Journal profile · SOCIAL WORK
Ethics and Social Welfare
ISSN 1749-6535 · eISSN 1749-6543 · Taylor & Francis
Ethics and Social Welfare: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 208 days to acceptance (59 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 19% (journal website); 51 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Ethics and Social Welfare is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 4 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Social Work Education and Practice, Ethics in medical practice and Homelessness and Social Issues, together about 39.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are General Health Professions. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Ethics and Social Welfare publishes articles on ethical issues connected with the practice, policy and research related to social welfare. We interpret those terms broadly. Thus ‘Social welfare’ spans all aspects of the well-being and needs of individuals, groups and communities. ‘Ethics’ refers to the moral concerns and principles arising within such practices, research or policy. By ‘practice’ we mean all areas of activity and lived experience. ‘Policy’ refers to all relevant agendas of governments, private and non-profit organisations, and other bodies. Ethical issues arise in all facets of this wide field, from interpersonal interactions, through welfare-related decisions, to rhetoric, ideology and conceptual disputes. We see both ethics and social welfare as combining constant themes and shifting dynamics – subject to social, systemic, economic and technological developments, intersecting differently in different political and cultural contexts. The journal provides a unique and vibrant forum for dialogue and debate across social, cultural and national boundaries for the widest global readership. We welcome contributions from a variety of fields including social work, social care, social policy, youth work, community work, philosophy, politics, sociology, law, criminology, anthropology, cultural studies and across the social sciences. We are a home for purely theoretical and reflective work, as well as empirical studies. We place equal priority on providing a forum for practitioners, service-users, carers, policymakers and activists. We publish research articles, practice papers, reviews, and conference reports. Research articles are received and evaluated as standard academic journal submissions. ‘Practice papers’ may include commentary and reflection on cases, trends or developments, and are subject to double-anonymous peer review at the discretion of the practice editors. Reviews may cover books or other cultural artefacts. We publish regular special issues, on themes related to our aims and scope. While cherishing academic freedom and seeking to offer a space for deep critical engagement, we also regard these as being underpinned and guaranteed by a culture of respect. We are committed to publishing work grounded in dignity, inclusion, and mutual recognition, and we will not knowingly publish material that is oppressive or deliberately offensive in content or style. All submissions should clearly articulate a connection to questions of ethics. Pee
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): SOCIAL WORK
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Hong Kong, China 1, United States 1, United Kingdom 1, India 1, Slovenia 1 (5 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Social Work Education and PracticeSocial Sciences21.7%
- Ethics in medical practiceHealth Professions10.4%
- Homelessness and Social IssuesHealth Professions7.6%
- Mental Health and Patient InvolvementHealth Professions7.5%
- Healthcare innovation and challengesSocial Sciences6.3%
- Social Policy and Reform StudiesSocial Sciences4.3%
- Qualitative Research Methods and EthicsSocial Sciences3.5%
- Political Philosophy and EthicsSocial Sciences3.2%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Social Work | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Work | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- 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
SCIEPsycINFOPublisher website
Other: Naver, E-Lib Bremen, PsycTESTS
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
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 2.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.49LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.49Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.71LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 0.71Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 41OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 226OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.09OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 20%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 43.24%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 30LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 204,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 786 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 36 | 20 | 6 |
| 2025 | 51 | 27 | 179 |
| 2024 | 36 | 25 | 72 |
| 2023 | 27 | 18 | 80 |
| 2022 | 41 | 21 | 162 |
| 2021 | 43 | 19 | 563 |
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
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with Crossref · to
208 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 128 days – 309 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 38 days (59 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 244 days
- Sample
- 59 articles with submission and acceptance dates (90 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 19%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 37 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 164 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 40 daysPublisher website ·
- 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.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Article types accepted4
- conference reportsWe publish research articles, practice papers, reviews, and conference reports.Length not stated
- practice papers‘Practice papers’ may include commentary and reflection on cases, trends or developments, and are subject to double-anonymous peer review at the discretion of t…Length not stated
- research articlesResearch articles are received and evaluated as standard academic journal submissions.Length not stated
- reviewsReviews may cover books or other cultural artefacts.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Hybrid open access journal, part of Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program. Model summary
Ethics and Social Welfare is a hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open access? Increase the discoverability a…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Peer review integrity: all research articles undergo rigorous peer review, generally involving initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two independent reviewers. Model summary
All research articles in this journal, including those in special issues, special sections, or supplements, have undergone rigorous peer review, this generally involves initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two independent reviewers.
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
- Taylor & Francis
- ISSN
- 1749-6535
- Electronic ISSN
- 1749-6543
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 20, Issue 3 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Ethics and Social Welfare
What CAS zone is Ethics and Social Welfare in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Ethics and Social Welfare is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Social Work. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Ethics and Social Welfare?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 2.3, h-index 41.
How long does peer review take at Ethics and Social Welfare?
Based on the dates recorded on 59 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 208 days (interquartile range 128–309 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 19%. 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Ethics and Social Welfare based?
Of the 5 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Hong Kong, China (1), United States (1) and United Kingdom (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Ethics and Social Welfare?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Ethics and Social Welfare is indexed in ESCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE and PsycINFO; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Ethics and Social Welfare open access, and what is the APC?
Ethics and Social Welfare is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; 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: .