Journal profile · POLITICAL SCIENCE
American Politics Research
ISSN 1532-673X · eISSN 1552-3373 · SAGE
American Politics Research: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.59; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,650; review about 291 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); acceptance rate 47.4% (journal website); 55 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
American Politics Research is published by SAGE 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 Electoral Systems and Political Participation, Social Media and Politics and Political Influence and Corporate Strategies, together about 47% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
American Politics Research (APR) published bi-monthly, has served for more than forty years as an integral forum for the dissemination of the latest theory, research and analysis in all areas of American politics, including local, state, and national. APR supplements its broad coverage with in-depth studies of topics of current interest in Special Issues and Symposia and … | View full journal description This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): POLITICAL SCIENCE
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 49, United Kingdom 1 (50 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Electoral Systems and Political ParticipationSocial Sciences29.7%
- Social Media and PoliticsSocial Sciences8.9%
- Political Influence and Corporate StrategiesBusiness, Management and Accounting8.4%
- Judicial and Constitutional StudiesSocial Sciences6%
- Gender Politics and RepresentationSocial Sciences5.6%
- Fiscal Policies and Political EconomyEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.4%
- Legal and Constitutional StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance3.7%
- Media Influence and PoliticsSocial Sciences3.7%
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 | Political Science | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 3 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Political Science | 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
- 1.59LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.17LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.18LetPub ·
- h-index
- 99OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,065OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.34OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 14.57%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 56LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,872 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 37 | 13 | 4 |
| 2025 | 55 | 23 | 49 |
| 2024 | 50 | 21 | 137 |
| 2023 | 47 | 23 | 298 |
| 2022 | 72 | 12 | 674 |
| 2021 | 56 | 13 | 764 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
291 dayssubmission to acceptance
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 47.4%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 10 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 124 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 291 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 15 daysPublisher 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.
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.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,650 / GBP 2,676 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Article types accepted2
- original research articleAPR publishes Original Research Articles and Research Notes. Original Research Articles should be approximately 25 typewritten, double-spaced pages with endnote…Length not stated
- original research articlesAPR publishes Original Research Articles and Research Notes. Original Research Articles should be approximately 25 typewritten, double-spaced pages with endnote…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
Please view our authorship policies, which includes information on criteria for authorship, who should be the corresponding author and more. Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages. Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to: Share your research data in a relevant public data repository Include a data ava…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Ethical considerations
Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Figures submitted in color will be published in color in the online version of the journal at no cost. If you wish to have color figures in the printed version, charges will be determined during production. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice program, and Open Access agreements, where authors can…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Double anonymized peer review Model summary
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency:Double anonymized Reviewer interacts with: Editor Review information published: None Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscripts may be desk reject…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
The journal will consider submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers. Please enter the preprint DOI in the designated field when submitting your manuscript. We advise that you inform the Journal Editorial office about your posted preprint at submission. Note that you should not post an updated version of your manuscript on a preprint server while it is being peer reviewed…
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
- SAGE
- ISSN
- 1532-673X
- Electronic ISSN
- 1552-3373
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about American Politics Research
What CAS zone is American Politics Research in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, American Politics Research is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Political Science. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of American Politics Research?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.59; CiteScore 3.3, h-index 99.
How long does peer review take at American Politics Research?
The publisher reports about 291 days (submission to acceptance); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 47.4%. 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.
Where are the editorial board members of American Politics Research based?
Of the 50 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (49) and United Kingdom (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index American Politics Research?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, American Politics Research is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is American Politics Research open access, and what is the APC?
American Politics Research is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,650.
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: .