Journal profile · GEOGRAPHY
Area
ISSN 0004-0894 · eISSN 1475-4762 · Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo · Argentina
Area: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.28; fully open access; APC about USD 3,760; median 217 days to acceptance (94 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 59% (journal website); 101 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Area is published by Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo 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 Geographies of human-animal interactions, Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics and Rural development and sustainability, together about 27.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Geography, Planning and Development and Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Area publishes high quality 5000-word papers and commentaries from within and beyond the discipline of geography. We welcome empirical research papers as well as ethics and methods-based papers. We are also interested in commentaries that reflect on the state of academia today. Our editors are committed to helping early-career and underrepresented authors navigate the review process, making Area the perfect outlet for emerging scholars and new debates. We award an annual prize for the best paper in the journal written by an early-career researcher. Indexing Information Abstracts on Hygiene & Communicable Diseases (CABI) Academic Search (EBSCO Publishing) Academic Search Alumni Edition (EBSCO Publishing) Academic Search Premier (EBSCO Publishing) Agricultural Engineering Abstracts (CABI) Arts & Humanities Citation Index (Clarivate Analytics) Astrophysics Data System (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory) BIAB: British & Irish Archaeological Bibliography (biab online) Biofuels Abstracts (CABI) CAB Abstracts® (CABI) Criminal Justice Abstracts (EBSCO Publishing) Current Contents: Social & Behavioral Sciences (Clarivate Analytics) ERA: Educational Research Abstracts Online (T&F) Excerpta Indonesica (KITLV & IIAS) GEOBASE (Elsevier) GeoRef (AGI) Global Health (CABI) Grasslands & Forage Abstracts (CABI) Helminthological Abstracts (CABI) IBR & IBZ: International Bibliographies of Periodical Literature (KG Saur) InfoTrac (GALE Cengage) Irrigation & Drainage Abstracts (CABI) Journal Citation Reports/Social Science Edition (Clarivate Analytics) Leisure Tourism Database (CABI) Leisure, Recreation & Tourism Abstracts (CABI) Maize Abstracts (CABI) Nutrition Abstracts & Reviews Series A: Human & Experimental (CABI) OmniFile Full Text Mega Edition (HW Wilson) Periodical Index Online (ProQuest) Pig News & Information (CABI) Plant Genetic Resources Abstracts (CABI) Postharvest News & Information (CABI) Poultry Abstracts (CABI) Rural Development Abstracts (CABI) SCOPUS (Elsevier) Social Sciences Citation Index (Clarivate Analytics) Soils & Fertilizers Abstracts (CABI) Studies on Women & Gender Abstracts (T&F) Sugar Industry Abstracts (CABI) Tropical Diseases Bulletin (CABI) Veterinary Bulletin (CABI) VINITI (All-Russian Institute of Science & Technological Information) Weed Abstracts (CABI) Wheat, Barley & Triticale Abstracts (CABI) World Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology Abstracts (CABI)
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): GEOGRAPHY
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Geographies of human-animal interactionsSocial Sciences12.1%
- Qualitative Research Methods and EthicsSocial Sciences8.5%
- Rural development and sustainabilityAgricultural and Biological Sciences7.4%
- Urban Planning and GovernanceSocial Sciences7.3%
- Historical Geography and Geographical ThoughtSocial Sciences6.8%
- Geography Education and PedagogySocial Sciences5.2%
- Participatory Visual Research MethodsSocial Sciences4.5%
- Geographic Information Systems StudiesSocial Sciences4.2%
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 | Geography | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Geography | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Geography | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
AHCICAB AbstractsGeoRefCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, Astrophysics Data System
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
- 2.28LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.4Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.8LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 4.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 4.8Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.84LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.04LetPub ·
- h-index
- 113OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,195OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.62OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 20.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 78.33%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 89LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2Publisher website ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 93Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 274,559Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,439 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 75 | 60 | 19 |
| 2025 | 101 | 83 | 146 |
| 2024 | 77 | 59 | 244 |
| 2023 | 62 | 56 | 379 |
| 2022 | 87 | 66 | 769 |
| 2021 | 81 | 47 | 1,136 |
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 156 days – 316 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 26 days (95 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 248 days
- Sample
- 94 articles with submission and acceptance dates (183 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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 24 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 59%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 59%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 72 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 72 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 210 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 24 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewLetPub
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
Fully open accessLetPub
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,760 / EUR 3,140 / GBP 2,520 | — | — | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Other fees
- Charged; see the journal's website for the amount
- Submission fee
- No submission fee
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)
What to prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 300 words
- Keywords
- 6
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 5,000 words
- Reference style
- Harvard
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Optional
Article types accepted8
- articlesArticles: Area papers should be concise and focused. They often do not require a long literature review section, but should focus on the key contributions of th…Length not stated
- commentariesCommentaries: Area welcomes commentaries that respond to a previously published Area article, engage with an aspect of the discipline of geography, or reflect o…Length not stated
- commentaryArticles: Area papers should be concise and focused. They often do not require a long literature review section, but should focus on the key contributions of th…Length not stated
- editorialArticles: Area papers should be concise and focused. They often do not require a long literature review section, but should focus on the key contributions of th…Length not stated
- ethics in and of geographical researchEthics in and of Geographical Research: Area welcomes submissions from across the geographical community that consider diverse, contemporary concerns that fall …Length not stated
- literature reviewArticles: Area papers should be concise and focused. They often do not require a long literature review section, but should focus on the key contributions of th…Length not stated
- reviewArticles: Area papers should be concise and focused. They often do not require a long literature review section, but should focus on the key contributions of th…Length not stated
- special sectionsSpecial Sections: Area welcomes proposals for Special Sections which will be assessed by the Editors. These normally consist of 5 to 7 papers and a short editor…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Peer review
- AI use 12. Use of AI in submissions and review
Please refer to our AI Policy and Guidance page here. All use of AI must be declared.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review 3. Peer Review
Double-blind peer review Model summary
Area uses double-blind peer review, which means the identities of authors and reviewers are not known to each other. Most papers will be sent to at least two external reviewers who will be asked to evaluate the extent to which papers make a substantial contribution to advancing geographical understanding. Please note that papers may be desk-rejected before peer review if they do not meet the crite…
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
- Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo
- Country or region
- Argentina
- Language
- Spanish
- ISSN
- 0004-0894
- Electronic ISSN
- 1475-4762
- Society / sponsor
- Royal Geographical Society
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 58, Issue 3 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Area
What CAS zone is Area in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Area is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Geography. 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 Area?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.28; CiteScore 4.8, h-index 113.
How long does peer review take at Area?
Based on the dates recorded on 94 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 217 days (interquartile range 156–316 days); authors report an average review time of about 24 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 59% (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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Area?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 300 words; Keywords: 6; Manuscript length: ≤ 5,000 words; Reference style: Harvard; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Cover letter: Optional. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Which databases index Area?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Area is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists AHCI, CAB Abstracts, GeoRef and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Area open access, and what is the APC?
Area is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,760.
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: .