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About

Aims and scope

The Journal of Cannabis Research is an international, fully open-access, peer-reviewed journal which welcomes submissions covering all topics pertaining to cannabis. Sponsored by the Institute of Cannabis Research at Colorado State University-Pueblo. The Journal publishes a broad range of articles including, but not limited to: 

  • the agriculture, biology, and commercial and industrial uses of the cannabis plant (including non-psychoactive varieties such as hemp) and its constituents;
  • the endocannabinoid system;
  • the preclinical and clinical pharmacology and toxicology of cannabis and cannabinoids;
  • epidemiology and public health aspects and social impacts of cannabis use and cannabis-related disorders;
  • prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of cannabis-related disorders;
  • therapeutic uses of cannabis and cannabinoids in humans and animals;
  • business, economic, and environmental aspects of the cannabis industry; and
  • historical, public policy, legal, ethical, and international aspects of cannabis.

The Journal of Cannabis Research welcomes original research articles and brief reports, study protocols, narrative reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, commentaries and perspectives, case reports, and letters to the editor. Submission enquiries are welcomed for manuscripts that fall outside these classifications and contact information can be found at the bottom of this page

Cannabinoids are broadly defined as comprising all constituents of the cannabis plant (phytocannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids) as well as synthetic cannabinoids. The Journal accepts a variety of submission types, including original research, technical notes, case reports, reviews, and commentaries.

The Journal of Cannabis Research is the only broadly multidisciplinary journal of cannabis research and a leading fully open access journal in the field, encompassing not only clinical and scientific research, but also research into social, business, agricultural, legal, environmental, and ethical impacts of cannabis use and the changing legal status of cannabis. Its intended audience is not only clinicians and biological scientists, but also social scientists, lawyers, economists, business experts, ethicists, public policy experts, and public officials. The goal is to provide an outlet for experts across disciplines and foster innovation and collaboration, driving public discourse and around this timely issue and furthering this exciting area of research. The open access nature of the journal ensures that authoritative and accurate information pertaining to all aspects of cannabis is available to both the academic community and public policy makers in a timely manner.

The Journal of Cannabis Research is led by renowned clinical pharmacologist and cannabis researcher, Prof. David A. Gorelick, MD, PhD, who has a history of expertise in clinical psychiatry, substance use and scientific conduct and ethics. He is supported by an Editorial Board of leading researchers and investigators, with expertise covering the full breadth of the journal's scope.

Open access

All articles published by Journal of Cannabis Research are made freely and permanently accessible online immediately upon publication, without subscription charges or registration barriers. Further information about open access can be found here.

As authors of articles published in Journal of Cannabis Research you are the copyright holders of your article and have granted to any third party, in advance and in perpetuity, the right to use, reproduce or disseminate your article, according to the BMC license agreement.

For those of you who are US government employees or are prevented from being copyright holders for similar reasons, BMC can accommodate non-standard copyright lines. Please contact us if further information is needed.

Article processing charges (APC)

Authors who publish open access in Journal of Cannabis Research are required to pay an article processing charge (APC). The APC price will be determined from the date on which the article is accepted for publication.

The current APC, subject to VAT or local taxes where applicable, is: Ā£1490.00/$2390.00/ā‚¬1990.00

Visit our open access support portal and our Journal Pricing FAQs for further information.

Open access funding

Visit Springer Natureā€™s open access funding & support services for information about research funders and institutions that provide funding for APCs.

Springer Nature offers agreements that enable institutions to cover open access publishing costs. Learn more about our open access agreements to check your eligibility and discover whether this journal is included.

Springer Nature offers APC waivers and discounts for articles published in our fully open access journals whose corresponding authors are based in the worldā€™s lowest income countries (see our APC waivers and discounts policy for further information). Requests for APC waivers and discounts from other authors will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and may be granted in cases of financial need (see our open access policies for journals for more information). All applications for discretionary APC waivers and discounts should be made at the point of manuscript submission; requests made during the review process or after acceptance are unable to be considered.

Indexing services

The full text of all articles is deposited in digital archives around the world to guarantee long-term digital preservation. You can also access all articles published by BioMed Central on SpringerLink.

We are working closely with relevant indexing services including PubMed Central and Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics) to ensure that articles published in Journal of Cannabis Research will be available in their databases when appropriate.

Peer-review policy

Peer-review is the system used to assess the quality of a manuscript before it is published. Independent researchers in the relevant research area assess submitted manuscripts for originality, validity and significance to help editors determine whether the manuscript should be published in their journal. You can read more about the peer-review process here.

Journal of Cannabis Research operates a single-blind peer-review system, where the reviewers are aware of the names and affiliations of the authors, but the reviewer reports provided to authors are anonymous. Single-blind peer review is the traditional model of peer review that many reviewers are comfortable with, and it facilitates a dispassionate critique of a manuscript.

Submitted manuscripts will generally be reviewed by two or more experts who will be asked to evaluate whether the manuscript is scientifically sound and coherent, whether it duplicates already published work, and whether or not the manuscript is sufficiently clear for publication. The Editors will reach a decision based on these reports and, where necessary, they will consult with members of the Editorial Board.

Citing articles in Journal of Cannabis Research

Articles in Journal of Cannabis Research should be cited in the same way as articles in a traditional journal. Because articles are not printed, they do not have page numbers; instead, they are given a unique article number.

Article citations follow this format:

Authors: Title. J Cannabis Res [year], [volume number]:[article number].

e.g. Roberts LD, Hassall DG, Winegar DA, Haselden JN, Nicholls AW, Griffin JL: Increased hepatic oxidative metabolism distinguishes the action of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor delta from Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor gamma in the Ob/Ob mouse. J Cannabis Res 2009, 1:115.

1:115 refers to article 115 from Volume 1 of the journal.

Editorial policies

All manuscripts submitted to Journal of Cannabis Research should adhere to BMC's editorial policies.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appeals and complaints

Authors who wish to appeal a rejection or make a complaint should follow the procedure outlined in the BMC Editorial Policies.

Benefits of publishing with BMC

High visibility

Journal of Cannabis Research's open access policy allows maximum visibility of articles published in the journal as they are available to a wide, global audience. 

Speed of publication

Journal of Cannabis Research offers a fast publication schedule whilst maintaining rigorous peer review; all articles must be submitted online, and peer review is managed fully electronically (articles are distributed in PDF form, which is automatically generated from the submitted files). Articles will be published with their final citation after acceptance, in both fully browsable web form, and as a formatted PDF.

Flexibility

Online publication in Journal of Cannabis Research gives you the opportunity to publish large datasets, large numbers of color illustrations and moving pictures, to display data in a form that can be read directly by other software packages so as to allow readers to manipulate the data for themselves, and to create all relevant links (for example, to PubMed, to sequence and other databases, and to other articles).

Promotion and press coverage

Articles published in Journal of Cannabis Research are included in article alerts and regular email updates. Some may be highlighted on Journal of Cannabis Researchā€™s pages and on the BMC homepage.

In addition, articles published in Journal of Cannabis Research may be promoted by press releases to the general or scientific press. These activities increase the exposure and number of accesses for articles published in Journal of Cannabis Research. A list of articles recently press-released by journals published by BMC is available here.

Copyright

As an author of an article published in Journal of Cannabis Research you retain the copyright of your article and you are free to reproduce and disseminate your work (for further details, see the BMC license agreement).

For further information about the advantages of publishing in a journal from BMC, please click here.

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Annual Journal Metrics

  • 2022 Citation Impact
    3.7 - 2-year Impact Factor
    3.4 - 5-year Impact Factor
    0.741 - SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper)

    2023 Speed
    21 days submission to first editorial decision for all manuscripts (Median)
    211 days submission to accept (Median)

    2023 Usage 
    596,678 downloads
    1,834 Altmetric mentions