Distinktion-Journal of Social Theory

Distinktion-Journal of Social Theory is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 3 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Social and Cultural Dynamics, Critical Theory and Philosophy and Foucault, Power, and Ethics, together about 20.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)

Guided by the principle that it is via distinction and difference that liberal modernity is made, maintained, and can be challenged, Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory publishes research at the cutting edge of social theory. Since its founding in 2000, Distinktion has fostered international critical scholarship and exchange in a postfoundational key. It adopts a broad view of social theory that undermines disciplinary boundaries and works to include perspectives outside of the Global North. Distinktion publishes three yearly issues and welcomes research articles and review papers as well as proposals for special issues and forum exhanges that work at the intersection of cultural, economic, philosophical, political, psychoanalytical and sociological construction and which contribute to the comprehension of our current social situation. 'I think that Distinktion is an excellent journal - it's very stimulating and thoughtful and it certainly deserves to receive a wide international readership.' Chris Thornhill, Professor of European Political Thought, University of Glasgow, UK 'While Distinktion occupies the same general scholarly area as some other periodicals, it represents a unique blend of political and social theory and philosophy. This permits some novel approaches to familiar topics. There is a sustained effort to re-think conceptually the vocabulary of social theory in light of contemporary issues, and this is to be commended. Moreover, the quality of the papers in Distinktion is excellent. I therefore rate this periodical very highly, and I hope that it gains the wide readership that it deserves.' Professor Barbara Marshall, Department of Sociology, Trent University, Canada 'I think that Distinktion is a very valuable journal and rate the quality of the journal as quite distinct and remarkable. A clear virtue of Distinktion is its disciplinary non-specialization which caters to young scholars with a critical mind.' Professor Margareta Bertilsson, Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark All submitted manuscripts are subject to initial appraisal by the Editors, and, if found suitable for further consideration, to peer review by independent, anonymous expert referees. All peer review is double anonymized and submission is online via ScholarOne Manuscripts http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rdis.

From the journal's Aims & Scope

Research area (LetPub): SOCIOLOGY

Editor-in-chief Hannah RichterPublisher website

Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 2, Canada 1, Denmark 1 (4 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website · 2026-09-30

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

Indexing the journal's website claims

EBSCO, ProQuest, EBSCO SocIndex, Social Science Premium Collection (ProQuest), Sociological Abstracts, Worldwide Political Science AbstractsPublisher website

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.

Impact

Impact factor (publisher) 2025

1.6Publisher website · 2026-09-30

5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025

1.7Publisher website · 2026-09-30

CiteScore 2026-06

4.4LetPub · 2026-09-13

CiteScore (publisher) 2025

4.4Publisher website · 2026-09-30

SJR 2026-06

0.71LetPub · 2026-09-13

SJR (publisher) 2025

0.71Publisher website · 2026-09-30

SNIP 2026-06

2.07LetPub · 2026-09-13

SNIP (publisher) 2025

2.07Publisher website · 2026-09-30

h-index

37OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

i10-index

174OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

2-year mean citedness

1.54OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

Self-citation rate

6.2%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Share of gold OA articles

33.33%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Volume

Articles per year

27LetPub · 2026-09-13

Downloads per year (publisher)

141,000Publisher website · 2026-09-30

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.

Figures by source

Acceptance rate (publisher)

26%Publisher website · 2026-09-30

Submission to first decision

2 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-30

First decision after review

55 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-30

Acceptance to publication

21 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-30

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

1600-910X

Electronic ISSN

2159-9149

Latest issue on the website

Volume 27, Issue 2 (2026)

Official links

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