Journal profile · POLITICAL SCIENCE
Comparative European Politics
ISSN 1472-4790 · eISSN 1740-388X · Springer Nature · 6 issues per year
Comparative European Politics: CAS Zone 2 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.11; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,290; review about 12 days (submission to first decision, publisher); 39 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Comparative European Politics is published by Springer Nature 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 European Union Policy and Governance, Social Policy and Reform Studies and Populism, Right-Wing Movements, together about 47.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Comparative European Politics (CEP) arises out of a unique editorial partnership linking political scientists in Europe and North America. CEP defines its scope broadly to include the comparative politics and political economy of the whole of contemporary Europe within and beyond the European Union, the processes of European integration and enlargement and the place of Europe and European states within international/global political and economic dynamics. As the most regionally integrated political and economic space within the global system, Europe presents a particular opportunity to political scientists to explore the dynamic relationship between transnational, international and domestic processes and practices. The editors welcome original theoretical, empirical and theoretically-informed pieces which deal with these relationships. Such issues pose awkward questions about the limitations of existing disciplinary perspectives and theoretical conventions, requiring theoretical and methodological innovation and an ability to develop genuinely interdisciplinary approaches. CEP aims to publish exceptional work prepared to rise to this challenge. The journal is rigorously peer-reviewed. It neither reflects nor represents any particular school or approach, nor does it restrict itself to particular methodologies or theoretical perspectives. Rather, whilst promoting interdisciplinarity and a greater dialogue between the various sub-disciplines of European political analysis, Comparative European Politics publishes the best and most original work in the field. It publishes substantial articles marking either core empirical developments, theoretical innovation or, preferably, both. The journal particularly encourages pieces which seek to develop the link between substantive empirical investigations and theoretical elaboration and those which transcend the artificial separation of domestic, comparative and international analysis. The editors publish a limited number of debate pieces and review articles related to issues of contemporary theoretical and empirical controversy. Whether solicited or unsolicited these are exposed to the same exacting process of peer review.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): POLITICAL SCIENCE
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 10, United Kingdom 7, Germany 3, Italy 3, Spain 2 (29 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- European Union Policy and GovernanceSocial Sciences21.5%
- Social Policy and Reform StudiesSocial Sciences15.3%
- Populism, Right-Wing MovementsSocial Sciences10.7%
- Electoral Systems and Political ParticipationSocial Sciences9.8%
- Political Influence and Corporate StrategiesBusiness, Management and Accounting6%
- Political Systems and GovernanceSocial Sciences5.1%
- Migration, Refugees, and IntegrationSocial Sciences3.2%
- Housing, Finance, and NeoliberalismEconomics, Econometrics and Finance3%
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: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
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
- 2.11LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.8LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.01LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.38LetPub ·
- h-index
- 71OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 489OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.49OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 13.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 50.91%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 39LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 184,200Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 903 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 51 | 31 | 21 |
| 2025 | 39 | 22 | 69 |
| 2024 | 46 | 25 | 248 |
| 2023 | 48 | 26 | 351 |
| 2022 | 55 | 48 | 958 |
| 2021 | 41 | 28 | 826 |
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
Too few articlesOnly 1 articles from the last 24 months carry both submission and acceptance dates, too few for a median
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".
Figures by source
- Submission to first decision
- 12 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
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,290 / EUR 2,690 / GBP 2,390 | — | — |
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)
What to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–200 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- Harvard
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteLicense & copyright, Open access, Self-archiving
- License & copyright Copyright and Permissions
Using third-party material in your articleAuthors are responsible for ensuring that any third-party material (e.g. figures, tables, photos, illustrations, trade literature, or data) is not used without permission. If such material is copyrighted, permission must be obtained and submitted with the final manuscript. The Editor and Publisher must be informed of any restricted-use content at submissio…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access & Self Archiving
Self-archiving (green open access)Where articles are published via the subscription route, authors are permitted to self-archive the accepted manuscript (the version post-peer review, but prior to copy-editing and typesetting) on their own personal website and/or in their funder or institutional repositories, for public release after an embargo period of 12 months after first publication.Learn mor…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving Open Access & Self Archiving
Self-archiving (green open access)Where articles are published via the subscription route, authors are permitted to self-archive the accepted manuscript (the version post-peer review, but prior to copy-editing and typesetting) on their own personal website and/or in their funder or institutional repositories, for public release after an embargo period of 12 months after first publication.Learn mor…
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
- Springer Nature
- Frequency
- 6 issues per year
- ISSN
- 1472-4790
- Electronic ISSN
- 1740-388X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Comparative European Politics
What CAS zone is Comparative European Politics in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Comparative European Politics 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 Comparative European Politics?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.11; CiteScore 4.8, h-index 71.
How long does peer review take at Comparative European Politics?
The publisher reports about 12 days (submission to first decision); first decisions include desk rejections. 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 are the manuscript requirements of Comparative European Politics?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–200 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: Harvard. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Comparative European Politics based?
Of the 29 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (10), United Kingdom (7) and Germany (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Comparative European Politics?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Comparative European Politics is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Comparative European Politics open access, and what is the APC?
Comparative European Politics is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,290.
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: .