Journal profile · POLITICAL SCIENCE
Civil Wars
ISSN 1369-8249 · eISSN 1743-968X · Taylor & Francis
Civil Wars: CAS Zone 2 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.7 (journal website); JCR Q2 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 351 days to acceptance (42 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 28% (journal website); 28 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Civil Wars is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 2 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Political Conflict and Governance, Peacebuilding and International Security and Global Peace and Security Dynamics, together about 42.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Civil Wars publishes original scholarship on all aspects of intrastate conflict, including its causes and nature, and the factors which help to explain its onset, duration, intensity, termination and recurrence. It also publishes work which explores the epistemology of scholarship on intrastate conflict and contributes to debates about the politics, sociology and economics of civil wars, and the significance of intrastate conflict for international relations. The journal has a broad intellectual remit designed to be multidisciplinary and open to a range of different academic methodologies and interests. It welcomes work on specific armed conflicts and micro-analysis, on broad patterns of civil wars, and on historical perspectives as well as contemporary challenges. It also seeks to explore the policy implications of conflict analysis, especially as it relates to international security, conflict prevention and resolution, intervention and peacebuilding. Civil Wars will be required reading for students and scholars of armed conflict and international relations, and, given its policy relevance, will be of interest to those in government, international organisations and the military. Peer Review: All submitted manuscripts are subject to initial appraisal by the editors, and, if found suitable for further consideration, research (and practitioner note) articles are then subject to rigorous, double anonymized peer review by at least two referees. For special issues, proposals are first reviewed by the editors and the Editorial Board (or a sub-set of the Board) and if found suitable for taking forward, all special issue articles (including introductions) will be subject to rigorous, double anonymized peer review by at least two referees. Book reviews do not go through peer review but are reviewed instead by the journal's Book Reviews team. Civil Wars aims to be an inclusive journal and actively strives for equality, diversity and representation in our authorship and Editorial Board. We try to avoid all-male line-ups where possible and strongly encourage submissions from scholars in the Global South and from underrepresented groups.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): POLITICAL SCIENCE
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 2, Finland 1 (3 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Political Conflict and GovernanceSocial Sciences19.6%
- Peacebuilding and International SecuritySocial Sciences14.6%
- Global Peace and Security DynamicsSocial Sciences8.2%
- Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle EastSocial Sciences7.3%
- Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political ViolenceSocial Sciences6.2%
- Historical and Contemporary Political DynamicsArts and Humanities3.5%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering3.2%
- Educational Robotics and EngineeringComputer Science3.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 3 |
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: 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
- JCR Q2 · best quartile · 2025
- CiteScore Q1 · 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
Indexing the journal's website claims
ABC-CLIO - Historical Abstracts, ABC-CLIO - America: History and LifePublisher 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) 2025
- 1.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.8LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 2.8Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.5LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.5Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.82LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 0.82Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 47OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 317OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.11OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 17.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 28.57%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 22LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 134,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 939 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 38 | 20 | 10 |
| 2025 | 28 | 14 | 43 |
| 2024 | 45 | 19 | 70 |
| 2023 | 65 | 36 | 315 |
| 2022 | 23 | 12 | 123 |
| 2021 | 31 | 11 | 312 |
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
351 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 255 days – 521 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 86 days (42 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 394 days
- Sample
- 42 articles with submission and acceptance dates (80 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)
- 28%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 107 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 141 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 109 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 accepted4
- book reviewsBook reviews do not go through peer review but are reviewed instead by the journal's Book Reviews team.Length not stated
- practitioner notesresearch (and practitioner note) articles are then subject to rigorous, double anonymized peer review by at least two refereesLength not stated
- research articlesresearch (and practitioner note) articles are then subject to rigorous, double anonymized peer review by at least two refereesLength not stated
- special issue articlesall special issue articles (including introductions) will be subject to rigorous, double anonymized peer review by at least two refereesLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Civil Wars 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 readership o…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Peer review policy: initial editor appraisal; double anonymized peer review by at least two referees for research and practitioner note articles. Model summary
All submitted manuscripts are subject to initial appraisal by the editors, and, if found suitable for further consideration, research (and practitioner note) articles are then subject to rigorous, double anonymized peer review by at least two referees.
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
- 1369-8249
- Electronic ISSN
- 1743-968X
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 28, Issue 1 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Civil Wars
What CAS zone is Civil Wars in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Civil Wars is in Zone 2 of Sociology, and in Zone 3 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 Civil Wars?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.7 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 2.8, h-index 47.
How long does peer review take at Civil Wars?
Based on the dates recorded on 42 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 351 days (interquartile range 255–521 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 28%. 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 JCR quartile is Civil Wars in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q2 (best quartile). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 2 of Sociology.
Where are the editorial board members of Civil Wars based?
Of the 3 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (2) and Finland (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Civil Wars?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Civil Wars is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Civil Wars open access, and what is the APC?
Civil Wars is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .