Journal profile · PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIMENTAL
Applied Cognitive Psychology
ISSN 0888-4080 · eISSN 1099-0720 · Wiley-Blackwell
Applied Cognitive Psychology: CAS Zone 3 · Psychology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.81; hybrid open access; APC about USD 2,900; median 217 days to acceptance (102 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 18% (journal website); 148 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Applied Cognitive Psychology is published by Wiley-Blackwell and is in Zone 3 of Psychology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Memory Processes and Influences, Deception detection and forensic psychology and Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes, together about 42.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Developmental and Educational Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Applied Cognitive Psychology seeks to publish the best papers dealing with psychological analyses of memory, learning, thinking, problem solving, language, and consciousness as they occur in real-world contexts. Applied Cognitive Psychology focuses on studies of human performance and basic cognitive skills in everyday environments. Particular emphases include studies of autobiographical memory, lifespan memory development, detecting truth and deception, eyewitness memory and memory reliability, as well as cognitive perspectives on consumer behaviour, health and education. Articles will normally combine rigorous investigations of real-world events with appropriate theoretical analyses and proper appraisal of practical implications. While empirical research papers remain the primary focus of the journal, Applied Cognitive Psychology also publishes theoretical articles, reviews, short, and Registered Reports. Readership Researchers · Teachers · Practitioners in Psychology, Education, and Training, with interests in Learning, Memory, and Cognitive Performance Keywords memory, learning, thinking, problem solving, language, consciousness, eyewitness memory, human performance, cognitive skills Abstracting and Indexing Information Academic Search (EBSCO Publishing) Academic Search Alumni Edition (EBSCO Publishing) Academic Search Premier (EBSCO Publishing) AgeLine Database (EBSCO Publishing) Biological Science Database (ProQuest) Criminal Justice Abstracts (EBSCO Publishing) Current Contents: Social & Behavioral Sciences (Clarivate Analytics) Embase (Elsevier) ERA: Educational Research Abstracts Online (T&F) Ergonomics Abstracts (EBSCO Publishing) Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest) Hospital Premium Collection (ProQuest) IBR & IBZ: International Bibliographies of Periodical Literature (KG Saur) Journal Citation Reports/Social Science Edition (Clarivate Analytics) Natural Science Collection (ProQuest) PASCAL Database (INIST/CNRS) Periodical Index Online (ProQuest) ProQuest Central (ProQuest) ProQuest Central K-51 Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection (EBSCO Publishing) Psychology Database (ProQuest) PsycINFO/Psychological Abstracts (APA) PSYNDEX (ZPID) Research Library (ProQuest) Research Library Prep (ProQuest) RILM Abstracts of Music Literature (RILM) SciTech Premium Collection (ProQuest) SCOPUS (Elsevier) Social Science Premium Collection (ProQuest) Social Sciences Citation Index (Clarivate Analytics) Studies on Women & Gender Abstracts (T&F) VIN
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIMENTAL
Editor-in-chief Michael E. LambPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 3 in mainland China (about 5%); most named United States 26, United Kingdom 15, Australia 4, Türkiye 4, Mainland China 3 (63 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Memory Processes and InfluencesNeuroscience22.4%
- Deception detection and forensic psychologyPsychology13.3%
- Visual and Cognitive Learning ProcessesPsychology6.6%
- Identity, Memory, and TherapyPsychology6.4%
- Face Recognition and PerceptionNeuroscience4.4%
- Child and Animal Learning DevelopmentPsychology4%
- Misinformation and Its ImpactsSocial Sciences3.9%
- Innovative Teaching and Learning MethodsPsychology3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Psychology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychology, Experimental | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Psychology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychology, Experimental | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Psychology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychology, Experimental | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceEmbasePsycINFOCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest
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
- 1.81LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.73LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.92LetPub ·
- h-index
- 161OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,072OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.59OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 11.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 57.58%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 135LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 138Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 511,325Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,139 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 136 | 84 | 29 |
| 2025 | 148 | 112 | 281 |
| 2024 | 122 | 90 | 335 |
| 2023 | 149 | 96 | 811 |
| 2022 | 128 | 72 | 1,162 |
| 2021 | 131 | 56 | 1,942 |
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
217 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 154 days – 287 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 17 days (102 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 230 days
- Sample
- 102 articles with submission and acceptance dates (289 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".
Other sources
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 18%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 18%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 7 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 7 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 213 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 16 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 2,900 / EUR 2,400 / GBP 1,930 | — | — | |
| 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 accepted10
- afterwordAfterword An occasional section which features reminiscences, obituaries, reviews, and other material which falls outside the conventional scientific paper.Length not stated
- full-length articlesFull-length articles should normally not exceed 8,500 words of main text, excluding references, the abstract, tables and figures.Length not stated
- registered reportWhile empirical research papers remain the primary focus of the journal, Applied Cognitive Psychology also publishes theoretical articles, reviews and short res…Length not stated
- registered reportsAs of September 2018, we also welcome the submission of registered reports.Length not stated
- research paperWhile empirical research papers remain the primary focus of the journal, Applied Cognitive Psychology also publishes theoretical articles, reviews and short res…Length not stated
- research reportWhile empirical research papers remain the primary focus of the journal, Applied Cognitive Psychology also publishes theoretical articles, reviews and short res…Length not stated
- reviewWhile empirical research papers remain the primary focus of the journal, Applied Cognitive Psychology also publishes theoretical articles, reviews and short res…Length not stated
- reviewsWhile empirical research papers remain the primary focus of the journal, Applied Cognitive Psychology also publishes theoretical articles, reviews and short res…Length not stated
- short reportsShort reports are limited to 5,000 words of main text, excluding references, the abstract, tables and figures (no more than three).Length not stated
- theoretical articlesWhile empirical research papers remain the primary focus of the journal, Applied Cognitive Psychology also publishes theoretical articles, reviews and short res…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Publication ethics, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Author Contributions
For all articles, this journal mandates the CRediT (Contribution Roles Taxonomy)—more information is available on our Author Services site.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of Interest
The journal requires that all authors disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise that might be perceived as influencing an author's objectivity is considered a potential source of conflict of interest. These must be disclosed when directly relevant or directly related to the work that the authors describe in their manuscript. Null C…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics 5. EDITORIAL POLICIES AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Peer Review and AcceptanceThe acceptance criteria for all papers are the quality and originality of the research and its significance to journal readership. Except where otherwise stated, manuscripts are double-blind peer reviewed. Papers will only be sent to review if the Editor-in-Chief determines that the paper meets the appropriate quality and relevance requirements.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Blind peer review process executed by two peer reviewers. Model summary
Please note this journal operates a blind peer review process executed by two peer reviewers.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints
Accepts articles previously published on preprint servers. Model summary
This journal accepts articles previously published on preprint servers.
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
- Wiley-Blackwell
- ISSN
- 0888-4080
- Electronic ISSN
- 1099-0720
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 40, Issue 5 (October 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Applied Cognitive Psychology
What CAS zone is Applied Cognitive Psychology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Applied Cognitive Psychology is in Zone 3 of Psychology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Psychology, Experimental. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Psychology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Applied Cognitive Psychology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.81; CiteScore 3.3, h-index 161.
How long does peer review take at Applied Cognitive Psychology?
Based on the dates recorded on 102 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 217 days (interquartile range 154–287 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 18% (2025). 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 Applied Cognitive Psychology based?
Of the 63 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 3 (about 5%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (26), United Kingdom (15) and Australia (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Applied Cognitive Psychology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Applied Cognitive Psychology is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, Embase, PsycINFO and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Applied Cognitive Psychology open access, and what is the APC?
Applied Cognitive Psychology is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 2,900.
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: .