BMC Geriatrics: Journal Scope, Metrics & Guide

BMC Geriatrics is an international, peer-reviewed open access journal published by BioMed Central, an imprint of Springer Nature. Covering all facets of aging, geriatric medicine, and health services for older populations, the journal publishes continuous open access research indexed in MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and the Science Citation Index Expanded.

What BMC Geriatrics Is

BMC Geriatrics is an established open access journal dedicated to advancing research on aging, clinical gerontology, geriatric nursing, and elder health policy. Established in 2001 (NLM Unique ID: 100968548; Electronic ISSN: 1471-2318), the journal is published by BioMed Central in London, UK, operating as part of Springer Nature. The journal operates on an author-facing gold open access model, meaning all published articles are permanently free for anyone to read, download, and reuse globally without paywalls.

The journal belongs to the flagship BMC series portfolio, a group of community-focused, peer-reviewed journals committed to open research and transparent communication. Rather than prioritizing subjective novelty, BMC Geriatrics evaluates manuscripts based on scientific robustness, methodological integrity, and clinical validity. If an investigation is methodologically sound, ethically approved, and properly reported, the journal aims to provide an accessible home for the findings.

Bibliometrically, BMC Geriatrics holds strong global standing within geriatric medicine and allied health. According to official 2025 Journal Citation Reports data, the journal commands a Journal Impact Factor of 4.5 and a 5-year Journal Impact Factor of 5.2. In 2025, articles published in the journal generated over 9.8 million downloads worldwide. The journal offers rapid editorial processing, boasting a median turnaround time from manuscript submission to first editorial decision of 10 days. All content is digitally preserved across permanent public archives, including PubMed Central (PMC), Portico, CLOCKSS, and LOCKSS.

Who Runs the Journal and What It Covers

BMC Geriatrics is managed by an in-house editorial team led by Senior Editor Rauf Bhat PhD, supported by professional assistant and associate editors. Strategic guidance is provided by Senior Editorial Board Members: Ian Cameron PhD (University of Sydney), Danan Gu PhD (United Nations Population Division), Koen Milisen Dr. phil. (KU Leuven), John Tower PhD (University of Southern California), Pieter Jelle Visser MD PhD (Maastricht University), and Abebaw Mengistu Yohannes PhD (Azusa Pacific University).

The journal’s scope encompasses clinical, translational, health services, and biological research on aging. Key thematic areas include:

• Clinical Geriatrics and Disease Management: Diagnosis, management, and therapeutic interventions for conditions in older adults, including frailty, sarcopenia, osteoporosis, multimorbidity, polypharmacy, and cardiovascular disorders.
• Health Services and Long-Term Care: Evaluation of geriatric care models, nursing home administration, home-based healthcare delivery, hospital-at-home models, palliative care, and health policy impacts on older populations.
• Biological Mechanisms of Aging: Investigations into cellular senescence, genetic regulation of longevity, physiological reserve decline, chronic inflammation, and metabolic alterations associated with aging.
• Cognitive Health and Neuropsychology: Etiology, screening, clinical progression, and management of cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and acute delirium.
• Public Health, Physical Function, and Rehabilitation: Fall prevention strategies, functional mobility assessment, physical therapy, occupational rehabilitation, and social determinants of healthy aging.

The journal is indexed comprehensively across primary bibliographic databases, including MEDLINE, PubMed, PubMed Central, Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Dimensions, Google Scholar, EMBASE/EMCare, and CAS.

How to Search and Access Research on the Platform

Researchers, systematic reviewers, and healthcare administrators can locate, read, and export articles from BMC Geriatrics through its dedicated portal on the Springer Nature Link platform (`bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com`). The official interface provides targeted filtering and bulk export tools. To search and access research effectively, follow these 6 steps:

1. Navigate to the Articles Portal: Open the official journal homepage and select the "Articles" tab in the header to view published works.
2. Execute Keyword or Author Queries: In the "Search by keyword or author" field, enter specific clinical terms (such as "frailty index" or "nursing home fall prevention") or an author name.
3. Filter by Volume and Open Access Status: Use the "Volume:" dropdown to select specific publication years (spanning Volume 1 from 2001 to present) and ensure the "Open access only" toggle is set.
4. Apply Chronological Sorting: Adjust results ordering using the sort dropdown, selecting "New to old" for recent releases or "Old to new" for baseline searches.
5. Explore Thematic Topical Collections: In the navigation menu, select "Collections" to review curated article series focusing on emerging areas like digital health interventions in dementia.
6. Retrieve Full Text and Citation Metadata: Select any article to view interactive HTML with expandable figures, click "Download PDF" for the paginated document, or export .ris, .enw, or BibTeX files via "Cite this article".

Author Submission Workflow and Manuscript Requirements

Submitting a manuscript to BMC Geriatrics requires adherence to BioMed Central formatting standards and reporting guidelines. Submissions are processed through the digital Springer Nature Submission Portal (SNAPP). Authors should prepare their materials systematically to avoid intake delays.

Acceptable Article Types

The journal publishes seven distinct article categories:

• Research Article: Original clinical, biological, or health services research with clear methodology and robust sample sizes.
• Database Article: Descriptions of curated biological, epidemiological, or clinical databases accessible to aging researchers.
• Software Article: Presentations of novel open-source computational tools, clinical algorithms, or statistical packages designed for gerontology.
• Case Report: Educational presentations of rare conditions or unique geriatric drug interactions (must include written patient consent).
• Study Protocol: Prospective protocols for planned clinical trials or large cohort studies; clinical trials must be registered in an approved public registry prior to enrollment.
• Review: Balanced syntheses of contemporary literature, including systematic reviews complying with PRISMA reporting standards.
• Matters Arising: Formal scholarly commentaries addressing articles published in BMC Geriatrics within the preceding 12 months.

Technical Formatting and Declarations

Manuscripts must be submitted in Microsoft Word (.docx or .doc) or LaTeX format using BioMed Central’s official TeX template. Text must be formatted with double-line spacing and continuous line and page numbering throughout. Authors should use SI units and avoid embedding hard page breaks. Abstracts must be unstructured (single block of text) and cannot exceed 350 words, followed by 3 to 10 relevant keywords.

References must follow standard Vancouver citation style, numbered sequentially in the order of appearance in square brackets (e.g., [1], [2-4]). Journal abbreviations must conform to MEDLINE / Index Medicus standards. All web links and URLs must be converted into formal numbered bibliographic references that provide the complete page title, full URL, and access date.

Every submission must conclude with a mandatory seven-part "Declarations" section placed immediately before the reference list:

1. Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate: Full name of the IRB/ethics committee and the approval reference number (confirming compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki).
2. Consent for Publication: Confirmation of written informed consent for any individual patient data or case details.
3. Availability of Data and Materials: Declaration of where raw datasets reside, citing public repository accession DOIs (e.g., Zenodo, Dryad) or stating legitimate restrictions.
4. Competing Interests: Explicit declaration of any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest.
5. Funding: Full details of external funding, naming the sponsoring agency and specific grant numbers.
6. Authors’ Contributions: Specific descriptions of each co-author’s contribution, aligned with CRediT contributor taxonomy.
7. Acknowledgements: Formal acknowledgement of non-author contributors who assisted with technical support or editing.

A formal cover letter is mandatory, explaining why the manuscript aligns with the journal’s scope, confirming author approvals, and suggesting 2 to 4 independent peer reviewers with institutional emails and ORCID/Scopus IDs.

Peer Review Model and Editorial Evaluation Standards

BMC Geriatrics implements a transparent peer review model. For a detailed breakdown of how blinded workflows compare across academia, see our guide on transparent and open peer review models. Under the journal’s policy, when an article is accepted and published, all substantive peer reviewer reports, author rebuttal letters, and editorial decision letters are published online alongside the article under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).

To encourage frank, rigorous critique, peer reviewers remain anonymous in the published reports unless an individual reviewer voluntarily chooses to sign their evaluation. This transparent model provides educational value for early-career researchers, exposes the analytical rigor behind publication decisions, and curbs reviewer bias. Submissions undergo initial administrative triage before handling editors assign two or more independent external experts. Reviewers assess manuscripts against three core pillars:

• Scientific Robustness: Is the research design sound, are statistical analyses appropriate, and do the data support the conclusions?
• Originality: Does the study present original data without duplicating previously published work?
• Clarity: Is the prose lucid and coherent, allowing international readers to reproduce the methods?

Handling editors synthesize reviewer feedback to issue decisions. For manuscripts that are scientifically sound but fall outside the specific scope of BMC Geriatrics, Springer Nature’s Transfer Desk offers authors the option to transfer the manuscript and existing reviewer reports directly to another journal in the portfolio (such as BMC Public Health) without restarting submission.

Article Processing Charges (APC), Waivers, and Open Access Licensing

Because BMC Geriatrics operates as a pure open access publication with no subscription paywalls, publication expenses are supported through an article processing charge (APC) levied upon article acceptance. Authors pay no submission fees; charges apply exclusively to manuscripts that pass peer review and receive formal acceptance.

As verified through the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and Springer Nature fee schedules, the standard Article Processing Charge for a Research Article in BMC Geriatrics is:

• United States Dollars (USD): $3,290
• Euros (EUR): €2,890
• British Pounds (GBP): £2,490

Local value-added tax (VAT) or regional sales tax may apply depending on the corresponding author’s institutional billing address.

Most authors publishing in BMC Geriatrics do not pay fees out-of-pocket. APC costs are handled through three primary avenues:

1. Institutional Open Access Agreements: Springer Nature maintains transformative and read-and-publish agreements with hundreds of universities and research consortia worldwide, covering APCs automatically for affiliated authors.
2. Direct Grant Funding: Major biomedical funders—including NIH, Wellcome Trust, UKRI, and Horizon Europe—explicitly recognize open access publication fees as allowable direct research expenses under active grants.
3. Springer Nature Waiver Program: The publisher provides automatic 100% APC waivers to corresponding authors based in low-income economies defined by the World Bank, and a 50% discount for lower-middle-income countries. Discretionary financial hardship waivers are also considered upon application.

Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) by default, permitting unrestricted dissemination, sharing, and adaptation with appropriate attribution.

Strengths and Limitations

When selecting a target journal for geriatric research, investigators should weigh the distinct advantages and operational constraints of BMC Geriatrics.

Key Strengths

• High Global Visibility: Full open access indexing across MEDLINE, PMC, and SCIE ensures that articles are immediately discoverable without subscriptions, contributing to 9.8 million annual downloads.
• Rapid Editorial Triage: A median turnaround of 10 days to first decision allows authors to receive rapid feedback on initial review suitability.
• Transparent Scientific Record: Open publication of peer reviewer reports promotes accountability and reproducible scholarship.
• Comprehensive Interdisciplinary Scope: The journal welcomes collaborations spanning nursing, allied health, health services administration, psychology, and biogerontology.
• Established Funder Compliance: Fully compliant with open access mandates from NIH, Plan S, and the European Research Council.

Key Limitations

• Substantial APC Barrier: For independent researchers or institutions lacking transformative agreements, the $3,290 USD fee represents a significant financial requirement.
• Variable Full Review Durations: While initial desk screening is rapid (10 days), reliance on external expert reviewers means that complex multi-round peer reviews can occasionally extend over several months.
• Strict Reporting Guidelines: The journal enforces compliance with study design checklists (such as STROBE, CONSORT, and PRISMA), requiring substantial preparation time prior to submission.

Common Submission Mistakes and Pre-Flight Checklist

To avoid immediate desk rejection or administrative delay during initial intake, authors should review their draft against the following common stumbling blocks:

Common Oversight	Why It Triggers Desk Return	Required Correction
Missing Ethics Approval Details	BioMed Central policy prohibits proceeding with human or animal research without verifiable oversight details.	State the full official name of the IRB/ethics committee and the formal approval reference number in the Declarations section.
Structured Abstract Format	The journal mandates an unstructured abstract for research papers.	Merge background, methods, results, and conclusion headings into a single coherent paragraph of 350 words or fewer.
Passive Data Availability Statement	Vague phrases like "data available upon reasonable request" violate modern open data mandates unless justified by legal privacy constraints.	Deposit anonymized research datasets in an open repository (e.g., Zenodo, Figshare) and provide the direct accession URL or persistent DOI.
Non-Institutional Reviewer Emails	Use of commercial webmail addresses (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo) prevents editorial identity verification and triggers fraud screening.	Supply verified academic or institutional (.edu, .ac.uk, hospital domain) email addresses alongside ORCID or Scopus profile links for all proposed reviewers.
Non-Compliant Citation Formatting	Using Harvard author-date or APA citations conflicts with the XML rendering workflow.	Format all citations in numerical Vancouver style in square brackets, referencing MEDLINE journal title abbreviations.

Alternatives: BMC Geriatrics Compared to Leading Gerontology Journals

Authors evaluating where to publish their aging-related research have several high-quality alternatives across hybrid and open access platforms. The table below compares BMC Geriatrics against four peer journals in geriatrics and gerontology:

Journal	Publisher	Access Model	Standard APC	Indexing	Core Focus & Profile
BMC Geriatrics	BioMed Central (Springer Nature)	Gold Open Access	$3,290 USD / €2,890 EUR	MEDLINE, SCIE, SSCI, Scopus, DOAJ	Broad scope covering clinical geriatrics, health policy, biological aging, nursing, and rehabilitation; transparent peer review.
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS)	Wiley / American Geriatrics Society	Hybrid Open Access	$4,400 USD (optional OA)	MEDLINE, SCIE, Scopus	Official journal of the American Geriatrics Society; primary emphasis on clinical geriatric practice, healthcare systems, and clinical guidelines.
Age and Ageing	Oxford University Press / British Geriatrics Society	Hybrid Open Access	£3,550 GBP (optional OA)	MEDLINE, SCIE, SSCI, Scopus	Official journal of the British Geriatrics Society; focuses on clinical geriatrics, epidemiological cohorts, and acute care in older people.
Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics	Elsevier	Hybrid Open Access	$3,620 USD (optional OA)	MEDLINE, SCIE, Scopus	Multidisciplinary research on biological, psychological, and clinical aspects of aging; traditional subscription with gold OA option.
Frontiers in Aging	Frontiers	Gold Open Access	$2,290 USD	PubMed Central, Scopus, DOAJ	Focused on biogerontology, cellular senescence, molecular aging mechanisms, and translational geroprotective interventions.

For researchers whose institutions do not maintain open access agreements, hybrid society journals such as JAGS or Age and Ageing offer traditional subscription publication with zero author-facing fees, though articles remain behind a paywall. Conversely, for researchers with grant-mandated open access requirements who seek rapid initial triage, broad interdisciplinary exposure, and transparent review reports, BMC Geriatrics provides an established, highly visible vehicle.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is BMC Geriatrics a peer-reviewed journal?

Yes. BMC Geriatrics is a fully peer-reviewed journal. It implements a transparent peer review system where manuscripts are evaluated by at least two independent expert reviewers. If an article is accepted, the complete peer review reports and editorial decisions are published online alongside the article under a CC BY 4.0 license.

What is the current Impact Factor of BMC Geriatrics?

According to the official 2025 Journal Citation Reports published by Clarivate, BMC Geriatrics has a Journal Impact Factor of 4.5 and a 5-year Journal Impact Factor of 5.2.

What are the Article Processing Charges (APC) for BMC Geriatrics?

The standard Article Processing Charge for accepted research articles is $3,290 USD (€2,890 EUR / £2,490 GBP), plus applicable local taxes. APCs are routinely covered by institutional read-and-publish agreements or biomedical research grants, and full or partial waivers are provided to authors from low- and middle-income nations.

How does transparent peer review work at BMC Geriatrics?

Under transparent peer review, substantive reviewer evaluations, author rebuttal letters, and editorial decision letters are published openly alongside the final article. To maintain frank and unbiased evaluation, peer reviewers remain anonymous unless they explicitly request to sign their reports.

Which databases index BMC Geriatrics?

BMC Geriatrics is indexed in MEDLINE, PubMed, PubMed Central, Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Dimensions, Google Scholar, EMBASE/EMCare, and CAS.

What manuscript formats and citation styles does the journal accept?

Manuscripts must be submitted in Microsoft Word (.docx, .doc) or LaTeX format. The journal mandates Vancouver citation style (numbered consecutively in the order of appearance in square brackets) with journal title abbreviations matching MEDLINE / Index Medicus standards.

Sources and Verification Ledger

All data, editorial details, fee schedules, and indexing records on this page were verified directly from official primary sources on 2026-11-12:

• BMC Geriatrics Journal Homepage, BioMed Central / Springer Nature (verified 2026-11-12).
• BMC Geriatrics Aims and Scope, BioMed Central (verified 2026-11-12).
• BMC Geriatrics Submission Guidelines and Peer Review Policy, BioMed Central (verified 2026-11-12).
• BMC Geriatrics Editorial Board, BioMed Central (verified 2026-11-12).
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) Record for BMC Geriatrics (ISSN 1471-2318), DOAJ (verified 2026-11-12).
• NLM Catalog: BMC Geriatrics (NLM ID 100968548), US National Library of Medicine / NCBI (verified 2026-11-12).
• BMC Geriatrics Articles Platform, BioMed Central (verified 2026-11-12).