Journal profile · DEMOGRAPHY
Comparative Population Studies
ISSN 1869-8980 · eISSN 1869-8999 · Federal Institute for Population Research · Germany
Comparative Population Studies: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.3 (journal website); diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 26 weeks (community reports); acceptance rate 29% (journal website); 17 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Comparative Population Studies is published by Federal Institute for Population Research 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 Family Dynamics and Relationships, Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving and Global Health Care Issues, together about 27.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Demography. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Comparative Population Studies (CPoS) is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal of population studies and demography. CPoS is an online open-access journal (CC BY-SA) and publishes articles on a continuous rolling basis. Publishing in CPoS is completely free of charge, including colour figures. The journal offers free language editing and high-quality layout support for accepted manuscripts. CPoS welcomes submissions in two categories: research articles (traditional journal papers) and demographic trends around the globe (shorter papers presenting new descriptive findings). Topics published in CPoS include, but are not limited to: family and fertility, ageing and mortality, health and wellbeing, migration and mobility, and population structure and development. CPoS has a focus on comparative research but we also welcome submissions without a comparative focus that address a research question with high relevance for population studies. Nevertheless, we have a special interest in publishing comparative studies and comparative research methods. We believe the opportunity for comparative studies in the sense of cross-regional comparisons has never been greater, since harmonized data for comparisons become increasingly available (IPUMS, Gateway to Global Aging Data, DHS, GGS, Share, etc.). At the same time comparisons can mean a lot: comparisons across time, across countries, across the life course, across social and demographic groups, etc. We aim to promote all of these different kinds of comparisons and explicitly want to encourage authors to strengthen the comparative features of their work in their submission to CPoS. CPoS publishes 1-2 special issues per year coordinated by guest editors. If you are interested in submitting a proposal for a special issue, please contact the Managing Editor. Formerly known as Zeitschrift für Bevölkerungswissenschaft (1975 - 2010), CPoS is published by the German Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) since 2010. The journal has an international scientific advisory board that meets once a year to give strategic advice. Please go to submissions for more information on the submission process.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): DEMOGRAPHY
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Germany 10, United Kingdom 1, Spain 1, Australia 1, Switzerland 1 (15 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Family Dynamics and RelationshipsSocial Sciences11.9%
- Intergenerational Family Dynamics and CaregivingSocial Sciences8%
- Global Health Care IssuesHealth Professions7.4%
- Migration and Labor DynamicsSocial Sciences6.8%
- Demographic Trends and Gender PreferencesSocial Sciences5.9%
- Insurance, Mortality, Demography, Risk ManagementSocial Sciences5.6%
- Gender, Labor, and Family DynamicsSocial Sciences5.3%
- Migration, Aging, and Tourism StudiesSocial Sciences4.6%
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 | Demography | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Demography | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
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 (publisher) 2025
- 2.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.48LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.81LetPub ·
- h-index
- 29OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 103OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.36OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 8.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 12LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 310 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 20 | 20 | 2 |
| 2025 | 17 | 17 | 7 |
| 2024 | 18 | 18 | 66 |
| 2023 | 29 | 29 | 217 |
| 2022 | 19 | 19 | 132 |
| 2021 | 20 | 20 | 251 |
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 26 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2024
- 29%Publisher website ·
- Submission to publication
- 360 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 26 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double 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
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY-SA | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — |
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
- Keywords
- ≤ 5
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Code availability, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints
- AI use Use of Artificial Intelligence in Submitted Manuscripts
Generative AI use must be disclosed in a dedicated subsection Model summary
Authors remain fully responsible for the content, accuracy, and integrity of the manuscripts they submit to CPoS, including any text, data, citations, or figures prepared with the help of generative AI tools. If AI tools have been used in the preparation of a manuscript, authors must disclose this in a short dedicated subsection titled "Use of Generative AI", placed after the Acknowledgements and …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship
One submission per author per year Model summary
Please note that we only accept one submission by the same author per year.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Code availability Data and Code Availability
CPoS supports reproducible research and asks authors to include a "Data and Code Availability Statement" in a separate section placed after the Acknowledgements (and the Use of Generative AI declaration, where applicable) and before the References. The statement should describe what data and code underpin the analysis, where they can be accessed, and under what conditions. Where data or code are o…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability
Data and Code Availability Statement required Model summary
CPoS supports reproducible research and asks authors to include a "Data and Code Availability Statement" in a separate section placed after the Acknowledgements (and the Use of Generative AI declaration, where applicable) and before the References.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
Right to withdraw articles for non-compliance or misconduct Model summary
CPoS reserves the right to withdraw articles without the consent of the authors if they do not comply with the author guidelines or good scientific conduct according to the rules stated in the Code of Good Academic Practice and Regulations on Academic Misconduct at the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright Notice
From volume 2016 onwards, CPoS is published under a Creative Commons BY-SA license: open access with attribution of the source and distribution of derived content only under the same license.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
Creative Commons BY-SA open access license Model summary
CPoS is published on a continuous rolling basis. Articles are freely accessible online. Publication is free of charge for authors. Articles finally approved by the corresponding author and the managing editors will be published online. An annual printed full colour version is available for cooperating institutions and libraries and will be distributed at the beginning of the following year. Librar…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review Process
Double-blind peer review (anonymized submissions) Model summary
Each submitted manuscript will undergo a standard double blind peer review process that evaluates the submission based on the following criteria: the originality of its contribution to the interdisciplinary field of population studies and demography; the soundness of its theory and methodology given the topic; the coherence of its analysis; its fit with the journal’s scope; its ability to communic…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism
Plagiarism check via Crossref Similarity Check (iThenticate) Model summary
All manuscripts will undergo a plagiarism check based on Crossref Similarity Check powered by iThenticate.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints
Preprints/working papers accepted with editor notification Model summary
CPoS accepts manuscripts which have been published as a working paper or on an archiving platform but the editor should be informed.
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
- Federal Institute for Population Research
- Country or region
- Germany
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1869-8980
- Electronic ISSN
- 1869-8999
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 51 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Comparative Population Studies
What CAS zone is Comparative Population Studies in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Comparative Population Studies is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Demography. 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 Comparative Population Studies?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 2.3 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 3.6, h-index 29.
How long does peer review take at Comparative Population Studies?
Authors report an average review time of about 26 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 29% (2024). 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 Population Studies?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Keywords: ≤ 5; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: Author–date. 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 Population Studies based?
Of the 15 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Germany (10), United Kingdom (1) and Spain (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Comparative Population Studies?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Comparative Population Studies is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Comparative Population Studies open access, and what is the APC?
Comparative Population Studies is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
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: .