Leadership in Health Services (LHS) is an international, peer-reviewed journal that provides a leading platform for advancing knowledge, theory, and practice in leadership and management within the healthcare sector. LHS focuses on how effective leadership shapes health systems, improves service delivery, influences policy, and enhances patient outcomes.
LHS brings together scholars, policymakers, and practitioners who are committed to understanding how leadership can transform organizations and create meaningful change in health services worldwide. The journal publishes original research, theoretical papers, applied case studies, and systematic reviews that examine leadership behaviour, organizational culture, and performance across diverse healthcare settings.
With its interdisciplinary focus, LHS welcomes submissions from a wide range of fields, including business and management, organizational behaviour, medicine, public administration, sociology, psychology, and health policy. This cross-sector perspective enables LHS to explore leadership from multiple viewpoints, from executive decision-making and clinical governance to team leadership and patient-centred innovation.
LHS values methodological and theoretical diversity. It features qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research as well as conceptual and policy analyses. Core themes include leadership development, talent management, ethics and accountability, strategic management, workforce engagement, quality improvement, and digital transformation in healthcare. LHS also highlights leadership in times of crisis, such as pandemics and system reform, emphasizing resilience, innovation, and adaptive capacity.
Each issue of LHS is designed to inform evidence-based practice and inspire leadership excellence. Articles provide actionable insights for healthcare managers, educators, clinicians, and administrators seeking to strengthen leadership capability and drive organizational improvement. By translating academic research into practical application, LHS bridges the gap between theory and practice, ensuring its content remains relevant to both academics and practitioners.
LHS is widely recognized for its academic quality and global reach. It is indexed in major databases such as Web of Science (WOS), Scopus, and the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) Journal Quality List. The journal’s latest performance metrics reflect its growing influence in the field: in 2024, LHS achieved a Cite Score of 3.6 and an Impact Factor of 1.8, underscoring its reputation as a respected outlet for research on leadership and health service management. These indicators demonstrate both the journal’s scholarly impact and its continued relevance to the global healthcare leadership community.
Committed to ethical and transparent publishing, Leadership in Health Services follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and employs a double-anonymous peer-review process to ensure fairness, rigor, and academic integrity.
Through its diverse, evidence-based, and practice-focused content, LHS continues to serve as a trusted resource for those shaping the future of healthcare leadership, uniting theory, evidence, and practice to improve systems, outcomes, and lives worldwide.
Online ISSN 1751-1887 Print ISSN 1751-1879
