Journal profile · Social Sciences-Geography, Planning and Development
ACME
ISSN 1492-9732 · Okanagan University College · Canada
ACME: diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 15 weeks (community reports); indexed in Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
ACME is published by Okanagan University College. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Migration, Refugees, and Integration, Race, History, and American Society and Urban Planning and Governance, together about 25.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
ACME: An International Journal of Critical Geographies is an international journal for critical analyses of the social, the spatial, the ecological, and the political, grounded in critical geographic scholarship. We recognize that the scholarship we publish takes place on Indigenous territories across the globe, and that the geographies represented in ACME are themselves formed through imperialism and colonialism. There is diversity in the lands, waters, and Indigenous Nations on whose territories we depend. As a journal of geography, we also acknowledge the imperial and colonial roots of the discipline, and we seek to publish scholarship in solidarity with global and localized struggles. We work to make radical scholarship accessible for free as a manifestation of our commitment to collective labor and mutual aid. We are fully open access. We set no subscription fees or article processing charges, we do not publish for profit, and ACME Editors do not receive compensation for their labour. The journal provides a multilingual forum for the publication of critical work about space and place in the social sciences and humanities. ACME understands critical analyses to be part of a praxis of social and political change aimed at identifying and challenging systems of domination, oppression, and exploitation, and dismantling the relations of power that sustain them. As such, ACME welcomes work that seeks to build and advance critical frameworks, including, but not limited to, those aligned with anti-racist, anti-colonial, anti-imperialist, anti-authoritarian, Black, feminist, crip, trans, queer, and multi-species perspectives. ACME authors’ work most often bridges multiple radical frameworks, which are situated in specific intellectual and political contexts. As such, ACME’s mission is to challenge and expand what ‘critical’ means to interdisciplinary thinking around space and place (see the images/captions below to understand our current and aspirational focus). We support work that brings together ongoing struggles on the ground with critical scholarship. Thus we understand ‘critical’ in our journal’s name as both contextual and dynamic in its emergence. As a Collective, we strive to embody ACME’s mission by fostering transparency, reciprocity, and accountability in the editorial process. In the same vein, ACME publishes work that not only articulates critical perspectives on space and place, but also makes clear the political, social, and ecological commitment
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Social Sciences-Geography, Planning and Development
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Canada 32, United States 21, United Kingdom 13, Germany 4, France 2 (79 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Migration, Refugees, and IntegrationSocial Sciences9.6%
- Race, History, and American SocietySocial Sciences8.4%
- Urban Planning and GovernanceSocial Sciences7.2%
- Geographies of human-animal interactionsSocial Sciences7.2%
- Environmental and Cultural Studies in Latin America and BeyondEnvironmental Science6%
- Anthropological Studies and InsightsSocial Sciences4.8%
- Sex work and related issuesSocial Sciences4.8%
- LGBTQ Health, Identity, and PolicyPsychology3.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.9LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.57LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.61LetPub ·
- h-index
- 8OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 6OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.93OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 64 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 30 | 30 | 28 |
| 2023 | 31 | 31 | 214 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 15 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 15 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Unspecified peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY-NC-ND | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Other fees
- No other fees
- Page charges
- No page charges
- Submission fee
- No submission fee
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
What to prepare10 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 9,000 words
- Reference style
- Chicago
- Templates
- Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Highlights
- Optional
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Optional
Article types accepted17, with length limits
- commentarycknowledgements. Interventions Critical commentaries and/or observations ranging from 1,500 to 5,000 words, inclusive of abstract, footnotes, references, and ac…main text ≤ 5,000 words
- creative worksCreative Works Including poetry and speculative fiction that critically explores space and place, ACME now welcomes comics and photography, including submission…Length not stated
- editorialknowledgements. As a general guideline, editorials, interventions, observations, and review essays tend to be shorter (1,500 to 4,000 words) than theoretical- a…main text ≤ 4,000 words
