Comparative Southeast European Studies

Comparative Southeast European Studies is published by De Gruyter 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 Balkans: History, Politics, Society, Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics and Post-Communist Economic and Political Transition, together about 31.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)

About this journal The quarterly Comparative Southeast European Studies (COMPSEES) evolved into its new format from that of its predecessor Südosteuropa. Journal of Politics and Society. Since 2021 onwards, it has published both digitally, in Open Access, and in print, thereby becoming more easily accessible and even more visible internationally, not least in Southeastern Europe itself. From 2027 onwards, the use of each article will be governed by the Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY 4.0; Vol. 69/2021 - vol. 74/2026: CC BY NC ND).Comparative Southeast European Studies will continue to be a forum for scholars in Political Science, Sociology, Contemporary History, Anthropology, Economics, International Relations, Law Studies, Gender Studies, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, and related disciplines. Taking a comparative and broad multidisciplinary perspective it will explore critical processes and societal issues related to the area bounded by the eastern Adriatic, the easte rn Mediterranean, and the Black Sea. We use two formats to showcas e research. There are peer-reviewed research articles and a shorter format open to other text genres , which are presented under headings such as ‘Commentary’, ‘Interview’, ‘Background’, ‘Policy Analysis’, ‘Film in Focus’, ‘Debate’, ‘Spotlight’, ‘Book Symposium’, ‘The Making of...’, for example. This is a flexible section allowing us to address more immediately pertinent political, social, cultural, and academic matters. In addition, the Journal also features a book review section. The new name Comparative Southeast European Studies is the logical next step in the Journal’s evolution. After it was founded in 1952, for more than half a century its predecessor Südosteuropa served as a well-established policy advice journal monitoring events in the region, before in 2007 taking a turn towards becoming a research-oriented multidisciplinary forum of the social sciences. Since 2014 the Journal has been published exclusively in English. We have continued to work towards improving i ts quality, including by addressing the citation indices relevant in the field, as they increase the pool of p otential authors. A rigorous double-blind peer review regime has guided us while we have become more selective in what we publish. We prioritise work that is empirically and methodologically sound, well-written and jargon-free, thereby fostering interdisciplinary scholarly communication. We remain committed to broadening the range

From the journal's Aims & Scope

Research area (LetPub): AREA STUDIES

Editor-in-chief Sabine RutarPublisher website

CAS Journal Ranking

Database indexing

ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub

International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub

Indexing the journal's website claims

EBSCO, ProQuest, Baidu, OCLCPublisher website

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.

Impact

Impact factor (publisher)

0.8Publisher website · 2026-09-29

5-year impact factor (publisher)

0.9Publisher website · 2026-09-29

CiteScore 2026-06

1.9LetPub · 2026-09-13

CiteScore (publisher)

1.9Publisher website · 2026-09-29

SJR 2026-06

0.24LetPub · 2026-09-13

SNIP 2026-06

0.59LetPub · 2026-09-13

h-index

19OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

i10-index

53OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

2-year mean citedness

0.53OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

Self-citation rate

0%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Share of gold OA articles

100%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Volume

Articles per year

22LetPub · 2026-09-13

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.

Average review time (community reports)

about 18 weeksLetPub · 2026-09-13

Submission to publication (journal-reported)

about 18 weeksDOAJ · 2026-10-25

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.

• APC information ↗DOAJ
• Open access statement ↗DOAJ
• License & copyright ↗DOAJ

The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.

Publisher

De Gruyter

Country or region

Germany

Language

English

ISSN

2701-8199

Electronic ISSN

2701-8202

Official links

• Journal homepage ↗LetPub
• Submission system ↗Publisher website
• 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