Journal profile · Multiple
Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
ISSN 2662-9992 · SPRINGER NATURE · ENGLAND · Continuous publication · Founded 2020
Humanities & Social Sciences Communications: CAS Zone 2 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4.85; fully open access; APC about USD 1,990; median 326 days to acceptance (196 articles, last 24 months); 2,121 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI, AHCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Humanities & Social Sciences Communications is published by SPRINGER NATURE and is in Zone 2 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Energy, Environment, Economic Growth, Environmental Sustainability in Business and Digital Marketing and Social Media, together about 22.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Humanities & Social Sciences Communications is a fully open access journal publishing scholarship from across all areas of the humanities, social and behavioural sciences. We encourage the submission of research outputs arising in specific disciplines, or from inter-disciplinary engagement. We aspire to be the definitive peer-reviewed outlet for open access research in and between fields within our scope. The journal is published by Springer Nature. It began publication as Palgrave Communications (ISSN 2662-9992) and operated under that title until June 16th 2020. Open access journal covering all of humanities and social sciences. Publishes articles, reviews, and comments, as well as guest-edited thematic series. High visibility for your work with open access. For a more detailed aims and scope visit this page. Supporting the Sustainable Developmental Goals We are proud to acknowledge that over 50% of the articles published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications in 2025 were related to one or more of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Springer Nature supports the SDGs through a dedicated SDG Programme and is a signatory of the SDG Publishers Compact.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Energy, Environment, Economic GrowthEconomics, Econometrics and Finance11.4%
- Environmental Sustainability in BusinessBusiness, Management and Accounting6.2%
- Digital Marketing and Social MediaSocial Sciences5.2%
- Misinformation and Its ImpactsSocial Sciences5.1%
- Social Media and PoliticsSocial Sciences4.7%
- Technology Adoption and User BehaviourDecision Sciences4.5%
- Diverse Aspects of Tourism ResearchSocial Sciences4.1%
- Corporate Social Responsibility ReportingBusiness, Management and Accounting4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Humanities, Multidisciplinary | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Humanities, Multidisciplinary | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | 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 | Humanities, Multidisciplinary | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIAHCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
CASCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: ANVUR, Baidu, BFI List, CLOCKSS, CNKI, CNPIEC, Dimensions, EBSCO, eLibrary.ru, Google Scholar, Japanese Science and Technology Agency (JST), Naver, Norwegian Register for Scientific Journals and Series, OCLC WorldCat Discovery Service, Portico, ProQuest, Research Papers in Economics (RePEc), SCImago, TD Net Discovery Service, Wanfang
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
- 4.85LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4.8Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.7LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.9LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.57LetPub ·
- h-index
- 111OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 2,459OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.23OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 99.89%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 2,064LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 27,432,589Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 9,248 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2,643 | 2,643 | 783 |
| 2025 | 2,121 | 2,121 | 10,891 |
| 2024 | 1,766 | 1,766 | 22,510 |
| 2023 | 983 | 983 | 16,952 |
| 2022 | 470 | 470 | 10,279 |
| 2021 | 332 | 332 | 10,388 |
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
326 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 246 days – 420 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 15 days (196 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 352 days
- Sample
- 196 articles with submission and acceptance dates (5,161 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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 10 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 32 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 | EUR 1,590 / USD 1,990 / GBP 1,390 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,890 / EUR 1,490 / GBP 1,340 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 1,240 / USD 1,690 / EUR 1,340 | Yes | — |
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePeer review, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Peer review Expert peer review
Partnering with our extensive network of expert peer reviewers, our editorial team provides rigorous, objective and constructive peer review, and will support you throughout the publication process. The journal is led by the same ethical and editorial policy guidelines as other journals within the Springer Nature family to ensure that all the research we publish is academically robust.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines
PubMed Central (PMC) indexing applies where the research is funded by the NIH or other NIH-accepted institutions such as the Wellcome Trust. Model summary
PubMed Central (PMC) (where the research in question is funded by the NIH or other NIH-accepted institutions such as the Wellcome Trust)
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
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Continuous publication
- Founded
- 2020
- ISSN
- 2662-9992
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- 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 Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
What CAS zone is Humanities & Social Sciences Communications in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Humanities & Social Sciences Communications is in Zone 2 of Sociology, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Humanities, Multidisciplinary / Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Humanities & Social Sciences Communications?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.85; CiteScore 5.7, h-index 111.
How long does peer review take at Humanities & Social Sciences Communications?
Based on the dates recorded on 196 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 326 days (interquartile range 246–420 days); authors report an average review time of about 10 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.
Which databases index Humanities & Social Sciences Communications?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Humanities & Social Sciences Communications is indexed in SSCI, AHCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists CAS and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Humanities & Social Sciences Communications open access, and what is the APC?
Humanities & Social Sciences Communications is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,990.
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: .