Journal profile · POLITICAL SCIENCE
Government and Opposition
ISSN 0017-257X · eISSN 1477-7053 · Cambridge University Press
Government and Opposition: CAS Zone 1 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 3.41; fully open access; APC about USD 3,655; 42 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Government and Opposition is published by Cambridge University Press and is in Zone 1 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Electoral Systems and Political Participation, Populism, Right-Wing Movements and European Union Policy and Governance, together about 26.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Government and Opposition is one of the world's leading global comparative politics journals. This means that we publish papers dealing with any part of the world, and on any theme, to do with comparative politics, liberally defined. We accept papers that cover a single case, so long as they are positioned within the comparative politics literature and seek to advance comparative political analysis. We also publish substantial review articles, many of which are commissioned, and some of which are the result of proposals made to our review editor. We are tied to no substantive position, nor to any methodological orthodoxy beyond the fundamental principle of intellectual rigour. To ensure rigour we practise anonymous refereeing. We now publish annual volumes on a continuous basis.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): POLITICAL SCIENCE
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 15, United States 5, Italy 3, Netherlands 2, France 1 (31 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Electoral Systems and Political ParticipationSocial Sciences11.1%
- Populism, Right-Wing MovementsSocial Sciences7.8%
- European Union Policy and GovernanceSocial Sciences7.7%
- Social Policy and Reform StudiesSocial Sciences7.7%
- Political Systems and GovernanceSocial Sciences6.6%
- Legal case studies and regulationsSocial Sciences5.9%
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance5.8%
- Political and Economic history of UK and USSocial Sciences5.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- 3.41LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 35Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 2.17LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.46LetPub ·
- h-index
- 95OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 749OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.55OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 89.42%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 41LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,820 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 27 | 27 | 8 |
| 2025 | 42 | 42 | 93 |
| 2024 | 33 | 32 | 159 |
| 2023 | 47 | 39 | 548 |
| 2022 | 55 | 44 | 888 |
| 2021 | 70 | 49 | 1,567 |
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
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 48 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 | USD 3,655 / GBP 2,610 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC BY-ND, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-SA, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,550 / GBP 2,460 | — | — | |
| 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)
Article types accepted3
- research articleThe journal accepts the following types of article: Research Article*Review Article*Research Note*Length not stated
- research noteResearch Note*Length not stated
- review articleThe journal accepts the following types of article: Research Article*Review Article*Research Note*Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePeer review
- Peer review Peer Review Process
For information on the journal’s peer review process, please click here.
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
- Cambridge University Press
- ISSN
- 0017-257X
- Electronic ISSN
- 1477-7053
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Government and Opposition
What CAS zone is Government and Opposition in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Government and Opposition is in Zone 1 of Sociology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Political Science; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Government and Opposition?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.41; CiteScore 8, h-index 95.
Where are the editorial board members of Government and Opposition 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 Kingdom (15), United States (5) and Italy (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Government and Opposition?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Government and Opposition is indexed in SSCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Government and Opposition open access, and what is the APC?
Government and Opposition is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,655.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .