Critical Studies on Terrorism

Critical Studies on Terrorism is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 2 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence, Political Conflict and Governance and Global Security and Public Health, together about 54.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)

Critical Studies on Terrorism is an international, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal. The journal seeks to publish quality research on all aspects of terrorism, counter-terrorism and state terror. All submitted manuscripts are subject to an initial anonymized peer -review by the Editors, and, if found suitable for further consideration, to a second peer -review by independent, anonymous expert referees. Submission is by email. Critical Studies on Terrorism aims to create space for robust, innovative research on terrorism and political violence, and encourages fruitful intellectual engagement between critical and orthodox accounts of terrorism. In particular, the Editors are looking for empirical, theoretical and policy-oriented articles that recognise the inherently problematic nature of the terrorism label, employ a critical-normative perspective broadly defined, and challenge accepted orthodoxies. Research on terrorism employing methodological and disciplinary perspectives from outside the political science and international relations paradigms is especially encouraged. Critical Studies on Terrorism provides a forum for the publication of original theoretical and empirical research articles, disciplinary debates and assessments, editorial commentary, special issues and sections, research notes, announcements and book reviews. Critical Studies on Terrorism will be of interest to practitioners and scholars from a wide variety of disciplines, including: political science, security studies, international relations, sociology, psychology, history, applied philosophy, religious studies, law, criminology, anthropology, communication, media studies, cultural studies, gender studies, conflict resolution, development studies and area studies, among others. Peer Review All submitted manuscripts are subject to initial appraisal by two editors, and, if found suitable for further consideration, research articles are then subject to peer review by two or more independent, anonymous expert referees. Review articles, commentaries and book reviews are reviewed by the journal editors only. All peer review is double anonymized and submission is online via ScholarOne Manuscripts. For special issues and special sections, peer review is the responsibility of the guest editors, but journal support is available and final manuscripts are reviewed by the editors before final acceptance.

From the journal's Aims & Scope

Research area (LetPub): POLITICAL SCIENCE

Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 2, Australia 1, Portugal 1 (4 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website · 2026-10-01

CAS Journal Ranking

JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website

• JCR Q2 · 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

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 (publisher) 2025

1.5Publisher website · 2026-10-01

5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025

1.9Publisher website · 2026-10-01

CiteScore 2026-06

5.1LetPub · 2026-09-13

CiteScore (publisher) 2025

5.1Publisher website · 2026-10-01

SJR 2026-06

1LetPub · 2026-09-13

SJR (publisher) 2025

1Publisher website · 2026-10-01

SNIP 2026-06

1.42LetPub · 2026-09-13

SNIP (publisher) 2025

1.42Publisher website · 2026-10-01

h-index

43OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

i10-index

300OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

2-year mean citedness

2.24OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

Self-citation rate

20%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Share of gold OA articles

27.78%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Volume

Articles per year

26LetPub · 2026-09-13

Downloads per year (publisher)

292,000Publisher website · 2026-10-01

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.

Other sources

Acceptance rate (publisher)

21%Publisher website · 2026-10-01

Submission to first decision

65 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-01

First decision after review

125 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-01

Acceptance to publication

21 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-01

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

1753-9153

Electronic ISSN

1753-9161

Latest issue on the website

Volume 19, Issue 3 (2026)

Official links

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