Journal profile
Critical Social Work
ISSN 1543-9372 · University of Windsor · Canada
Critical Social Work: diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 6 weeks (community reports); 0 articles in 2025.
The latest issue on the journal's website is from 2024 (Volume 25, Issue 2): the journal may have stopped publishing or moved platform in the last two years. Check its website before submitting.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Critical Social Work is published by University of Windsor. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Social Work Education and Practice, Social Sciences and Policies and Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology, together about 51% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Critical Social Work offers the opportunity for constructive dialogue in the interest of achieving social justice. We recognize the historical nature of both human capability and social justice. With such recognition, we do not attempt a definitive definition of either. In part the goal of Critical Social Work is to assist us collectively in recognizing the current potentials for social justice as well as the future possibilities. Further, we recognize that a contemporary definition of social justice must deal with the issues of legal, moral, and economic obligation of both the individual and the collective. We propose that through dialogue there exists the possibility of refining our ideas about the individual and community, clarifying the relationship between interpersonal relations and institutional structures, and identifying actions that promote both individual and community well-being. To this end Critical Social Work strives, for this is surely critical social work, that is, activity directed towards establishing essential judgments in constructing a sustaining context for conviviality.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Editor-in-chief G. Brent AngellPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 6, United Kingdom 1, Canada 1 (8 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Social Work Education and PracticeSocial Sciences30.8%
- Social Sciences and PoliciesSocial Sciences14%
- Religion, Spirituality, and PsychologySocial Sciences6.3%
- Indigenous Health, Education, and RightsSocial Sciences5.3%
- Racial and Ethnic Identity ResearchSocial Sciences4.3%
- Social Movements and Cultural IdentitySocial Sciences3.8%
- Workplace Spirituality and LeadershipSocial Sciences3.5%
- Critical Race Theory in EducationSocial Sciences3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
DOAJLetPub
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
- h-index
- 24OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 62OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.79OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 231 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 0 | 0 | 124 |
| 2025 | 0 | 0 | 235 |
| 2024 | 19 | 19 | 169 |
| 2023 | 7 | 7 | 150 |
| 2022 | 11 | 11 | 142 |
| 2021 | 6 | 6 | 164 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 6 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 6 weeksDOAJ ·
- 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.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY-NC-ND | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
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 prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 120–250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 3
- Reference style
- APA
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics
- Publication ethics PUBLICATION ETHICS
CSW takes seriously issues of publication ethics. The following are core tenets in this regard:
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
- University of Windsor
- Country or region
- Canada
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1543-9372
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 25, Issue 2 (2024)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Critical Social Work
How long does peer review take at Critical Social Work?
Authors report an average review time of about 6 weeks. 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 Social Work?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 120–250 words; Keywords: ≥ 3; Reference style: APA. 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 Social Work based?
Of the 8 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (6), United Kingdom (1) and Canada (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Critical Social Work?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Critical Social Work is indexed in DOAJ.
Is Critical Social Work open access, and what is the APC?
Critical Social Work is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, 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 2026-08-30). Last updated: .