Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine: Journal Update

College members will no doubt be interested in the 2025 publication data for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine (PESM), and in how these data compare with previous years.

Between 2020 and 2022, PESM received an average of 615 manuscript submissions per year, with an average acceptance rate of 17%. In 2023 and 2024, average annual submissions increased to 756 manuscripts, with an average acceptance rate of 19%. In 2025, submissions increased substantially to 1,205 manuscripts, while the acceptance rate remained at 19%. Based on current trends, the number of manuscripts submitted in 2026 is projected to increase further, to approximately 1,700.

This significant increase in submissions appears to be driven, in part, by the growing number of international authors undertaking research using publicly available clinical datasets and artificial intelligence methods. The legitimate and increasingly accessible use of AI in research is likely to contribute to continuing year-on-year growth in manuscript submissions to the journal. This trend is also recognised internationally as a broader challenge for scholarly publishing.

In this evolving publishing landscape, all manuscripts submitted to PESM continue to undergo an initial quality-control evaluation before being sent for peer review, a process overseen by PESM’s Associate Editors. A significant proportion of submissions are either rejected before reaching the peer-review stage or returned to authors for revision because they do not adhere to the journal’s submission guidelines. In addition to concerns relating to inappropriate use of AI and plagiarism, common issues continue to include ambiguous or unclear email addresses, poor manuscript formatting, and insufficient attention to required ethics approvals.

The College and Springer, as publisher of PESM, remain grateful to the journal’s Editorial Board, Associate Editors and peer reviewers, all of whom contribute to maintaining the quality and integrity of the manuscripts published in the journal.

Clive Baldock
Editor-in-Chief
Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine