Journal profile · EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Higher Education Policy
ISSN 0952-8733 · eISSN 1740-3863 · Springer Nature · 4 issues per year
Higher Education Policy: CAS Zone 4 · Education (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.94; hybrid open access; APC about USD 2,690; review about 3 days (submission to first decision, publisher); 43 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Higher Education Policy is published by Springer Nature 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 Higher Education Governance and Development, Higher Education Learning Practices and Global Educational Policies and Reforms, together about 51.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Education. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Higher Education Policy is an international peer-reviewed and SSCI-indexed academic journal focusing on higher education policy in a broad sense. The journal considers submissions that discuss national and supra-national higher education policies and/or analyse their impacts on higher education institutions or the academic community: leadership, faculty, staff and students, but also considers papers that deal with governance and policy issues at the level of higher education institutions. Critical analyses, empirical investigations (either qualitative or quantitative), and theoretical-conceptual contributions are equally welcome, but for all submissions the requirement is that papers be embedded in the relevant academic literature and contribute to furthering our understanding of policy. The journal has a preference for papers that are written from a disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspective. In the past, contributors have relied on perspectives from public administration, political science, sociology, history, economics and law, but also from philosophy, psychology and anthropology. Articles devoted to systems of higher education that are less well-known or less often analysed are particularly welcome. Given the international scope of the journal, articles should be written for and be understood by an international audience, consisting of researchers in higher education, disciplinary researchers, and policy-makers, administrators, managers and practitioners in higher education. Contributions should not normally exceed 7,000 words (excluding references). Peer review All submissions to the journal will undergo rigorous peer review (anonymous referees) after an initial editorial screening on quality and fit with the journal's aims.Special issues The journal welcomes proposals for special issues. The journal archive contains several examples of special issues. Such proposals, to be sent to the editor, should set out the theme of the special issue and include the names of the (proposed) contributors and summaries of the envisaged contributions.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Editorial board by country: 4 in mainland China (about 16%); most named Mainland China 4, United States 4, Hong Kong, China 3, United Kingdom 3, Portugal 2 (25 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Higher Education Governance and DevelopmentSocial Sciences36.7%
- Higher Education Learning PracticesSocial Sciences8.6%
- Global Educational Policies and ReformsSocial Sciences5.8%
- Higher Education Research StudiesSocial Sciences5.6%
- Global Educational Reforms and InequalitiesSocial Sciences4.2%
- Higher Education and EmployabilitySocial Sciences3.3%
- International Student and Expatriate ChallengesSocial Sciences3.2%
- Management and Organizational StudiesBusiness, Management and Accounting2.5%
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 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Education Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEERICPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
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
- 1.94LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.9LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.8LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.46LetPub ·
- h-index
- 76OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 698OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.65OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 9.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 30.83%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 43LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 186,300Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,895 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 51 | 17 | 18 |
| 2025 | 43 | 21 | 93 |
| 2024 | 56 | 27 | 286 |
| 2023 | 36 | 13 | 299 |
| 2022 | 40 | 19 | 721 |
| 2021 | 42 | 15 | 616 |
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 first decision
- 3 daysPublisher 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 2,690 / EUR 3,590 | — | — | |
| 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 prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 7,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Self-archiving
- Authorship
No submission fee Model summary
This journal does not charge for the submission of manuscripts to the journal.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest
Conflict of interest disclosure Model summary
Upon submission, authors are asked to state any conflicts of interest around their research.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
COPE member Model summary
This journal, via its publisher Palgrave Macmillan, is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright and Permissions
Using third-party material in your articleAuthors are responsible for ensuring that any third-party material (e.g. figures, tables, photos, illustrations, trade literature, or data) is not used without permission. If such material is copyrighted, permission must be obtained and submitted with the final manuscript. The Editor and Publisher must be informed of any restricted-use content at submissio…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access & Self Archiving
Green OA self-archiving after 12-month embargo Model summary
Self-archiving (green open access)Where articles are published via the subscription route, authors are permitted to self-archive the accepted manuscript (the version post-peer review, but prior to copy-editing and typesetting) on their own personal website and/or in their funder or institutional repositories, for public release after an embargo period of 12 months after first publication.Learn mor…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
All submissions to the journal will undergo rigorous peer review (anonymous referees) after an initial editorial screening on quality and fit with the journal's aims.Special issues
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism
iThenticate plagiarism screening Model summary
Manuscripts submitted to the journal are subject to checks using iThenticate to detect instances of overlapping and similar text.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving Open Access & Self Archiving
Self-archiving (green open access)Where articles are published via the subscription route, authors are permitted to self-archive the accepted manuscript (the version post-peer review, but prior to copy-editing and typesetting) on their own personal website and/or in their funder or institutional repositories, for public release after an embargo period of 12 months after first publication.Learn mor…
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
- Springer Nature
- Frequency
- 4 issues per year
- ISSN
- 0952-8733
- Electronic ISSN
- 1740-3863
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 39, Issue 2 (June 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Higher Education Policy
What CAS zone is Higher Education Policy in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Higher Education Policy 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 3 of Education. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Higher Education Policy?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.94; CiteScore 6.9, h-index 76.
How long does peer review take at Higher Education Policy?
The publisher reports about 3 days (submission to first decision); first decisions include desk rejections. 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 Higher Education Policy?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Keywords: ≥ 4; Manuscript length: ≤ 7,000 words; Reference style: APA. 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 Higher Education Policy based?
Of the 25 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 4 (about 16%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (4), United States (4) and Hong Kong, China (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Higher Education Policy?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Higher Education Policy is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE and ERIC; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Higher Education Policy open access, and what is the APC?
Higher Education Policy is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 2,690.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, 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: .