Frontiers in Pediatrics

Frontiers in Pediatrics is a leading open-access journal dedicated to advancing child health research across all major clinical and scientific disciplines in pediatrics. Published by Frontiers, one of the world’s largest open-access research publishers, the journal serves a global community of researchers, clinicians, and policymakers committed to improving outcomes for children and adolescents.

The journal operates on a gold open-access model: all published articles are immediately and permanently free to read, share, and reuse under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 license. There are no paywalls, no subscription fees, and no embargo periods. Authors retain full copyright. Research published in Frontiers in Pediatrics reaches the broadest possible audience, from academic institutions to clinicians working in low-resource settings, removing the barriers that limit the reach and impact of pediatric science.

Scope and coverage

Frontiers in Pediatrics covers the full breadth of child health science through 24 specialty sections, each led by an independent editorial board of internationally recognized experts. Sections include Neonatology, Pediatric Surgery, Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Pediatric Neurology, Pediatric Critical Care, Pediatric Oncology, Pediatric Immunology, Pediatric Endocrinology, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and many more. This breadth reflects the clinical reality of pediatric medicine: that children’s health is inherently multidisciplinary, spanning primary care, acute medicine, surgery, developmental science, genetics, and the social determinants of health.

Scale and reach

The journal has published over 12,400 peer-reviewed articles and receives more than 3,600 manuscript submissions per year. Its active editorial community includes more than 787 Associate Editors and over 3,000 Community Reviewers. Frontiers in Pediatrics is indexed in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and the Web of Science, carries a Journal Impact Factor, and its articles reach researchers and clinicians in over 180 countries.

Peer review

Every manuscript undergoes three-stage peer review: (1) pre-review screening via AIRA, Frontiers’ AI Review Assistant, which performs 40+ automated quality and integrity checks; (2) independent review by at least two qualified Community Reviewers using a structured evaluation framework; and (3) an interactive review forum where authors and reviewers discuss the manuscript openly before the Associate Editor makes a decision. Upon acceptance, the handling editor and reviewers' names are published alongside the article, supporting full transparency and accountability.

Editorial independence

Editorial decisions are made exclusively by independent academic editors. Frontiers is a COPE member and follows COPE guidelines on editorial independence, conflict of interest, authorship, and research integrity. A dedicated 66-person research integrity department screens for fraud, paper mill activity, and image manipulation, with established workflows for post-publication corrections and retractions.

Research Topics

Frontiers in Pediatrics supports the Research Topics model - curated thematic collections led by Topic Editors, bringing together original research, reviews, and clinical reports around high-priority questions in pediatrics. Research Topics are widely used by clinical communities and learned societies to synthesize emerging evidence and set research agendas.

Author support and publishing agreements

APCs are charged on acceptance only. Waivers and discounts are available for authors from low-income countries. Institutional publishing agreements with 740+ universities and national consortia worldwide allow researchers to publish without individual APCs through flat-fee or article-credit arrangements.

About Frontiers Media SA

Frontiers in Pediatrics is published by Frontiers Media SA, founded in 2007 and headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. Frontiers operates 222 journals, has published 759,000+ articles, and has 4.6 billion cumulative views and downloads across a community of 3.7 million researchers. It is the world’s fifth most-cited publisher.