About Strahlentherapie und Onkologie

Strahlentherapie und Onkologie

Strahlentherapie und Onkologie (Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal for radiation oncology, published monthly by Springer in the Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine journals program. Founded in 1912, it is the oldest scientific journal in oncology. Since 1994 it has been the official journal of the German Society for Radiation Oncology (DEGRO), and it has since been adopted as the official publishing medium by the Austrian and Swiss radiation oncology societies and seven additional European professional societies. With an impact factor of 2.5, a Scimago H-index of 81, and a Scimago SJR of 0.692, it is the German-speaking world's reference journal for the discipline.

Overview

Strahlentherapie und Onkologie appears monthly in the Springer program, with the Springer Medizin Verlag presenting it to the German medical readership and SpringerLink hosting the international digital edition. The journal's ISSNs are 0179-7158 for print and 1439-099X for the electronic edition, with the CODEN STONE4 identifying it in library systems. Its scope centers on radiation therapy, with nuclear medicine, surgery, internal medicine, and oncology as adjacent fields. Topics include treatment planning, planning target volumes, irradiation techniques, dose calibration and quality assurance, brachytherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy and radiosurgery, proton and heavy ion therapy, adaptive radiotherapy, immunoradiotherapy, retrospective cohort studies, survival analysis, side-effect and toxicity management, and complications.

The journal publishes original articles, in-depth reviews, rapid communications of preliminary data on innovative research, case reports, letters to the editor, and congress abstracts from the DEGRO annual meetings, which have appeared as supplements with hundreds of pages of abstracts. English is now the language in which almost all original and review articles are written, reflecting the journal's internationalization. Its most cited papers include the ICRU Report 83 on prescribing, recording, and reporting photon-beam intensity-modulated radiation therapy, a landmark in quality standardization, alongside highly cited work on proton therapy for skull base tumors and stereotactic radiotherapy of targets in the lung and liver. The readership is radiation oncologists, medical physicists, radiation biologists, nuclear medicine physicians, surgeons, and oncology researchers in the German-speaking world and internationally, including the members of the adopting European societies who receive it as their official journal.

History

Founded in 1912 as the oldest scientific journal in oncology, Strahlentherapie und Onkologie has chronicled the entire history of therapeutic radiation, from the early X-ray era through megavoltage therapy, the rise of computed treatment planning, and the IMRT revolution to the precision techniques of today: stereotactic radiosurgery, proton and heavy ion therapy, and the combination of radiation with immunotherapy that now defines the field's frontier. The journal's modern era began with Prof. Rolf Sauer's editorship from 1993 to 2015. Sauer, the Erlangen radiation oncologist who had chaired the Radiation Oncology Section of the German Radiological Society and founded the ARO working group for clinical cancer research, developed the journal into an internationally recognized scientific publication, achieved an impact factor above 2.8 for the first time in 2000, and made it the official publication of DEGRO in 1994. Since 1997, all DEGRO members have automatically held a subscription, with the cost included in the membership fee, which gives the journal a guaranteed core readership in the German radiation oncology community.

On Rolf Sauer's initiative, the journal also became the official publishing medium of the Austrian and Swiss associations of radiation oncology (ÖGRO and SASRO) in 1996/97, and since 2012 it has been adopted by seven additional European professional societies. In 2011 the editorial manager system was introduced for online-based manuscript processing, supporting the journal's internationalization. The German-language section "Literatur kommentiert" (short comments on literature), offering a balanced but critical appraisal of important publications with emphasis on their relevance to radiation oncology, became one of the journal's most popular sections.

Recent editorial news includes the retirement of Prof. Rainer Fietkau from his role as co-editor-in-chief and the succession of Prof. Markus Hecht. For 2026, the journal and DEGRO are awarding Best Paper Awards for the first time, honoring the best papers published in the journal, and DEGRO's LinkedIn community spotlights the journal's articles in monthly picks.

Coverage and Content

The journal's coverage spans the full spectrum of radiation oncology. Radiation therapy topics include treatment planning, planning target volumes, irradiation techniques, and dose delivery. Nuclear medicine coverage addresses radiation treatment planning and related imaging. Surgical topics include retrospective cohort studies, survival rates, brachytherapy, and complications. Internal medicine research encompasses gastroenterology and related fields, while prostate cancer and urology form a significant focus area.

Regular features include original research articles, rapid communication of preliminary data on innovative research, case reports, and the "Literatur kommentiert" section, which offers radiation oncologists a balanced but critical appraisal of important publications with special emphasis on their relevance to the field. The journal also carries reports and contributions of the scientific societies and professional organizations of radiation oncology, including DEGRO congress abstracts, and its sections are led by dedicated section editors for fields like radiation biology. Its peer review and citation metrics make it a recognized venue for career-relevant publication: for younger scientists in particular, publishing in the journal supports doctorate and postdoctoral qualifications, and for academic institutions it works as an additional source of revenue to fund research and teaching in the context of performance-oriented allocation of resources. The editorial manager system introduced in 2011 supports the online-based processing and assessment of manuscripts by editors and reviewers.

Organization and Ownership

Strahlentherapie und Onkologie is published by Springer (Springer Nature), with the Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH serving the German medical market from Berlin and the journal carrying the subtitle Organ der Deutschen Röntgengesellschaft in its bibliographic record. It is the official journal of DEGRO and the official publishing medium of the Austrian, Swiss, and seven additional European radiation oncology societies, a breadth of society adoption that makes it one of the most institutionally anchored journals in the field and secures its readership across the continent. The co-editors-in-chief have included Prof. Rainer Fietkau, succeeded by Prof. Markus Hecht; the journal's sections are led by dedicated section editors, including a section editor for radiation biology. The editorial office manages peer review through the editorial manager system. Financial details of the journal are not publicly confirmed.

Digital Presence

The journal's digital home is split between springermedizin.de, which presents the journal to German physicians with news, continuing-education offerings, and the journal's metadata including its DOI, and link.springer.com, which hosts the full article archive with abstracts, references, citation data, and the journal's updates page. Medscape also carries the journal's content listing for the international medical audience. The SpringerLink journal page carries updates, including the editor-in-chief announcement and the Best Paper Awards 2026. Springer+ subscription plans provide access to the journal's articles alongside Springer's broader portfolio. The journal is indexed in the major medical and scientific databases, and its articles carry DOIs for stable citation.

The Journal of Radiation Oncology

For more than a century, Strahlentherapie und Onkologie has been the forum where radiation oncology thinks in public: from its 1912 founding as the oldest oncology journal through the Sauer era's internationalization to today's European society journal. It remains the German-speaking world's reference for the science of therapeutic radiation, and with its society adoptions and citation record, a fixture of the international literature as well.