Journal profile · SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY
Cogent Social Sciences
ISSN 2331-1886 · Taylor & Francis Group · United Kingdom
Cogent Social Sciences: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2 (journal website); JCR Q1 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 2,195; median 166 days to acceptance (139 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 21% (journal website); 515 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Cogent Social Sciences is published by Taylor & Francis Group 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 Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research, Agricultural Innovations and Practices and Digital Marketing and Social Media, together about 23.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Cogent Social Sciences is a multidisciplinary open access journal with a mission to make research and knowledge accessible to everyone without discrimination. Our vision is based on inclusivity, dissemination and the power of collective wisdom. The journal’s broad scope facilitates the discovery of connections between disciplines and communities. We strive to help researchers communicate with a global audience and interact with experts from across the social science community and beyond. Each submission is evaluated on its own scholarly merit and research integrity, and our expert academic editors take an objective and constructive approach to peer review. Article-level metrics let the research speak for itself. Cogent Social Sciences considers original research and review articles in the following sections and broad topical areas: Area Studies - African Studies Area Studies - Asian Studies Area Studies - Eurasian Studies Area Studies - Middle Eastern Studies Development Studies European Politics Gender Studies Geography Global Hospitality and Tourism Law, Criminology and Criminal Justice Leisure and Tourism Media and Communication Studies National Security Issues & Strategy Politics and International Relations Race and Ethnic Studies Risks and Disasters Sociology Sport Sport and Discrimination Sport and Psychoanalysis Water Resources Further scope for the newest sections to Cogent Social Sciences: European Politics This section seeks submissions that promote scholarly discourse and contribute to a better understanding of complex social, political, economic, geopolitical, and cultural dynamics within Europe. In particular, we prioritize submissions that offer novel research, be it empirical or theoretical. This section also welcomes inter- and multidisciplinary research that integrates scholarship from across social sciences. We encourage collaborative research that offers comparative analysis of European politics, especially as they are affected by policies of pan-European institutions, such as the European Union, and international alliances, such as NATO. Gender Studies This section examines contemporary global gender issues for its interdisciplinary readership. It emphasizes critical reflection in exploring gender-based inequalities and their relationship with other relevant social categories, such as, ethnicity, class, sexuality, disability and age. We welcome original research and reviews that illuminate and engage with gender inequity and discriminat
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY
Editor-in-chief Guangchao Charles FengPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 5%); most named United Kingdom 13, United States 8, Mainland China 2, Malaysia 2, Hong Kong, China 1 (40 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Diverse Aspects of Tourism ResearchSocial Sciences11.3%
- Agricultural Innovations and PracticesAgricultural and Biological Sciences6.3%
- Digital Marketing and Social MediaSocial Sciences5.9%
- Poverty, Education, and Child WelfareSocial Sciences5.8%
- Microfinance and Financial InclusionEconomics, Econometrics and Finance5.5%
- Political Conflict and GovernanceSocial Sciences3.9%
- Agricultural risk and resilienceAgricultural and Biological Sciences3.8%
- Crime Patterns and InterventionsSocial Sciences3.8%
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 | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | 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 Q1 · 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
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, CNKI, J-Gate, OCLC, Crossref, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS), Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), ProQuest Social Science Journals, CNKI Scholar, GoOA (National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Science), British Library, Cabell’s International, E-Lib Bremen, Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL), DTU Library, Ulrich’s, J-Gate Portal, Primo Central Index- Ex libris, WorldCat Discovery Services - OCLC, Taylor & Francis Online
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
- 2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 4.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.49LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.49Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.15LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.15Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 55OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 845OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.64OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 487LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 3,500,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,031 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 348 | 348 | 95 |
| 2025 | 515 | 515 | 1,428 |
| 2024 | 596 | 596 | 3,792 |
| 2023 | 502 | 502 | 4,667 |
| 2022 | 333 | 333 | 4,206 |
| 2021 | 142 | 142 | 2,327 |
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
166 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 133 days – 239 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 14 days (139 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 193 days
- Sample
- 139 articles with submission and acceptance dates (980 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 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 21%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 14 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review 2025
- 64 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 13 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 12 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
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 accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | USD 2,195 / GBP 1,756 / EUR 2,110 / AUD 3,060 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | GBP 950 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 1,680 / GBP 1,344 | Yes | — | |
| 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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Cogent Social Sciences is an open access journal and only publishes open access articles. 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 of your article Make an impact and reach new readers, not just those …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Rigorous peer review for every open access article Model summary
Rigorous peer review for every open access article
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 Group
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2331-1886
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 12, Issue 1 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Cogent Social Sciences
What CAS zone is Cogent Social Sciences in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Cogent Social Sciences is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary. 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 Cogent Social Sciences?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 2 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 4.2, h-index 55.
How long does peer review take at Cogent Social Sciences?
Based on the dates recorded on 139 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 166 days (interquartile range 133–239 days); authors report an average review time of about 12 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 21% (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 JCR quartile is Cogent Social Sciences in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1 (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 4 of Sociology.
Where are the editorial board members of Cogent Social Sciences based?
Of the 40 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 5%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (13), United States (8) and Mainland China (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Cogent Social Sciences?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Cogent Social Sciences is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Cogent Social Sciences open access, and what is the APC?
Cogent Social Sciences is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 2,195.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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: .