Journal profile · LITERATURE, GERMAN, DUTCH, SCANDINAVIAN
German Life and Letters
ISSN 0016-8777 · eISSN 1468-0483 · Wiley-Blackwell
German Life and Letters: CAS Zone 3 · Literature (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.2 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,240; median 122 days to acceptance (14 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 63% (journal website); 31 articles in 2025; indexed in AHCI and Scopus; the journal's website says it has ceased publication.
The journal's website says it has ceased publication: German Life and Letters was first published in October 1936 to promote engagement with ‘German culture in its widest aspects: its history, literature, religion, music, art; with German life in general.’ It ceased publication during the War, and recommenced in October 1947 with Volume 1, Number 1 of the New Series. Source ↗Publisher website ·
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
German Life and Letters is published by Wiley-Blackwell and is in Zone 3 of Literature in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are German Literature and Culture Studies, German History and Society and Literature and Cultural Memory, together about 39.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Literature and Literary Theory. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
German Life and Letters was first published in October 1936 to promote engagement with ‘German culture in its widest aspects: its history, literature, religion, music, art; with German life in general.’ It ceased publication during the War, and recommenced in October 1947 with Volume 1, Number 1 of the New Series. This makes it the longest-running German Studies journal in the UK. Professor L. A. Willoughby of University College London conceived the title and programme of the journal, and with the support of the Conference of University Teachers of German (now AGS, the Association for German Studies in Great Britain and Ireland), he persuaded Basil Blackwell to publish the journal. Nowadays German Life and Letters is published by Wiley, and is pleased to receive submissions from scholars worldwide, reflecting its global readership. The journal typically publishes two special issues each year, interspersed with two regular issues.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): LITERATURE, GERMAN, DUTCH, SCANDINAVIAN
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- German Literature and Culture StudiesArts and Humanities23%
- German History and SocietyArts and Humanities8.2%
- Literature and Cultural MemoryArts and Humanities7.9%
- European history and politicsSocial Sciences6.8%
- German Colonialism and Identity StudiesArts and Humanities6.2%
- Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and HegelArts and Humanities6.1%
- Historical, Literary, and Cultural StudiesArts and Humanities4.7%
- Musicology and Musical AnalysisArts and Humanities3.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Literature Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Literature | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Literature, German, Dutch, Scandinavian | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Literature Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Literature | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Literature, German, Dutch, Scandinavian | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Literature Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Literature | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Literature, German, Dutch, Scandinavian | 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)
- 0.2Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 0.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 0.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 0.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 0.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.11LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 3.5LetPub ·
- h-index
- 25OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 99OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.07OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 72.15%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 23LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 23Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 57,555Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,411 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 42 | 27 | 0 |
| 2025 | 31 | 24 | 0 |
| 2024 | 35 | 24 | 8 |
| 2023 | 39 | 31 | 23 |
| 2022 | 51 | 21 | 22 |
| 2021 | 39 | 21 | 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.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with Crossref · to
122 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 110 days – 155 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 103 days (14 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 248 days
- Sample
- 14 articles with submission and acceptance dates (71 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)
- 63%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 63%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 31 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 31 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 141 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 119 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single-anonymous peer reviewPublisher website · model-extracted
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,240 / EUR 2,670 / GBP 2,160 | — | — | |
| 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)
What to prepare8 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 200 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Highlights
- Optional
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePeer review
- Peer review
Authors will be notified of the Editors' decision normally within two to three months. Model summary
Authors will be notified as soon as possible (normally within two to three months) of the Editors’ decision.
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
- Wiley-Blackwell
- ISSN
- 0016-8777
- Electronic ISSN
- 1468-0483
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about German Life and Letters
What CAS zone is German Life and Letters in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, German Life and Letters is in Zone 3 of Literature, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Literature, German, Dutch, Scandinavian. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Literature. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of German Life and Letters?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 0.2 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 0.3, h-index 25.
How long does peer review take at German Life and Letters?
Based on the dates recorded on 14 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 122 days (interquartile range 110–155 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 63% (2025). 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 German Life and Letters?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 200 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Highlights: Optional; 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.
Which databases index German Life and Letters?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, German Life and Letters is indexed in AHCI and Scopus.
Is German Life and Letters open access, and what is the APC?
German Life and Letters is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,240.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .