Journal profile · POLITICAL SCIENCE
Comparative Political Studies
ISSN 0010-4140 · eISSN 1552-3829 · SAGE
Comparative Political Studies: CAS Zone 1 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 3.64; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,900; 84 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Comparative Political Studies is published by SAGE and is in Zone 1 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Electoral Systems and Political Participation, Political Conflict and Governance and Social Policy and Reform Studies, together about 41.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Research area (LetPub): POLITICAL SCIENCE
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Electoral Systems and Political ParticipationSocial Sciences18.4%
- Political Conflict and GovernanceSocial Sciences11.8%
- Social Policy and Reform StudiesSocial Sciences11.4%
- Political Influence and Corporate StrategiesBusiness, Management and Accounting5.8%
- Politics and Society in Latin AmericaSocial Sciences4.7%
- Populism, Right-Wing MovementsSocial Sciences4.7%
- Gender Politics and RepresentationSocial Sciences3.7%
- International Development and AidSocial Sciences3.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
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
- 3.64LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8.6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 3.8LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.89LetPub ·
- h-index
- 198OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,768OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.53OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 42.91%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 84LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,898 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 49 | 27 | 13 |
| 2025 | 84 | 54 | 190 |
| 2024 | 97 | 64 | 838 |
| 2023 | 95 | 62 | 1,331 |
| 2022 | 84 | 34 | 2,388 |
| 2021 | 70 | 34 | 3,580 |
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 PubMed · to
Too few articlesOnly 8 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".
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 3,900 / GBP 2,859 | — | — |
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.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- SAGE
- ISSN
- 0010-4140
- Electronic ISSN
- 1552-3829
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Comparative Political Studies
What CAS zone is Comparative Political Studies in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Comparative Political Studies is in Zone 1 of Sociology, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Political Science; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Comparative Political Studies?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.64; CiteScore 8.6, h-index 198.
Which databases index Comparative Political Studies?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Comparative Political Studies is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is Comparative Political Studies open access, and what is the APC?
Comparative Political Studies is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,900.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .