Journal profile · AREA STUDIES
African Studies
ISSN 0002-0184 · eISSN 1469-2872 · Taylor & Francis
African Studies: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.37; hybrid open access; median 385 days to acceptance (37 articles, last 24 months); 27 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
African Studies is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 3 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are African history and culture studies, South African History and Culture and African studies and sociopolitical issues, together about 33.5% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Taylor & Francis publishes knowledge and specialty research spanning humanities, social sciences, science and technology, engineering, medicine and healthcare.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): AREA STUDIES
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- African history and culture studiesSocial Sciences14.3%
- South African History and CultureSocial Sciences11.7%
- African studies and sociopolitical issuesSocial Sciences7.5%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering6.8%
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance6.6%
- African history and culture analysisSocial Sciences6.5%
- Global Maritime and Colonial HistoriesSocial Sciences4.9%
- Educational Robotics and EngineeringComputer Science4.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Area Studies | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Area Studies | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Area Studies | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
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
- Impact factor
- 0.37LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.25LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.83LetPub ·
- h-index
- 65OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 533OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.68OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 14.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 8.33%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 24LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,423 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 19 | 8 | 0 |
| 2025 | 27 | 11 | 14 |
| 2024 | 19 | 4 | 30 |
| 2023 | 19 | 3 | 56 |
| 2022 | 21 | 7 | 91 |
| 2021 | 28 | 1 | 193 |
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
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with Crossref · to
385 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 294 days – 518 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 242 days (37 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 676 days
- Sample
- 37 articles with submission and acceptance dates (48 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- ISSN
- 0002-0184
- Electronic ISSN
- 1469-2872
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about African Studies
What CAS zone is African Studies in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, African Studies is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Area Studies. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of African Studies?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 0.37; CiteScore 1.3, h-index 65.
How long does peer review take at African Studies?
Based on the dates recorded on 37 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 385 days (interquartile range 294–518 days). 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.
Which databases index African Studies?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, African Studies is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is African Studies open access, and what is the APC?
African Studies is a hybrid journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .