American Journal of Sociology

American Journal of Sociology is published by University of Chicago Press and is in Zone 1 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice, Social and Cultural Dynamics and Religion and Society Interactions, together about 41.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)

Frequency: 6 issues/year ISSN: 0002-9602 E-ISSN: 1537-5390 2025 JCR Impact Factor*: 4.3 Ranked #7 out of 222 “Sociology” journals 2025 CiteScore*: 6.7 Ranked #116 out of 1,530 “Sociology and Political Science” journals Established in 1895 as the first US scholarly journal in its field, the American Journal of Sociology (AJS) presents pathbreaking work from all areas of sociology, with an emphasis on theory building and innovative methods. AJS strives to speak to the general sociology reader and is open to contributions from across the social sciences—sociology, history, anthropology, and statistics—that seriously engage the sociological literature to forge new ways of understanding the social.AJS offers a substantial book review section that identifies the most salient work of both emerging and enduring scholars of social science. Commissioned review essays appear occasionally, offering readers a comparative, in-depth examination of prominent titles. Although AJS publishes a very small percentage of the papers submitted to it, a double-blind review process is available to all qualified submissions, making the journal a center for exchange and debate "behind" the printed page and contributing to the robustness of social science research in general. View content coverage periods and institutional full-run subscription rates for the American Journal of Sociology. *Journal Impact Factor™ 2024 courtesy of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR)™ (Clarivate 2025). Scopus CiteScore (Elsevier B.V.). Retrieved June 2025, from scopus.com/sources. Press ReleasesMedia University of Chicago Press journals earn top rankings in 2025 indices August 27, 2026 Do increased taxes incentivize the rich to move? August 28, 2025 University of Chicago Press journals earn top rankings in 2024 indices August 8, 2025 All press releases The labeling of 'black London' is a form of state repression against the press (Translated from Indonesian: Labelisasi ‘londo ireng’ adalah bentuk represi negara terhadap pers) Read the American Journal of Sociology article cited in The Conversation September 3, 2026 The Minimal Paradise and Creative Economics Read the American Journal of Sociology article cited in CounterPunch June 10, 2026 We Do a Lot of Sneering at “Virtue Signaling.” It May Be Time to Rethink Our Approach. Read the American Journal of Sociology article cited in Slate June 10, 2026 All media

From the journal's Aims & Scope

Research area (LetPub): SOCIOLOGY

CAS Journal Ranking

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.

Impact

Impact factor

4.08LetPub · 2026-09-13

Impact factor (publisher)

4.3Publisher website · 2026-10-01

CiteScore 2026-06

6.7LetPub · 2026-09-13

CiteScore (publisher) 2025

6.7Publisher website · 2026-10-01

SJR 2026-06

2.19LetPub · 2026-09-13

SNIP 2026-06

2.48LetPub · 2026-09-13

h-index

393OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

i10-index

3,640OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

2-year mean citedness

1.12OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

Self-citation rate

4.7%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Share of gold OA articles

0%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Volume

Articles per year

31LetPub · 2026-09-13

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.

Peer review

Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher 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.

No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.

The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

ISSN

0002-9602

Electronic ISSN

1537-5390

Official links

• Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
• Submission system ↗Publisher website