Journal profile · POLITICAL SCIENCE
Contemporary Political Theory
ISSN 1470-8914 · eISSN 1476-9336 · Springer Nature · 4 issues per year
Contemporary Political Theory: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.65; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,590; 44 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Contemporary Political Theory is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 3 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Political Philosophy and Ethics, Critical Theory and Philosophy and Political Economy and Marxism, together about 33.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations and Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Founded in the UK in 2002, Contemporary Political Theory has quickly established itself in the top rank of peer-reviewed journals in political theory and philosophy. Under new editorship in 2010, the journal is now based in both the USA and UK and reaches out to authors and readers in Europe, Asia and Oceania. It will continue, through a rigorous peer-review process, to seek out the very best work from the wide array of interests that constitute ‘contemporary political theory’: from post-structuralist thought to analytical philosophy, from feminist theory to international relations theory, from philosophies of the social sciences to the cultural construction of political theory itself. The editors welcome submissions from disciplines outside philosophy and political science, including but certainly not limited to: geography and anthropology, women’s studies and gender studies, cultural studies and economics, literary theory and film studies. Contemporary Political Theory publishes a challenging and eclectic mix of articles that contribute both to rethinking what political theory is and does, and to promoting lively engagements with contemporary global politics.
Source: LetPub
Research area (LetPub): POLITICAL SCIENCE
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Political Philosophy and EthicsSocial Sciences15.2%
- Critical Theory and PhilosophySocial Sciences9.8%
- Political Economy and MarxismSocial Sciences8.2%
- Hannah Arendt's Political PhilosophySocial Sciences7.3%
- Foucault, Power, and EthicsSocial Sciences5.8%
- Political Theology and SovereigntySocial Sciences4.9%
- Political Theory and InfluenceSocial Sciences3.8%
- Political and Economic history of UK and USSocial Sciences3.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview 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
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
- 1.65LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.4LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.51LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.64LetPub ·
- h-index
- 82OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 502OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.11OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 40.28%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 15LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,598 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 64 | 48 | 6 |
| 2025 | 44 | 36 | 27 |
| 2024 | 68 | 59 | 338 |
| 2023 | 65 | 49 | 715 |
| 2022 | 73 | 64 | 711 |
| 2021 | 75 | 56 | 1,409 |
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 7 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".
Other sources
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher 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 3,590 / EUR 2,890 / GBP 2,590 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Submission fee
- No submission fee
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 prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–200 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 10,000 words
- Reference style
- Harvard
- Cover letter
- Required
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
- 4 issues per year
- ISSN
- 1470-8914
- Electronic ISSN
- 1476-9336
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Contemporary Political Theory
What CAS zone is Contemporary Political Theory in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Contemporary Political Theory is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Political Science. 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 Contemporary Political Theory?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.65; CiteScore 2.4, h-index 82.
What are the manuscript requirements of Contemporary Political Theory?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–200 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 10,000 words; Reference style: Harvard; Cover letter: Required. 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.
Which databases index Contemporary Political Theory?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Contemporary Political Theory is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is Contemporary Political Theory open access, and what is the APC?
Contemporary Political Theory is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,590.
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: .