Journal profile · INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS & LABOR
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
ISSN 0019-8676 · eISSN 1468-232X · Wiley-Blackwell
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: CAS Zone 3 · Management (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.92; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,470; median 253 days to acceptance (55 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 17% (journal website); 42 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS is published by Wiley-Blackwell and is in Zone 3 of Management in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Labor Movements and Unions, Labor market dynamics and wage inequality and Employment and Welfare Studies, together about 53.1% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Corporate restructuring and downsizing, the changing employment relationship in union and nonunion settings, high performance work systems, the demographics of the workplace, and the impact of globalization on national labor markets - these are just some of the major issues covered in Industrial Relations. The journal offers an invaluable international perspective on economic, sociological, psychological, political, historical, and legal developments in labor and employment. It is the only journal in its field with this multidisciplinary focus on the implications of change for business, government and workers.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS & LABOR
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 3%); most named United States 21, United Kingdom 4, Australia 4, Mainland China 1, Ireland 1 (31 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Labor Movements and UnionsSocial Sciences29.9%
- Labor market dynamics and wage inequalityEconomics, Econometrics and Finance13.7%
- Employment and Welfare StudiesHealth Professions9.5%
- Retirement, Disability, and EmploymentSocial Sciences4%
- Gender, Labor, and Family DynamicsSocial Sciences3.5%
- Social Policy and Reform StudiesSocial Sciences3.3%
- Corporate Finance and GovernanceBusiness, Management and Accounting3.1%
- Transport and Economic PoliciesBusiness, Management and Accounting2.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Management Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Industrial Relations & Labor | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Management Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Industrial Relations & Labor | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Management Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Industrial Relations & Labor | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
INSPECEconLitCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, RePEc
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
- 1.92LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 5.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 5.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.52LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.91LetPub ·
- h-index
- 110OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,078OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.32OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 10%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 61.25%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 29LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 30Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 102,442Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,469 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 28 | 21 | 13 |
| 2025 | 42 | 27 | 41 |
| 2024 | 29 | 24 | 77 |
| 2023 | 38 | 27 | 234 |
| 2022 | 30 | 15 | 428 |
| 2021 | 35 | 19 | 382 |
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
253 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 143 days – 342 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 19 days (56 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 266 days
- Sample
- 55 articles with submission and acceptance dates (69 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)
- 17%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 17%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 8 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 8 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 287 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 19 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 3,470 / EUR 2,900 / GBP 2,330 | — | — |
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
- Abstract
- ≤ 100 words
- Keywords
- ≤ 7
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 10,000 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Not considered
- revisions with Track Changes
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright
- AI use Disclosing the use of Artificial Intelligence
If you have used Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) tools such as ChatGPT and others based on large language models (LLMs) to develop any portion of a manuscript, their use must be described transparently and in detail in the Methods section.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Availability Statement
Authors must include a data availability statement with their submission. When submitting the manuscript on Research Exchange Submission, the submitting author will be asked to select from several pre-written statements or use the text editor to tell us about data availability with regard to their submission.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
COPE member Model summary
This journal follows the core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and handles cases of research and publication misconduct accordingly (https://publicationethics.org/core-practices).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
If your paper is accepted, the author identified as the formal corresponding author for the paper will receive an email prompting them to login into Author Services; where via the Wiley Author Licensing Service (WALS) they will be able to complete the license agreement on behalf of all authors on the paper.
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
- 0019-8676
- Electronic ISSN
- 1468-232X
- Society / sponsor
- Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 65, Issue 4 (October 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
What CAS zone is INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS is in Zone 3 of Management, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Industrial Relations & Labor. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Management. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.92; CiteScore 5.3, h-index 110.
How long does peer review take at INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS?
Based on the dates recorded on 55 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 253 days (interquartile range 143–342 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 17% (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 INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 100 words; Keywords: ≤ 7; Manuscript length: ≤ 10,000 words; Reference style: Author–date. 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 INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS based?
Of the 31 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 3%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (21), United Kingdom (4) and Australia (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists INSPEC, EconLit and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS open access, and what is the APC?
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,470.
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: .