Journal profile · ARCHITECTURE
Design Issues
ISSN 0747-9360 · eISSN 1531-4790 · MIT Press
Design Issues: CAS Zone 4 · Arts (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.7 (journal website); subscription journal; 31 articles in 2025; indexed in AHCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Design Issues is published by MIT Press and is in Zone 4 of Arts in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Design Education and Practice, Crafts, Textile, and Design and Innovative Human-Technology Interaction, together about 33.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Visual Arts and Performing Arts. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The first American academic journal to examine design history, theory, and criticism, Design Issues provokes inquiry into the cultural and intellectual issues surrounding design. Regular features include theoretical and critical articles by professional and scholarly contributors, extensive book and exhibition reviews, and visual sequences. Special guest-edited issues concentrate on particular themes, such as design history, human-computer interface, service design, organization design, design for development, and product design methodology.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): ARCHITECTURE
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Design Education and PracticeEngineering15%
- Crafts, Textile, and DesignArts and Humanities10.7%
- Innovative Human-Technology InteractionComputer Science7.9%
- Cultural Industries and Urban DevelopmentSocial Sciences7.8%
- Architecture and Computational DesignEngineering6.3%
- Art, Politics, and ModernismArts and Humanities6.2%
- Art, Technology, and CultureArts and Humanities4.3%
- Visual Culture and Art TheoryArts and Humanities4.2%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Arts Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Arts | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Architecture | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Arts Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Arts | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Architecture | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Arts Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Arts | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Architecture | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
AHCIScopusLetPub
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 (publisher) 2025
- 0.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1.4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2024
- 17Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.15LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.13LetPub ·
- h-index
- 89OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 478OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.87OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 28.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 3.85%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 23LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,606 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 19 | 8 | 1 |
| 2025 | 31 | 11 | 9 |
| 2024 | 50 | 19 | 77 |
| 2023 | 48 | 21 | 153 |
| 2022 | 37 | 17 | 168 |
| 2021 | 45 | 19 | 178 |
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.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Subscription journalLetPub
A subscription journal: articles are read by subscription or purchase, and authors usually pay no publication charge.
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use
- AI use
No content may be used to train AI systems without written permission from the MIT Press. Model summary
No content on this site may be used to train artificial intelligence systems without permission in writing from the MIT Press.
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
- MIT Press
- ISSN
- 0747-9360
- Electronic ISSN
- 1531-4790
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 42, Issue 2 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Design Issues
What CAS zone is Design Issues in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Design Issues is in Zone 4 of Arts, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Architecture. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Arts. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Design Issues?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 0.7 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 1.4, h-index 89.
Which databases index Design Issues?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Design Issues is indexed in AHCI and Scopus.
Is Design Issues open access, and what is the APC?
Design Issues is a subscription journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .