Journal profile · ANTHROPOLOGY
Cultural Anthropology
ISSN 0886-7356 · eISSN 1548-1360 · American Anthropological Association · United States
Cultural Anthropology: CAS Zone 1 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 1.57; diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 52 weeks (community reports); 34 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Cultural Anthropology is published by American Anthropological Association 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 Anthropological Studies and Insights, Geographies of human-animal interactions and Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies, together about 41.5% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Cultural Anthropology publishes field-expanding ethnographic writing grounded in historical and disciplinary debates, innovative in form and content, and focused on both traditional and emerging topics. The editors also encourage authors to submit manuscripts that engage the history of cultural anthropology and related disciplines, provided that they speak to the broader thematics of area studies and ethnographic theory. In terms of methodologies, manuscripts concerning creative works, research design, and the anthropology of archives are also welcomed. The editors take an active role in developing content and seek to ensure its relevance and quality across the journal’s varied platforms.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): ANTHROPOLOGY
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Anthropological Studies and InsightsSocial Sciences25.4%
- Geographies of human-animal interactionsSocial Sciences9.6%
- Southeast Asian Sociopolitical StudiesSocial Sciences6.6%
- Social and Cultural DynamicsSocial Sciences5%
- Anthropology: Ethics, History, CultureSocial Sciences4.9%
- Culinary Culture and TourismAgricultural and Biological Sciences3.9%
- Vietnamese History and Culture StudiesSocial Sciences3.3%
- Rhetoric and Communication StudiesArts and Humanities3.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Anthropology | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Anthropology | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Anthropology | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- Impact factor
- 1.57LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.79LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.48LetPub ·
- h-index
- 152OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 838OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.95OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 98.67%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 29LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,014Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,473 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 53 | 53 | 3 |
| 2025 | 34 | 34 | 56 |
| 2024 | 30 | 30 | 52 |
| 2023 | 26 | 26 | 104 |
| 2022 | 44 | 44 | 438 |
| 2021 | 40 | 40 | 859 |
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 52 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 52 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 | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Submission fee
- USD 25
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 prepare6 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 150 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 5
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 9,000 words
- Reference style
- Chicago
- Cover letter
- Required
- Not considered
- special issues; book reviews
Article types accepted2
- research articlesResearch Articles A research article submitted to Cultural Anthropology should:Length not stated
- short-form essaysShort-Form Essays Colloquy is a section of Cultural Anthropology that features guest-edited collections of 3–5 short-form essays (roughly 2,000 words each)Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review
- Publication ethics
Plagiarism policy Model summary
Cultural Anthropology takes plagiarism very seriously, and asks authors to be sure that they have properly acknowledged the scholarly work of others. Failure to do so can be considered grounds for the rejection of a submitted article.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright
CC BY-NC 4.0 license Model summary
As of 2023, Cultural Anthropology will be published under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license, meaning all CA authors will retain their copyright and the published version of the article is freely available to download, save, reproduce, and transmit for noncommercial, scholarly, and educational purposes under the Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 license.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access
In 2014, Cultural Anthropology went open access, which means that all articles published since 2014 are freely available on the Cultural Anthropology website immediately upon publication. Articles published before 2014 are available at Wiley Online Library to members of the American Anthropological Association and institutional subscribers. As of 2019, Cultural Anthropology is published using Open…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Our Review Process
No special issues or book reviews Model summary
All manuscripts are given an initial review by the editorial collective within 2–3 weeks of their submission. At that point, the editors will either inform the author that the article has been declined or will initiate the journal’s double-blind peer review process. Each article sent out for review is sent to two or three reviewers, who are selected by the journal’s editorial board and are asked t…
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
- American Anthropological Association
- Country or region
- United States
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 0886-7356
- Electronic ISSN
- 1548-1360
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Cultural Anthropology
What CAS zone is Cultural Anthropology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Cultural Anthropology is in Zone 1 of Sociology, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Anthropology; it is a Top journal. 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 Cultural Anthropology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.57; CiteScore 2.5, h-index 152.
How long does peer review take at Cultural Anthropology?
Authors report an average review time of about 52 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 Cultural Anthropology?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 150 words; Keywords: ≥ 5; Manuscript length: ≤ 9,000 words; Reference style: Chicago; Cover letter: Required. 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.
Which databases index Cultural Anthropology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Cultural Anthropology is indexed in SSCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Cultural Anthropology open access, and what is the APC?
Cultural Anthropology 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, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .