Journal profile · SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY
Contemporary Social Science
ISSN 2158-2041 · eISSN 2158-205X · Taylor & Francis
Contemporary Social Science: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 6.2 (journal website); JCR Q1 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 153 days to acceptance (81 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 13% (journal website); 48 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Contemporary Social Science is published by Taylor & Francis 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 Social Policy and Reform Studies, Youth Education and Societal Dynamics and Employment and Welfare Studies, together about 24.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science and Political Science and International Relations. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Contemporary Social Science is an international, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to advancing theoretically informed and empirically grounded social science that addresses pressing contemporary issues across societies, economies, and institutions. Reflecting the objectives of the Academy of Social Sciences to promote social sciences for public benefit, papers should include some indication of their impact for policy and/or practice. The journal provides a distinctive interdisciplinary forum for research that connects social theory, historical analysis, and empirical investigation, with particular relevance to debates in public policy, political economy, governance, institutional analysis, management and organisation studies. It publishes work that deepens understanding of how social, economic, organisational, and political processes are shaped, contested, and transformed over time. Contemporary Social Science welcomes contributions from across the breadth of the social sciences. This includes but is not exclusive to sociology, business, organisation and management studies, political science, economics, social policy, public policy, human geography, science and technology studies and social health and behavioural studies. We are currently particularly interested in research that: develops or critically engages with social and organisational theory; examines institutions, power, governance, and forms of organisation across sectors; explores the social and historical foundations of capitalism, markets, and management; bridges disciplinary boundaries to generate new conceptual or analytical insights; situates contemporary phenomena within longer-term historical, comparative, or global perspectives. highlights the implications of work for policy, business and professional practice. The journal publishes original research articles, theoretically driven papers, historically informed analyses, and critical interventions, as well as special issues that shape and advance interdisciplinary debate. While firmly rooted in the social sciences, Contemporary Social Science actively encourages submissions that speak across disciplines and engage audiences in Business schools, Public Policy and beyond. By fostering rigorous scholarship that combines theoretical ambition, methodological pluralism, and interdisciplinary reach, Contemporary Social Science aims to contribute to ongoing conversations about how societies, organisations, and institutions are understood and governe
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 4%); most named United Kingdom 31, United States 5, Hong Kong, China 3, Italy 3, Mainland China 2 (56 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Social Policy and Reform StudiesSocial Sciences9.2%
- Youth Education and Societal DynamicsSocial Sciences8.8%
- Employment and Welfare StudiesHealth Professions6.6%
- Housing, Finance, and NeoliberalismEconomics, Econometrics and Finance5.5%
- Social Media and PoliticsSocial Sciences5.3%
- Intergenerational Family Dynamics and CaregivingSocial Sciences4.9%
- Regional Development and PolicySocial Sciences4.5%
- Sport and Mega-Event ImpactsSocial Sciences4.3%
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 | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
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
ESCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
CommunityWise, Current Abstracts, International Political Science Abstracts, SocIndex, Swets Information ServicePublisher 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.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 6.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 6.5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.88LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.88Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.09LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.09Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 50OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 308OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.74OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 48.4%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 47.66%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 38LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 222,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 703 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 38 | 23 | 10 |
| 2025 | 48 | 26 | 77 |
| 2024 | 43 | 30 | 525 |
| 2023 | 34 | 31 | 551 |
| 2022 | 24 | 13 | 180 |
| 2021 | 35 | 12 | 467 |
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
153 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 102 days – 207 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 16 days (81 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 172 days
- Sample
- 81 articles with submission and acceptance dates (88 in the window); the latest was accepted on
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
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 13%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 8 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 65 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 13 daysPublisher 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Article types accepted5, with length limits
- commentarieswith Commentaries between 2,000-4,000 wordsLength not stated
- commentarybe between 4,000 to 10,000 words, with Commentaries between 2,000-4,000 words. Proposals for themes that incorporate a variety of socialmain text ≤ 4,000 words
- original articlend other publications are also welcome. Original Articles and Review Papers should be between 4,000 to 10,000 words, with Commentaries between 2,000-4,000 words…main text ≤ 10,000 words
- original articlesOriginal Articles and Review Papers should be between 4,000 to 10,000 wordsLength not stated
- review papersOriginal Articles and Review Papers should be between 4,000 to 10,000 wordsLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Contemporary Social Science is a hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Model summary
Contemporary Social Science is a hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open access? Increase the discoverability…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
All contributions will be anonymously peer reviewed to determine both academic excellence and the accessibility of the material to non-specialists in social sciences other than the authors. Model summary
All contributions will be anonymously peer reviewed to determine both academic excellence and the accessibility of the material to non-specialists in social sciences other than the authors.
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
- Taylor & Francis
- ISSN
- 2158-2041
- Electronic ISSN
- 2158-205X
- Society / sponsor
- Academy of Social Sciences
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 21, Issue 1 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Contemporary Social Science
What CAS zone is Contemporary Social Science in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Contemporary Social Science is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary. 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 Contemporary Social Science?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 6.2 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 6.5, h-index 50.
How long does peer review take at Contemporary Social Science?
Based on the dates recorded on 81 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 153 days (interquartile range 102–207 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 13%. 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 JCR quartile is Contemporary Social Science in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1 (best quartile). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 3 of Sociology.
Where are the editorial board members of Contemporary Social Science based?
Of the 56 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 4%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (31), United States (5) and Hong Kong, China (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Contemporary Social Science?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Contemporary Social Science is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Contemporary Social Science open access, and what is the APC?
Contemporary Social Science is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, 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: .