- interventionsInterventions Critical commentaries and/or observations ranging from 1,500 to 5,000 words, inclusive of abstract, footnotes, references, and acknowledgements.Length not stated
- interviewsInterviews Structured or semi-structured conversational exchange that seeks to engage one or more spatial thinkers to draw out previously unarticulated, supplem…Length not stated
- letterWhat are letters if not iterative modes of written communication shared between two or more people, that blur the intellectual, contextual, personal, historical…main text ≤ 15,000 words
- lettersLetters What are letters if not iterative modes of written communication shared between two or more people, that blur the intellectual, contextual, personal, hi…Length not stated
- performancePerformance Performance and performance-based methods have the capacity to reveal and unsettle relationships between performer and audience, subject and object,…Length not stated
- podcastPodcast Podcasts are recorded, streamable audio features which use sound to explicate critical spatial knowledge and sonic landscapes that other formats may fai…Length not stated
- researchResearch Theoretical- and/or empirically-based research papers not exceeding 9,000 words inclusive of abstract, footnotes, references, and acknowledgements.Length not stated
- research paper) than theoretical- and empirical-based research papers (minimum 5,000 words). Format: Text in manuscripts should be set out in double-smain text ≤ 5,000 words
- reviewapproval. Review Essays State-of-field reviews which explicate shifting or emerging developments across critical debates, and are limited to 9,000 words. We are…main text ≤ 9,000 words
- review essaysReview Essays State-of-field reviews which explicate shifting or emerging developments across critical debates, and are limited to 9,000 words.Length not stated
- roundtablesRoundtables Three or more people in a conversation, transcribed and edited for readability, ranging from 3,000 to 9,000 words.Length not stated
- standard articlen the lengths of different formats. For standard article submissions, manuscripts submitted should not exceed 9,000 words, inclusive of abstract, footnotes, ref…main text ≤ 9,000 words
- translationsTranslations Critical geography originally published in languages other than English and translated for English readers.Length not stated
- visual analysesVisual Analyses Analytical visual images that require textual interpretation, including maps, photographs and images, infographics, or creative graphs.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism
- Authorship
Authors retain copyright Model summary
Authors retain copyright of their manuscript during the review process and, if selected, after publication of their manuscript.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Names and email addresses used exclusively for stated purposes Model summary
The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright Notice
Creative Commons Attribution/Non-Commercial/No Derivative Works Canada licence Model summary
Authors agree to publish their articles in ACME under the Creative Commons "Attribution/Non-Commercial/No Derivative Works" Canada licence. To read and review the agreement, click here. In line with fair attribution and proper permissions, note any copyrights of materials cited in your paper. Do not use materials that are not fair use without express written consent.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access Policy
Since ACME’s founding in 2002, our commitment to open access publishing has been based on our ongoing critique of neoliberal policies that impact universities, in particular the most marginalized faculty, staff, and students. The corporatization and privatization of knowledge increasingly restricts public access via paywalls. ACME provides immediate and full open access to its content on the princ…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review Process
Central to the political project of ACME is our rigorous, constructive, and convivial review process. All articles accepted for publication in ACME must meet the highest standards of scholarly peer review, bearing in mind that ‘highest standards’ may mean different things depending upon the content, context, form, aims, and goals of each respective submission. We approach the peer review process a…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism
Manuscripts screened for plagiarism using text-matching software Model summary
All manuscripts will be screened using a reputable text-matching software for possible plagiarism, a practice increasingly common to academic journals.
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Okanagan University College
- Country or region
- Canada
- Language
- Spanish, Italian, English, French, German
- ISSN
- 1492-9732
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about ACME
How long does peer review take at ACME?
Authors report an average review time of about 15 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of ACME?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: ≥ 4; Manuscript length: ≤ 9,000 words; Reference style: Chicago; Templates: Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Highlights: Optional; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: Optional. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of ACME based?
Of the 79 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Canada (32), United States (21) and United Kingdom (13). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index ACME?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, ACME is indexed in Scopus and DOAJ.
Is ACME open access, and what is the APC?
ACME is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .