Journal profile · CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY
Homicide Studies
ISSN 1088-7679 · eISSN 1552-6720 · SAGE
Homicide Studies: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.97; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,650; review about 135 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); acceptance rate 16.4% (journal website); 10 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Homicide Studies is published by SAGE 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 Crime Patterns and Interventions, Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse and Gun Ownership and Violence Research, together about 48.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Homicide Studies (HS), published quarterly, bridges the gap between academic and practitioner with high quality, multidisciplinary articles devoted to the dissemination of information concerning research, public policy, and applied knowledge related to the …
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 28, Canada 2, Netherlands 2, United Kingdom 1, Brazil 1 (34 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Crime Patterns and InterventionsSocial Sciences24.6%
- Homicide, Infanticide, and Child AbuseSocial Sciences13.4%
- Gun Ownership and Violence ResearchSocial Sciences10.5%
- Intimate Partner and Family ViolenceSocial Sciences7.5%
- Criminal Justice and Corrections AnalysisSocial Sciences7.3%
- Suicide and Self-Harm StudiesPsychology4.4%
- Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual OffendingPsychology4.2%
- Wildlife Conservation and Criminology AnalysesEnvironmental Science3.5%
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 | Criminology & Penology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Criminology & Penology | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Criminology & Penology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
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
- 1.97LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.9Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.81LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.22LetPub ·
- h-index
- 68OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 386OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.47OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 29.41%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 8LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 672 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 20 | 10 | 3 |
| 2025 | 10 | 4 | 8 |
| 2024 | 21 | 9 | 64 |
| 2023 | 27 | 13 | 191 |
| 2022 | 39 | 6 | 284 |
| 2021 | 26 | 4 | 271 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
135 dayssubmission to acceptance
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 16.4%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 3 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 135 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 48 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,650 / GBP 2,676 | — | — | |
| 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 prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,500 words
- Reference style
- APA
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted9
- case studiesHomicide Studies welcomes original research studies, review articles, case studies, and research note submissions for publication consideration.Length not stated
- case studyHomicide Studies welcomes original research studies, review articles, case studies, and research note submissions for publication consideration. Original resear…Length not stated
- hypothesisHomicide Studies welcomes original research studies, review articles, case studies, and research note submissions for publication consideration. Original resear…Length not stated
- original researchHomicide Studies welcomes original research studies, review articles, case studies, and research note submissions for publication consideration. Original resear…Length not stated
- original research studiesHomicide Studies welcomes original research studies, review articles, case studies, and research note submissions for publication consideration. Original resear…Length not stated
- research notesHomicide Studies welcomes original research studies, review articles, case studies, and research note submissions for publication consideration.Length not stated
- reviewHomicide Studies welcomes original research studies, review articles, case studies, and research note submissions for publication consideration. Original resear…Length not stated
- review articleHomicide Studies welcomes original research studies, review articles, case studies, and research note submissions for publication consideration. Original resear…Length not stated
- review articlesReview Article refers to manuscripts critically analyzing and synthesizing the literature on a specific homicide-related topic or concept.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Authorship Authorship
Please view our authorship policies, which includes information on criteria for authorship, who should be the corresponding author and more. Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages. Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to: Share your research data in a relevant public data repository Include a data ava…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Ethical considerations
Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
No submission or publication fees; optional open access via Sage Choice or Open Access agreements for a fee. Model summary
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Figures submitted in color will be published in color in the online version of the journal at no cost. If you wish to have color figures in the printed version, fees will apply and be determined at time of production. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice program, and Open Access agreements, where …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Peer review is double anonymized; manuscripts must be fully anonymized with identifying info on a separate Title Page. Model summary
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency: Double-anonymized Reviewer interacts with: Editor Review information published: None Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscripts may be desk rejec…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
The journal will consider submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers. Please enter the preprint DOI in the designated field when submitting your manuscript. We advise that you inform the Journal Editorial office about your posted preprint at submission. Note that you should not post an updated version of your manuscript on a preprint server while it is being peer reviewed…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Reporting guidelines
Your manuscript must follow the relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines, depending on the type of study. The EQUATOR wizard can help identify the appropriate guideline. You will need to upload the appropriate checklist with your submission. Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives.
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
- SAGE
- ISSN
- 1088-7679
- Electronic ISSN
- 1552-6720
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Homicide Studies
What CAS zone is Homicide Studies in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Homicide Studies is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Criminology & Penology. 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 Homicide Studies?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.97; CiteScore 5.6, h-index 68.
How long does peer review take at Homicide Studies?
The publisher reports about 135 days (submission to acceptance); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 16.4%. 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 Homicide Studies?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Manuscript length: ≤ 8,500 words; Reference style: APA; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: 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 Homicide Studies based?
Of the 34 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (28), Canada (2) and Netherlands (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Homicide Studies?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Homicide Studies is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is Homicide Studies open access, and what is the APC?
Homicide Studies is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,650.
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: .