Journal profile · ETHNIC STUDIES
BLACK SCHOLAR
ISSN 0006-4246 · eISSN 2162-5387 · Taylor & Francis
BLACK SCHOLAR: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.4 (journal website); subscription journal; APC charged, amount not published; review about 63 days (submission to first decision, publisher); acceptance rate 43% (journal website); 31 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
BLACK SCHOLAR is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 4 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Race, History, and American Society, Human auditory perception and evaluation and Diverse Scientific and Economic Studies, together about 42.6% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Launched in the USA in 1969 The Black Scholar (TBS) is the first modern black studies and research journal. It was founded on the premise that black writers, scholars, activists and artists could participate in dialogue within its pages. TBS' primary mission has been to chronicle, analyze and debate the conditions of and the emancipatory efforts by black people, against a multitude of oppressions that include and cross class, nationality, gender, generation, sexuality, and ideology. Due in part to the impact of the journal, Black Studies, Africana Studies, Diaspora Studies and other sub-disciplines have become legitimate spaces of scholarly inquiry. However there are few public intellectual spaces that focus on black thought, are dedicated to the new multiplicity of black perspectives (or perspectives on race) that have emerged through these disciplines, and engage with the new issues and concerns facing black communities worldwide. The Black Scholar is one of those spaces. Also, our rich mix of the scholarly and the artistic, the professional and the public/non-specialist, remains rare, as is our openness to different forms and techniques of political engagement. Building on the journal’s initial vision, TBS aims to not only “unite the academy and the street” but also participate in a global black intellectual and cultural world that has multiple contexts and a range of materials and opinions far greater than when the journal was founded. The journal continues to engage and cultivate differential black political conversations and cultural interests (African American, African, European, Latin American, for example) while maintaining its core commitment to tough minded thinking and an overall liberationist intent. This means that we welcome submissions (in English and in translation) from anywhere in the world as long as they meet the criteria articulated on our website or in the journal. Though TBS has always engaged issues of gender, a greater focus on sexuality is a part of our reimagining; and though the journal has always focused on race, class, power and culture, such debates have to be rendered contemporary. Of particular interest are submissions about the prison industrial complex, the current, often violent re-organization of the African continent, emerging sites and forms of struggle, new forms of popular culture and art throughout the black Diaspora, new migratory patterns, technology and social media, generational differences and sometimes quite
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): ETHNIC STUDIES
Editor-in-chief Michael SimangaPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 6 (6 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Race, History, and American SocietySocial Sciences22.5%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering10.4%
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance9.7%
- Educational Robotics and EngineeringComputer Science5.5%
- Caribbean history, culture, and politicsSocial Sciences5.2%
- Legal Cases and CommentaryMedicine4.9%
- African history and culture studiesSocial Sciences4.5%
- Poetry Analysis and CriticismArts and Humanities3.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Ethnic Studies | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Ethnic Studies | Zone 4 |
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
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
- 0.4Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 0.8LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 0.8Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.15LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.15Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 0.15Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 49OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 307OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.74OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 16LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 54,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,501 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 11 | 5 | 0 |
| 2025 | 31 | 5 | 23 |
| 2024 | 35 | 4 | 34 |
| 2023 | 28 | 3 | 15 |
| 2022 | 37 | 4 | 400 |
| 2021 | 42 | 4 | 226 |
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
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 43%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 63 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 162 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)
Article types accepted3
- creative or public piecesCreative or public pieces will also undergo a rigorous evaluation, but by members of our intellectual community whose work and interests are comparable to those…Length not stated
- essaysPeer reviewed pieces are listed as "articles" and non-peer reviewed pieces as "essays," except where it is generically obvious, as with interviews, poems, stori…Length not stated
- research articlesAll research articles in the journal will undergo a rigorous peer review based on initial editor evaluation and then at least two anonymous referees.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Open access: hybrid journal; authors can choose gold open access. Model summary
The Black Scholar 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 discoverability and reade…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Peer review policy: double-anonymous peer review with at least two referees after initial editor evaluation. Model summary
All research articles in the journal will undergo a rigorous peer review based on initial editor evaluation and then at least two anonymous referees. Creative or public pieces will also undergo a rigorous evaluation, but by members of our intellectual community whose work and interests are comparable to those of the work submitted.
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
- 0006-4246
- Electronic ISSN
- 2162-5387
- Society / sponsor
- Robert Chrisman Foundation
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 56, Issue 1 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about BLACK SCHOLAR
What CAS zone is BLACK SCHOLAR in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, BLACK SCHOLAR is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Ethnic Studies. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of BLACK SCHOLAR?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 0.4 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 0.8, h-index 49.
How long does peer review take at BLACK SCHOLAR?
The publisher reports about 63 days (submission to first decision); first decisions include desk rejections; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 43%. 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 BLACK SCHOLAR based?
Of the 6 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index BLACK SCHOLAR?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, BLACK SCHOLAR is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is BLACK SCHOLAR open access, and what is the APC?
BLACK SCHOLAR 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .