Journal profile · LITERARY REVIEWS
Critical Quarterly
ISSN 0011-1562 · eISSN 1467-8705 · Wiley-Blackwell
Critical Quarterly: CAS Zone 3 · Literature (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.1 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC about USD 2,900; median 56 days to acceptance (71 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 27% (journal website); 50 articles in 2025; indexed in AHCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Critical Quarterly is published by Wiley-Blackwell and is in Zone 3 of Literature in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Poetry Analysis and Criticism, Irish and British Studies and Human auditory perception and evaluation, together about 31.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Literature and Literary Theory. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The journal addresses the whole range of cultural forms so that discussions of, for example, cinema and television can appear alongside analyses of the accepted literary canon. It is a necessary condition of debate in these areas that it should involve as many and as varied voices as possible, and Critical Quarterly welcomes submissions from new researchers and writers as well as more established contributors.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): LITERARY REVIEWS
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 22, United States 12, Sri Lanka 2, Germany 1, Netherlands 1 (38 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Poetry Analysis and CriticismArts and Humanities13.9%
- Irish and British StudiesSocial Sciences10.3%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering7.2%
- Contemporary Literature and CriticismArts and Humanities7%
- Scottish History and National IdentityArts and Humanities5.5%
- Educational Robotics and EngineeringComputer Science5.5%
- Political and Economic history of UK and USSocial Sciences5.1%
- Legal case studies and regulationsSocial Sciences4.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Literature Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Literature | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Literary Reviews | Zone 1 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Literature Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Literature | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Literary Reviews | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Literature Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Literature | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Literary Reviews | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
AHCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest
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)
- 0.1Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 0.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 0.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 0.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 0.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.1LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0LetPub ·
- h-index
- 39OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 204OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.04OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 58.62%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 44LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 50Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 65,985Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,668 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 24 | 15 | 0 |
| 2025 | 50 | 38 | 2 |
| 2024 | 56 | 39 | 3 |
| 2023 | 72 | 50 | 23 |
| 2022 | 58 | 19 | 26 |
| 2021 | 57 | 20 | 23 |
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
56 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 29 days – 114 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 24 days (71 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 86 days
- Sample
- 71 articles with submission and acceptance dates (91 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)
- 27%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 27%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 37 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 37 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 41 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 2,900 / EUR 2,400 / GBP 1,930 | — | — |
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)
What to prepare2 items from the author guidelines
- Keywords
- ≤ 7
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteData availability, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Data availability Data Sharing and Data Availability
This journal encourages/expects/mandates/mandates and peer reviews data sharing. Review Wiley’s Data Sharing policy where you will be able to see and select the data availability statement that is right for your submission.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright Transfer Agreement
If your paper is accepted, the author identified as the formal corresponding author for the paper will receive an email prompting them to login into Author Services; where via the Wiley Author Licensing Service (WALS) they will be able to complete the license agreement on behalf of all authors on the paper.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access For authors choosing Open Access
If the Open Access option is selected the corresponding author will have a choice of the following Creative Commons License Open Access Agreements (OAA):
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Submission and Peer Review Process
Once the submission materials have been prepared in accordance with the author guidelines, new submissions should be made via the Research Exchange submission portal: https://authors.wiley.com/journal/CRIQ.
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
- Wiley-Blackwell
- ISSN
- 0011-1562
- Electronic ISSN
- 1467-8705
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 68, Issue 2 (July 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Critical Quarterly
What CAS zone is Critical Quarterly in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Critical Quarterly is in Zone 3 of Literature, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Literary Reviews. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Literature. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Critical Quarterly?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 0.1 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 0.2, h-index 39.
How long does peer review take at Critical Quarterly?
Based on the dates recorded on 71 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 56 days (interquartile range 29–114 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 27% (2025). 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 Critical Quarterly?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Keywords: ≤ 7; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation. 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 Critical Quarterly based?
Of the 38 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (22), United States (12) and Sri Lanka (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Critical Quarterly?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Critical Quarterly is indexed in AHCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Critical Quarterly open access, and what is the APC?
Critical Quarterly is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 2,900.
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 2026-08-30). Last updated: .