Journal profile · HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY
Chinese Semiotic Studies
ISSN 2198-9605 · eISSN 2198-9613 · Walter de Gruyter
Chinese Semiotic Studies: CAS Zone 4 · Philosophy (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.7 (journal website); subscription journal; APC charged, amount not published; 34 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Chinese Semiotic Studies is published by Walter de Gruyter and is in Zone 4 of Philosophy in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Language, Metaphor, and Cognition, Translation Studies and Practices and Pragmatism in Philosophy and Education, together about 32.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Language and Linguistics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
About this journal ObjectiveChinese Semiotic Studies (CSS) aims to advance the global dialogue on semiotics—broadly understood as the scientific and intellectual inquiry (à la C.S. Peirce) into meaning-making—by bridging Eastern and Western traditions in sign theory and cultural studies. Published by De Gruyter and sponsored by the International Institute for Semiotic Studies at Nanjing Normal University and the Chinese Association for Comparative Studies of Languages and Cultures, CSS holds the distinction of being China’s first international semiotics journal published in English.The journal is dedicated to exploring the interplay—both diachronic and synchronic—between Eastern and Western semiotic phenomena and sign theories, their reciprocal influences, and their applications in contemporary research across fields such as philosophy, anthropology, biology, cognition, neuroscience, psychology, art, linguistics, and literary theory. Through its rigorous peer-reviewed publications, CSS seeks to promote interdisciplinary scholarship, inspire innovative approaches to semiotic studies, and deepen the understanding of "humans as interpretive beings" across diverse cultural and academic contexts. TopicsComparative SemioticsComparative PhilosophyLiterary TheoryArt TheoryLinguistic StudiesArea StudiesAsian StudiesCulture StudiesArticle formats Original Research Articles, Review Articles, and Book Reviews.Open Access Starting with the 2024 volume, all new articles will be published in Open Access under the CC-BY license. For authors, the publication is free of charge. The archive volumes 2009 to 2023 are freely accessible via Free Access. History CSS was first published in September 2009. Since 2014, CSS has been co-published by De Gruyter Mouton and Nanjing Normal University in four issues per year. Other publications in the fieldJournals:Cognitive Semiotics Language and Semiotic Studies SemioticaBook series:Semiotics, Communication and Cognition [SCC]
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY
Editor-in-chief Duo XuPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Language, Metaphor, and CognitionPsychology13.9%
- Translation Studies and PracticesArts and Humanities10.4%
- Pragmatism in Philosophy and EducationArts and Humanities8.5%
- Discourse Analysis in Language StudiesArts and Humanities6.5%
- Semiotics and Representation StudiesArts and Humanities5.5%
- Media, Communication, and EducationSocial Sciences5.4%
- Historical Linguistics and Language StudiesArts and Humanities4.9%
- Philosophy and History of ScienceArts and Humanities4.2%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Philosophy Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Humanities, Multidisciplinary | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Philosophy Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Humanities, Multidisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Humanities, Multidisciplinary | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
ESCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
ProQuest, Baidu, OCLCPublisher website
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 (publisher)
- 0.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 0.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.23LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.6LetPub ·
- h-index
- 16OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 33OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.15OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 30LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 715 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 17 | 15 | 2 |
| 2025 | 34 | 30 | 32 |
| 2024 | 34 | 31 | 64 |
| 2023 | 43 | 42 | 61 |
| 2022 | 45 | 6 | 59 |
| 2021 | 40 | 9 | 69 |
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | EUR 0 | — | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Walter de Gruyter
- ISSN
- 2198-9605
- Electronic ISSN
- 2198-9613
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Chinese Semiotic Studies
What CAS zone is Chinese Semiotic Studies in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Chinese Semiotic Studies is in Zone 4 of Philosophy, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Humanities, Multidisciplinary. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Philosophy. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Chinese Semiotic Studies?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 0.7; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 1, h-index 16.
Which databases index Chinese Semiotic Studies?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Chinese Semiotic Studies is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Chinese Semiotic Studies open access, and what is the APC?
Chinese Semiotic Studies is a subscription journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website; 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: .