Journal profile · EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
American Journal of Distance Education
ISSN 0892-3647 · eISSN 1538-9286 · Taylor & Francis
American Journal of Distance Education: CAS Zone 4 · Education (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.2 (journal website); subscription journal; APC charged, amount not published; review about 154 days (first decision after review, publisher); acceptance rate 18% (journal website); 31 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
American Journal of Distance Education is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 4 of Education in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Online and Blended Learning, Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods and Human auditory perception and evaluation, together about 47% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Editor: Michael Grahame Moore The American Journal of Distance Education (AJDE) is internationally recognized as the journal of record of research and scholarship in the field of American distance education. Established in 1987 with the mission of promoting research and disseminating information about distance education in the Americas, AJDE explores topics about all teaching-learning relationships where the actors are geographically separated, and communication takes place through technologies. Past volumes (available online) report on education through radio and television, teleconferences and recordings, printed study guides, and multimedia systems. The principal technology of contemporary distance education is the Internet, and thus most articles now report on online learning. With distance education having moved from the margins to the mainstream at all levels of education and training, and increasing numbers of individuals and institutions becoming involved, The American Journal of Distance Education provides a unique depository of previous research as well as the most recent research-based knowledge about all aspects of the pedagogy of the field. Peer reviewed articles provide reports on the latest findings in such areas as: building and sustaining effective delivery systems; course design and application of instructional design theories; facilitating interaction between students and with instructors; factors influencing student achievement and satisfaction; the changing roles of faculty and changes in institutional culture; and administrative and policy issues including cost-effectiveness and copyright. Peer Review Policy: All research articles in this journal have undergone rigorous review, based on initial editor screening and refereeing by two anonymous referees. Consistent with its traditional mission of building the field of scholarship, AJDE specifically invites submissions from previously unpublished authors, such as recently graduated doctoral students, as well as from established researchers.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Editor-in-chief Michael Grahame MoorePublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Online and Blended LearningSocial Sciences31.3%
- Innovative Teaching and Learning MethodsPsychology8.2%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering7.5%
- Online Learning and AnalyticsComputer Science6.5%
- Educational Robotics and EngineeringComputer Science6.3%
- Communication in Education and HealthcarePsychology4.5%
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.4%
- Legal case studies and regulationsSocial Sciences3.2%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Education Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Education Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- CiteScore Q2 · 2025
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
ESCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePubMedERICPublisher website
Other: ProQuest, OCLC, Contact North ° Teach Online CA, EBSCOhost ° Academic Search Alumni Edition, ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), OCLC ° Education Index (Online), ProQuest ° Education Database, Taylor & Francis ° Educational Research Abstracts Online
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
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 (publisher) 2025
- 1.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.43LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.43Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.95LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 0.95Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 92OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 464OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.37OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 3.66%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 27LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 69,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,297 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 30 | 7 | 7 |
| 2025 | 31 | 6 | 36 |
| 2024 | 36 | 9 | 90 |
| 2023 | 33 | 9 | 144 |
| 2022 | 34 | 10 | 244 |
| 2021 | 30 | 3 | 343 |
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
Too few articlesOnly 1 articles from the last 24 months carry both submission and acceptance dates, too few for a median
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".
Figures by source
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 18%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 6 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 154 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 14 daysPublisher website ·
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
Subscription journalLetPub
A subscription journal: articles are read by subscription or purchase, and authors usually pay no publication charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Open access, Peer review
- AI use Learning Mode Differences in AI-Assisted and Collaborative Learning
Chiao-Chen Chang Research Article | Published online: 30 Aug 2026
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
American Journal of Distance Education is a hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Model summary
American Journal of Distance Education is a hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open access? Increase the disc…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Peer Review Policy: All research articles in this journal have undergone rigorous review, based on initial editor screening and refereeing by two anonymous referees. Model summary
Peer Review Policy: All research articles in this journal have undergone rigorous review, based on initial editor screening and refereeing by two anonymous referees.
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
- Taylor & Francis
- ISSN
- 0892-3647
- Electronic ISSN
- 1538-9286
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 40, Issue 3 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about American Journal of Distance Education
What CAS zone is American Journal of Distance Education in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, American Journal of Distance Education is in Zone 4 of Education, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Education & Educational Research. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Education. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of American Journal of Distance Education?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.2 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 3.5, h-index 92.
How long does peer review take at American Journal of Distance Education?
The publisher reports about 154 days (first decision after review); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 18%. 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 American Journal of Distance Education?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, American Journal of Distance Education is indexed in ESCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, PubMed and ERIC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is American Journal of Distance Education open access, and what is the APC?
American Journal of Distance Education is a subscription journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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: .