Journal profile · EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Educational Research for Social Change
ISSN 2221-4070 · Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University · South Africa
Educational Research for Social Change: CAS Zone 4 · Education (2025 upgraded edition); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 13 weeks (community reports); 55 articles in 2025; indexed in Scopus.
The latest issue on the journal's website is from 2024 (Volume 13, Issue 1): the journal may have stopped publishing or moved platform in the last two years. Check its website before submitting.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Educational Research for Social Change is published by Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and is in Zone 4 of Education in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Teacher Education and Leadership Studies, Global Educational Policies and Reforms and Second Language Learning and Teaching, together about 23.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Educational Research for Social Change is an international peer-reviewed journal established in 2012 in the Faculty of Education, Nelson Mandela University. The idea of educational research having the potential of being transformative - through working with communities and through various participatory research approaches - is something that is still very new in many educational research circles. This journal, therefore, aims to play a critical role in confirming the importance of educational research as social change, contributing to the theorising thereof, and the dissemination of current research to a broad, cross-disciplinary audience of scholars and practitioners in the field of education. ERSC publishes scientific articles which draw on participatory methodologies such as Arts-Based Research (ABR), Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), Participatory Action Research (PAR), Participatory Action Learning and Action Research (PALAR), Participatory Visual Research (PVR/PVM), Self-Study Research (SSR) and other such empirical research, located in critical and transformative paradigms, seen as key in contributing to the transformation of education research and education itself. ERSC also publishes original conceptual papers, book reviews and conference and project reports which are relevant to the scope of the journal. Each publication should clearly demonstrate its relevance to social change. We do not accept articles that merely report on issues, where researchers harvest data from participants and interpret it to develop recommendations for change - the research itself must lead to some form of change in at least one of the following areas; change in the researcher, change in the participants, change in the situation. Sorry, your browser does not support embedded videos.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Teacher Education and Leadership StudiesSocial Sciences9.7%
- Global Educational Policies and ReformsSocial Sciences6.8%
- Second Language Learning and TeachingArts and Humanities6.6%
- Children's Rights and ParticipationSocial Sciences5.8%
- Participatory Visual Research MethodsSocial Sciences5.8%
- Multilingual Education and PolicySocial Sciences4.7%
- Innovative Education and Learning PracticesSocial Sciences4.7%
- Service-Learning and Community EngagementSocial Sciences4.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Education Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Education Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SciELOPublisher website
Other: IBSS, Sabinet, Ebscohost, Proquest
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.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.26LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.7LetPub ·
- h-index
- 21OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 45OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.49OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 94.44%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 7LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 291 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 14 | 14 | 0 |
| 2025 | 55 | 55 | 31 |
| 2024 | 42 | 42 | 23 |
| 2023 | 16 | 16 | 42 |
| 2022 | 29 | 29 | 216 |
| 2021 | 19 | 19 | 131 |
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 13 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 13 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
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | ZAR 7,500 | No | CC BY-NC | |
| OpenAlex | ZAR 4,000 | — | — | |
| LetPub | ZAR 4,000 | No | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Submission fee
- R 7,500
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 prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 200 words
- Keywords
- 6
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted9, with length limits
- book reviewtors.) GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS REGARDING BOOK REVIEWS Reviews should not exceed 1500 words, including references. Provide the following details of themain text ≤ 1,500 words
- book reviewsERSC also publishes original conceptual papers, book reviews and conference and project reports which are relevant to the scope of the journal.Length not stated
- conceptual papersThe journal invites research articles and conceptual papers which are informed by qualitative designs.Length not stated
- conference and project reportsERSC also publishes original conceptual papers, book reviews and conference and project reports which are relevant to the scope of the journal.Length not stated
- conference reportsERSC also publishes original conceptual papers, book reviews and conference and project reports which are relevant to the scope of the journal.Length not stated
- full paperuthor per year. FORMATTING YOUR ARTICLE Full papers must be between 6000 and 8000 words, including notes and references. An abstract of not more thmain text ≤ 8,000 words
- original conceptual papersERSC also publishes original conceptual papers, book reviews and conference and project reports which are relevant to the scope of the journal.Length not stated
- project reportsERSC also publishes original conceptual papers, book reviews and conference and project reports which are relevant to the scope of the journal.Length not stated
- research articlesThe journal invites research articles and conceptual papers which are informed by qualitative designs.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, License & copyright, Open access, Preprints, Self-archiving
- Authorship
Authors retain copyright Model summary
Original authors retain unrestricted publishing rights.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright of articles
Creative Commons license with attribution; authors retain unrestricted publishing rights. Model summary
ERSC adheres to the BOAI definition of open access, and thus users have the right to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access
Open access under BOAI definition; users may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to full texts. Model summary
ERSC adheres to the BOAI definition of open access, and thus users have the right to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints
Digital preservation via the Portico system. Model summary
The Educational Research for Social Change journal uses the Portico system (http://www.portico.org/digital-preservation) to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving
Authors may archive the final published version in personal/institutional repositories after publication. Model summary
Authors are allowed to archive the final published version of their articles in personal/institutional repositories after publication.
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
- Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
- Country or region
- South Africa
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2221-4070
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 13, Issue 1 (2024)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- 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 Educational Research for Social Change
What CAS zone is Educational Research for Social Change in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Educational Research for Social Change is in Zone 4 of Education, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Education & Educational Research. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Education. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
How long does peer review take at Educational Research for Social Change?
Authors report an average review time of about 13 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 Educational Research for Social Change?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 200 words; Keywords: 6; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: APA; 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 Educational Research for Social Change?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Educational Research for Social Change is indexed in Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists SciELO; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Educational Research for Social Change open access, and what is the APC?
Educational Research for Social Change is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .