Fastest-accepting ophthalmology journals 2026

47 ophthalmology 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: 47
Typical median: 126 d
Under 60 days: 2
Over 180 days: 5

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.

Ophthalmology journals by median days from submission to acceptance

Ophthalmology journals ranked by median days from submission to acceptance in PubMed
Rank	Journal	Median days	Middle half	Articles	Quartile	2026 score
1	Ophthalmology Retina	42	17–95	100	Q2	2.2
2	Ophthalmology and Therapy	45	36–57	100	Q1	3.8
3	International Journal of Retina and Vitreous	62	47–82	100	Q1	2.9
4	EPMA Journal	64	31–86	85	Q1	7.7
5	OPHTHALMOLOGY	66	17–116	100	Q1	3.6
6	Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology	68	43–117	100	Q1	5.5
7	Taiwan Journal of Ophthalmology	72	46–108	100	Q3	1.3
8	Case Reports in Ophthalmology	76	50–108	100	Q4	0.6
9	Frontiers in Ophthalmology	78	54–111	100	Q2	2.0
10	Journal of Ophthalmic Inflammation and Infection	81	53–135	99	Q2	2.0
11	Ocular Oncology and Pathology	82	59–119	66	Q3	1.0
12	Ophthalmologie	90	57–133	72	Q4	0.5
13	Advances in Ophthalmology Practice and Research	92	65–117	85	Q1	4.3
14	AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY	94	54–133	86	Q1	3.5
15	Ophthalmology Glaucoma	95	52–152	100	Q2	1.7
16	Saudi Journal of Ophthalmology	96	46–147	100	Q3	1.1
17	JOURNAL FRANCAIS D OPHTALMOLOGIE	104	59–151	99	Q4	0.4
18	EXPERIMENTAL EYE RESEARCH	109	82–166	100	Q1	2.4
19	International Medical Case Reports Journal	110	86–133	100	Q4	0.5
20	JAPANESE JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY	113	75–148	100	Q2	2.2
21	ARQUIVOS BRASILEIROS DE OFTALMOLOGIA	119	72–180	95	Q4	0.7
22	BMC Ophthalmology	122	78–157	100	Q2	1.9
22	ACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA	122	93–174	100	Q3	0.7
24	PROGRESS IN RETINAL AND EYE RESEARCH	126	88–175	100	Q1	12.4
25	CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL OPHTHALMOLOGY	127	81–175	97	Q1	2.3
26	CANADIAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY-JOURNAL CANADIEN D OPHTALMOLOGIE	130	76–209	96	Q3	1.2
27	Eye and Brain	131	95–158	24	Q1	3.5
28	Ophthalmology Science	133	104–172	99	Q1	3.0
28	DOCUMENTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA	133	89–196	97	Q3	1.4
30	SURVEY OF OPHTHALMOLOGY	134	103–195	100	Q1	4.9
31	INTERNATIONAL OPHTHALMOLOGY	136	90–187	100	Q2	1.7
32	GRAEFES ARCHIVE FOR CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL OPHTHALMOLOGY	139	105–194	100	Q2	2.2
33	BMJ Open Ophthalmology	143	99–213	98	Q1	3.1
34	OPHTHALMIC RESEARCH	144	93–193	98	Q2	2.0
34	Beyoglu Eye Journal	144	102–211	76	Q3	0.9
36	JOURNAL OF CATARACT AND REFRACTIVE SURGERY	147	73–190	74	Q2	2.2
37	BRITISH JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY	152	102–235	99	Q1	3.9
38	VETERINARY OPHTHALMOLOGY	157	97–200	97	Q3	0.8
39	OPHTHALMOLOGICA	159	112–198	78	Q1	1.8
40	Therapeutic Advances in Ophthalmology	174	123–223	65	Q3	1.4
41	International Journal of Ophthalmology	179	109–262	100	Q3	1.4
42	Case Reports in Ophthalmological Medicine	180	129–252	73	Q4	0.2
43	EYE	184	103–236	100	Q1	2.8
44	JOURNAL OF GLAUCOMA	187	120–264	100	Q2	2.2
45	INDIAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY	196	126–281	67	Q3	1.3
46	Journal of Ophthalmology	213	154–309	100	Q3	1.5
47	Journal of Ophthalmic & Vision Research	235	150–283	53	Q3	1.2

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.

Questions about ophthalmology journal acceptance times

Which ophthalmology journals accept papers fastest?

Among the 47 ophthalmology 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 Ophthalmology Retina (42 days), Ophthalmology and Therapy (45 days), International Journal of Retina and Vitreous (62 days), EPMA Journal (64 days), OPHTHALMOLOGY (66 days). These medians include peer review and revisions, and cover accepted papers only.

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

The typical ophthalmology journal on this page has a median of 126 days from submission to acceptance. 2 of 47 journals have a median under 60 days and 5 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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