Contemporary Security Policy

Contemporary Security Policy is published by Taylor & Francis 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 International Relations and Foreign Policy, Global Peace and Security Dynamics and Peacebuilding and International Security, together about 34.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)

One of the oldest peer-reviewed journals in international conflict and security, Contemporary Security Policy promotes theoretically-based research on policy problems of armed conflict, intervention and conflict resolution. Since it first appeared in 1980, CSP has established its unique place as a meeting ground for research at the nexus of theory and policy. Spanning the gap between academic and policy approaches, CSP offers policy analysts a place to pursue fundamental issues, and academic writers a venue for addressing policy. Major fields of concern include: War and armed conflict Peacekeeping Conflict resolution Arms control and disarmament Defense policy Strategic culture International institutions. CSP is committed to a broad range of intellectual perspectives. Articles promote new analytical approaches, iconoclastic interpretations and previously overlooked perspectives. Its pages encourage novel contributions and outlooks, not particular methodologies or policy goals. Its geographical scope is worldwide and includes security challenges in Europe, Africa, the Middle-East and Asia. Authors are encouraged to examine established priorities in innovative ways and to apply traditional methods to new problems. In addition to regular articles and book reviews, CSP features special issues and symposia on particular topics. Relying on solicited and unsolicited contributions, these apply academic analysis to cutting-edge debates previously beyond the purview of scholarly journals. Peer reviewed, special issues and symposia balance spontaneity and incisiveness with academic rigor. As an author, you are required to secure permission if you want to reproduce any figure, table, or extract from the text of another source. This applies to direct reproduction as well as "derivative reproduction" (where you have created a new figure or table which derives substantially from a copyrighted source). For further information and FAQs, please view these guidelines. Peer Review All submitted manuscripts are subject to initial appraisal by the editor-in-chief, and, if found suitable for further consideration, research articles are then subject to peer review by two or more independent, anonymous expert referees. The exact same procedure applies for manuscripts included in special issues, including the special issue introduction; those manuscripts are subject to peer review by two or more independent, anonymous expert referees. Shorter manuscripts included in special forums,

From the journal's Aims & Scope

Research area (LetPub): Multiple

CAS Journal Ranking

JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website

• JCR Q1 · best quartile · 2025
• CiteScore Q1 · 2025

Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website

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.

Impact

Impact factor

4.48LetPub · 2026-09-13

Impact factor (publisher) 2025

4.5Publisher website · 2026-09-29

5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025

4.9Publisher website · 2026-09-29

CiteScore 2026-06

9.7LetPub · 2026-09-13

CiteScore (publisher) 2025

9.7Publisher website · 2026-09-29

SJR 2026-06

2.22LetPub · 2026-09-13

SJR (publisher) 2025

2.22Publisher website · 2026-09-29

SNIP 2026-06

2.88LetPub · 2026-09-13

SNIP (publisher) 2025

2.88Publisher website · 2026-09-29

h-index

59OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

i10-index

388OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

2-year mean citedness

3.7OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

Self-citation rate

2.2%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Share of gold OA articles

38.46%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Volume

Articles per year

44LetPub · 2026-09-13

Downloads per year (publisher)

360,000Publisher website · 2026-09-29

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.

Figures by source

Acceptance rate (publisher)

11%Publisher website · 2026-09-29

Submission to first decision

4 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-29

First decision after review

44 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-29

Acceptance to publication

15 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-29

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.

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.

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.

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

ISSN

1352-3260

Electronic ISSN

1743-8764

Latest issue on the website

Volume 47, Issue 3 (2026)

Official links

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