Journal profile · Decision Sciences-Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty
Games
ISSN 2073-4336 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) · Switzerland
Games: CAS Zone 4 · Economics (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.7 (journal website); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 11 weeks (community reports); 66 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Games is published by Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) and is in Zone 4 of Economics in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies, Game Theory and Applications and Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation, together about 45% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Games (ISSN 2073-4336) is an international, peer-reviewed, quick-refereeing open access journal (free for readers), which provides an advanced forum for studies on game theory and its applications. Its aim is to provide an interdisciplinary forum for all sciences using game theoretical tools, models, and methods, including economics, psychology, political science, anthropology, mathematics, computer science, and biology. To guarantee a rapid refereeing and editorial process, Games follows standard publication practices in the natural sciences. Note that Games does NOT publish papers on gaming, video games, sports competition, electronic games, serious games, and gamification, except if they have a clear connection to game theory. Games publishes regular research articles, reviews and short notes. Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. Therefore, there is no restriction on the maximum length of the papers. For theory papers, full details of proofs must be provided so that results can be checked. For experimental papers, full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced. Additionally, electronic files or software regarding the full details of the calculations, experimental procedure, etc, can be deposited along with the publication as 'Supplementary Material'.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Decision Sciences-Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty
Editor-in-chief WU ViennaPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 13, United Kingdom 3, Italy 3, France 2, Switzerland 2 (31 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Experimental Behavioral Economics StudiesSocial Sciences20.7%
- Game Theory and ApplicationsDecision Sciences14.2%
- Evolutionary Game Theory and CooperationSocial Sciences10.1%
- Auction Theory and ApplicationsDecision Sciences6.9%
- Game Theory and Voting SystemsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance6.2%
- Decision-Making and Behavioral EconomicsDecision Sciences6%
- Economic theories and modelsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.7%
- Culture, Economy, and Development StudiesSocial Sciences4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Economics Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Economics | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Mathematical Methods | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Economics Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Economics | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Mathematical Methods | 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
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceMathSciNetzbMATHEconLitPublisher website
Other: RePEc
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
- 0.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 1.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.29LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.4LetPub ·
- h-index
- 33OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 173OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.74OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 66LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 914 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 52 | 52 | 6 |
| 2025 | 66 | 66 | 32 |
| 2024 | 56 | 56 | 91 |
| 2023 | 75 | 75 | 191 |
| 2022 | 77 | 77 | 199 |
| 2021 | 104 | 104 | 500 |
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 11 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 29.1 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 5.2 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication
- 63 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 6 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single 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 | CHF 1,600 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 1,600 | — | — | |
| LetPub | CHF 1,600 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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)
Open calls for papers6, by deadline
- Game-Theoretical Analysis of the Division of Labor and Trade ConflictDeadline
- Strategic Investment and Dynamic Decision-Making: Advances in Real Options and Game TheoryDeadline
- Economic Theory and ApplicationsDeadline
- Competition, Coordination, and Cooperation: Theory and Evidence, 2nd EditionDeadline
- Decision Making Under ComplexityDeadline
- Advances in Contest Theory: Strategic Foundations and Mechanism DesignDeadline
What to prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 200 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required, 3
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted19
- articleArticle: These are original research manuscripts. The work should report scientifically sound experiments and provide a substantial amount of new information.Length not stated
- book reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief communicationAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- case reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- commentaryAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- conference reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- editorialAll peer-reviewed articles published by MDPI are assessed by our independent Academic Editors, and MDPI staff are not involved in any editorial decisions regard…Length not stated
- hypothesisAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- letterAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- opinionAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- perspectiveAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- protocolAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- registered reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- systematic reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- technical noteAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- tutorialAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- viewpointAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
MDPI follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines which state that, in order to qualify for authorship of a manuscript, the following criteria should be observed: Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; Draft the work or review it critically for important intel…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of Interest
Citation policy: cite sources clearly, obtain permissions, avoid excessive self-citation and citation manipulation. Model summary
According to The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, “Authors should avoid entering into agreements with study sponsors, both for-profit and non-profit, that interfere with authors’ access to all of the study’s data or that interfere with their ability to analyze and interpret the data and to prepare and publish manuscripts independently when and where they choose.” All authors mus…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
Data sharing: authors encouraged to share research data, deposit in trusted repositories, FAIR principles. Model summary
Data availability statements are required for all articles published with MDPI. During the peer review and editorial decision process, authors can be asked to share existing datasets or raw data that have been analyzed in the manuscript, and whether they will be made available to other researchers following publication. Authors will also be asked for the details of any existing datasets that have …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics Statement
Games is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We fully adhere to its Code of Conduct and to its Best Practice Guidelines. The editors of this journal enforce a rigorous peer review process together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure to add high quality scientific works to the field of scholarly publication. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism, data falsification…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright / Open Access
Articles published in Games will be Open-Access articles distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s). MDPI will insert the following note at the end of the published text: © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and cond…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publication fees
If you transfer your manuscript to another open access (OA) journal, you will be charged an Article Processing Charge (APC) if your article is accepted for publication. The APC for each journal can be found on the individual journal’s website. For more information about APCs, please see here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Editorial Process and Peer Review
Reviewer suggestions: authors suggest three potential reviewers with contact details; editors may not approach them. Model summary
All submissions are thoroughly peer-reviewed by experts within the field and undergo a structured editorial workflow designed to ensure quality, transparency, and scientific integrity. The full editorial procedure is available on the Editorial Process page and is also provided below. Pre-check Pre-check consists of a technical pre-check performed by the Editorial Office and an editorial pre-check …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints and Conference Papers
Games accepts submissions that have previously been made available as preprints provided that they have not undergone peer review. A preprint is a draft version of a paper made available online before submission to a journal. MDPI operates Preprints, a preprint server to which submitted papers can be uploaded directly after completing journal submission. Note that Preprints operates independently …
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
- Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
- Country or region
- Switzerland
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2073-4336
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 17 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Games
What CAS zone is Games in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Games is in Zone 4 of Economics, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Economics / Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications / Social Sciences, Mathematical Methods. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Economics. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Games?
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 1.2, h-index 33.
How long does peer review take at Games?
Authors report an average review time of about 11 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 Games?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 200 words; Reference style: Author–date; Templates: LaTeX and Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required, 3; Graphical abstract: Optional; 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Games based?
Of the 31 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (13), United Kingdom (3) and Italy (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Games?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Games is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, MathSciNet, zbMATH and EconLit; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Games open access, and what is the APC?
Games is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
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: .