Journal profile · INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE
College & Research Libraries
ISSN 0010-0870 · eISSN 2150-6701 · Association of College and Research Libraries · United States
College & Research Libraries: CAS Zone 3 · Management (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.44; fully open access; no APC; review about 45 weeks (community reports); 52 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
College & Research Libraries is published by Association of College and Research Libraries and is in Zone 3 of Management in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Library Science and Information Literacy, Library Science and Administration and Library Collection Development and Digital Resources, together about 54.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Information Systems. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
College & Research Libraries includes articles in all fields of interest and concern to academic and research libraries. Well-written manuscripts on all aspects of academic and research librarianship will be considered. The focus of the journal is on reports of original research. Manuscripts may also include descriptive narratives of successful and unsuccessful ventures, thoughtful discussions of issues in librarianship, and other suitable subjects. The editor and the Editorial Board invite submissions relevant to the goals stated in the ACRL Plan for Excellence, as well as the research areas identified in ACRL White Papers and Reports.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE
Editor-in-chief Teresa AndersonPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Library Science and Information LiteracySocial Sciences22.4%
- Library Science and AdministrationSocial Sciences20.7%
- Library Collection Development and Digital ResourcesComputer Science11.5%
- Web and Library ServicesComputer Science9.9%
- Library Science and Information SystemsComputer Science5.8%
- Digital and Traditional Archives ManagementArts and Humanities3.9%
- Publishing and Scholarly CommunicationArts and Humanities3.9%
- Online and Blended LearningSocial Sciences1.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Management Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Information Science & Library Science | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Management Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Information Science & Library Science | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Management Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Information Science & Library Science | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- 1.44LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.7LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.48LetPub ·
- h-index
- 83OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,183OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.93OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 16.78%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 45LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 7,832 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 13 | 13 | 0 |
| 2025 | 52 | 52 | 57 |
| 2024 | 88 | 88 | 239 |
| 2023 | 93 | 93 | 279 |
| 2022 | 116 | 116 | 455 |
| 2021 | 104 | 104 | 604 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 45 weeksLetPub ·
- 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 accessOpenAlex
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
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 websiteAI use, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- AI use Generative AI Policy
The application and usage of Large Language Models (LLMs), Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI), and other Generative AI-assisted tools and technology (hereafter all terms are referred to as Gen AI) by scholars and authors continues to evolve as these tools and platforms develop and expand. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “Generative artificial intelligence [is] artificial intel…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright Notice
Author retains copyright; CC BY-NC 4.0 license Model summary
The agreement between ACRL and the author is a license to publish. The author retains copyright and thus is free to post the article on an institutional or personal repository subsequent to acceptance for publication in C&RL. All articles are published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License except as indicated. Thanks to support from ACRL, there are no article…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access Statement:
C&RL is an open access journal. All contents are freely available immediately to the public without charge. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full text of all contents. Authors retain their copyright and articles are published under a CC-BY-NC license.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Double-anonymous peer review Model summary
College & Research Libraries is a refereed journal using double-anonymous reviewing.
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
- Association of College and Research Libraries
- Country or region
- United States
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 0010-0870
- Electronic ISSN
- 2150-6701
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about College & Research Libraries
What CAS zone is College & Research Libraries in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, College & Research Libraries is in Zone 3 of Management, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Information Science & Library Science. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Management. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of College & Research Libraries?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.44; CiteScore 3.2, h-index 83.
How long does peer review take at College & Research Libraries?
Authors report an average review time of about 45 weeks. 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.
Which databases index College & Research Libraries?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, College & Research Libraries is indexed in SSCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is College & Research Libraries open access, and what is the APC?
College & Research Libraries is a fully open-access journal. It charges no article processing charge.
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: .