Journal profile · EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Innovative Higher Education
ISSN 0742-5627 · eISSN 1573-1758 · Springer Nature · 6 issues per year
Innovative Higher Education: CAS Zone 3 · Education (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.3 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC about USD 2,990; median 209 days to acceptance (50 articles, last 24 months); 102 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Innovative Higher Education is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 3 of Education in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Higher Education Research Studies, Evaluation of Teaching Practices and Higher Education Governance and Development, together about 36.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Education. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Innovative Higher Education is a refereed scholarly journal that strives to package fresh ideas in higher education in a straightforward and readable fashion. The four main purposes of Innovative Higher Education are: (1) to present descriptions and evaluations of current innovations and provocative new ideas with relevance for action beyond the immediate context in higher education; (2) to focus on the effect of such innovations on teaching and students; (3) to be open to diverse forms of scholarship and research methods by maintaining flexibility in the selection of topics deemed appropriate for the journal; and (4) to strike a balance between practice and theory by presenting manuscripts in a readable and scholarly manner to both faculty and administrators in the academic community.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Editor-in-chief John M. BraxtonPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 73, South Korea 1, Canada 1, Australia 1, Sweden 1 (78 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Higher Education Research StudiesSocial Sciences15.4%
- Evaluation of Teaching PracticesSocial Sciences13.2%
- Higher Education Governance and DevelopmentSocial Sciences8.3%
- Online and Blended LearningSocial Sciences5.8%
- Reflective Practices in EducationSocial Sciences5.5%
- Mentoring and Academic DevelopmentPsychology5.2%
- Higher Education Practises and EngagementSocial Sciences4.7%
- Doctoral Education Challenges and SolutionsHealth Professions3.9%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Education Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Education Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
ERICERIH PLUSPublisher 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 (publisher) 2025
- 3.3Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.93LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.72LetPub ·
- h-index
- 84OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 637OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.63OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 41.94%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 97LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 398,600Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,617 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 88 | 49 | 25 |
| 2025 | 102 | 52 | 377 |
| 2024 | 80 | 42 | 579 |
| 2023 | 47 | 21 | 880 |
| 2022 | 55 | 27 | 667 |
| 2021 | 56 | 22 | 1,435 |
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
209 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 137 days – 263 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 25 days (95 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 249 days
- Sample
- 50 articles with submission and acceptance dates (215 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
- Submission to first decision
- 22 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 2,990 / EUR 2,390 / GBP 2,090 | — | — |
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)
Open calls for papers1, by deadline
Publisher websiteWhat to prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 10,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Article types accepted4, with length limits
- editorialDouble-blind peer review This journal follows a double-blind reviewing procedure. This means that the author will remain anonymous to the reviewers throughout p…Length not stated
- original researchThe journal only considers original research and review articles. Back to topLength not stated
- regular research articles. Length of Paper The editors expect a regular research article to have no more than 10000 words, including tables and references. If your work is significamain text ≤ 10,000 words
- review articleThe journal only considers original research and review articles. Back to topLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- AI use Generative AI Images
Please check Springer’s policy on generative AI images and make sure your work adheres to the principles described therein. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship principles
These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to. Authorship clarified The Journal and Publisher assume all authors agreed with the content and that all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Competing Interests
Authors are requested to disclose interests that are directly or indirectly related to the work submitted for publication. Interests within the last 3 years of beginning the work (conducting the research and preparing the work for submission) should be reported. Interests outside the 3-year time frame must be disclosed if they could reasonably be perceived as influencing the submitted work. Disclo…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
All original research must include a data availability statement. This statement should explain how to access data supporting the results and analysis in the article, including links/citations to publicly archived datasets analysed or generated during the study. Please see our full policy here. If it is not possible to share research data publicly, for instance when individual privacy could be com…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Compliance with Ethical Standards
To ensure objectivity and transparency in research and to ensure that accepted principles of ethical and professional conduct have been followed, authors should include information regarding sources of funding, potential conflicts of interest (financial or non-financial), informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved an…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Open Choice articles do not require transfer of copyright as the copyright remains with the author. In opting for open access, the author(s) agree to publish the article under a Creative Commons license. Details of the OA licences offered to authors can be found on the individual journal website, in the journal's How to publish with us guide. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Innovative Higher Education, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Double-blind peer review
Double-blind peer review Model summary
This journal follows a double-blind reviewing procedure. This means that the author will remain anonymous to the reviewers throughout peer review. It is the responsibility of the author to anonymize the manuscript and any associated materials. Author names, affiliations and any other potentially identifying information should be removed from the manuscript text and any accompanying files (such as …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical Trial Registration
The World Health Organization (WHO) definition of a clinical trial is "any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on health outcomes". The WHO defines health interventions as “A health intervention is an act performed for, with or on behalf of a person or population whose purpose is to ass…
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
- 6 issues per year
- ISSN
- 0742-5627
- Electronic ISSN
- 1573-1758
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 51, Issue 3 (June 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Innovative Higher Education
What CAS zone is Innovative Higher Education in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Innovative Higher Education is in Zone 3 of Education, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Education & Educational Research. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Education. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Innovative Higher Education?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 3.3 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 5.5, h-index 84.
How long does peer review take at Innovative Higher Education?
Based on the dates recorded on 50 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 209 days (interquartile range 137–263 days). 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 Innovative Higher Education?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–250 words; Keywords: ≥ 4; Manuscript length: ≤ 10,000 words; Reference style: APA; Suggested reviewers: Optional. 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 Innovative Higher Education based?
Of the 78 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (73), South Korea (1) and Canada (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Innovative Higher Education?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Innovative Higher Education is indexed in ESCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists ERIC and ERIH PLUS; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Innovative Higher Education open access, and what is the APC?
Innovative Higher Education is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 2,990.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .