY RESEARCH AND PRACTICE	109	74–180	99	Q1	4.4
96	Breast Cancer-Targets and Therapy	110	85–136	100	Q2	1.8
96	LANGENBECKS ARCHIVES OF SURGERY	110	71–169	100	Q1	2.5
98	Cancer Management and Research	111	96–141	100	Q3	2.0
98	JNCI Cancer Spectrum	111	72–155	99	Q1	3.4
98	Breast Cancer	111	76–155	100	Q1	2.8

Median days: half of the journal’s accepted articles took less time from submission to acceptance and half took more. Middle half: the 25th to 75th percentile. Articles: how many recent PubMed articles had both dates. Journals with the same rounded median share a rank.

Median under 30 days. Very short intervals usually reflect how a journal records its dates (for example a new received date after revision) or invited and fast-track article types such as reviews and editorials, not unusually quick peer review. Check the journal’s peer-review policy before reading anything into them.

Showing the 100 fastest of 196 oncology journals. Every journal’s figure is on its own page and in the acceptance times dataset.

Questions about oncology journal acceptance times

Which oncology journals accept papers fastest?

Among the 196 oncology journals with enough PubMed dates, the shortest median times from submission to acceptance (leaving out medians under 30 days, which usually reflect how dates are recorded) are Cancers (32 days), Journal of Liquid Biopsy (36 days), INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES (36 days), Cancer Genomics & Proteomics (41 days), Current Oncology (46 days). These medians include peer review and revisions, and cover accepted papers only.

How long does a oncology journal take to accept a paper?

The typical oncology journal on this page has a median of 111 days from submission to acceptance. 17 of 196 journals have a median under 60 days and 17 take more than 180 days.

Is this the peer review time?

No. PubMed records when a manuscript was received and when it was accepted, not the individual review stages. The interval includes editorial handling, peer review, revisions and the time authors spent revising, so it is longer than the time to a first decision. For first-decision times, check the journal’s own website.

Does a fast journal mean my paper is more likely to be accepted?

No. Only accepted papers have an acceptance date, so this ranking says nothing about acceptance rates or how quickly a journal rejects papers. A very fast acceptance can also be a sign of light peer review. Check the journal’s scope, indexing and peer-review policy before submitting.

About this data

Source: the received and accepted dates publishers deposit in PubMed, read through the public NCBI E-utilities for articles published 2024-01-01 to 2025-12-31, up to 100 recent articles per journal. Data checked 2026-11-03.
A journal is ranked only when at least 20 articles have both dates and at least half of the articles checked have them. Journals that do not deposit dates in PubMed, including most journals outside the life sciences, cannot be ranked here.
The ranking uses each journal’s median: half of its accepted articles took less time and half took more. The middle-half range shows the 25th to 75th percentile.
Fields come from the OpenAlex classification of each journal’s research topics. A journal joins a field when at least two of its four main topics are in it, so a journal can appear in more than one field and some classifications are imperfect.
Quartile and score are the journal’s best OpenAlex subfield quartile and its Journal Metrics Score, shown for context; they play no part in the order.

The full journal-level dataset is in the journal acceptance times study (with a CSV download). Spot an error or a journal whose dates look wrong? Tell us.

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