Journal profile · POLITICAL SCIENCE
Interest Groups & Advocacy
ISSN 2047-7414 · eISSN 2047-7422 · Springer Nature · 4 issues per year
Interest Groups & Advocacy: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.3 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,290; median 220 days to acceptance (20 articles, last 24 months); 30 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Interest Groups & Advocacy is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 3 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Political Influence and Corporate Strategies, Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering and Electoral Systems and Political Participation, together about 58.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Interest Groups & Advocacy will engage broadly with the politics of interests. It will record and analyze how advocacy by groups, movements and lobbying professionals shapes policy, and it will address important debates about how such interests are mobilized and maintained. It will cast a wide net across politics and society to identify the forces, strategies, and tactics that determine policy change. Open to diverse methodologies, it welcomes studies that address theoretical issues, report rigorous empirical work, and deliver insight on the range of change agents and their behaviour and impact. Although this is a field traditionally dominated by American political science, in recent years there has been a widening geographical range as scholarly attention has reflected the growth of numbers, lobbyists have proliferated, and spending has increased in Europe, and in many states, provinces and localities around the world. Such territorial expansion of focus has been accompanied by broadened interest in the number and type of advocacy organizations, (far from the textbook stereotypes of interest groups), such as multi-national corporations, NGOs, and social movements, that seek to influence public policies. With the active assistance of a diverse and experienced editorial board, the Editors explicitly seek to create a visible, well-regarded journal with the highest standards. Whether in addressing historical issues or recent events, prospective articles should be sophisticated and of interest to a wide audience. We seek incisive, well-researched, and well-written articles. These qualities are especially important given our desire to attract contributions and attention from practitioners in the worlds of lobbying and group organization. Alongside the Editorial Board there is a Practice Panel to ensure our contents are credible in the world of practice. Although this journal is anchored within political science, these aims will not be addressed satisfactorily without submissions from other disciplines, such as economics, sociology, law, and history. Social movement scholarship clearly falls under the broad field; likewise, public affairs makes up a major component of the process of competitive advocacy that is now commonplace as a proxy for democratic contestation. The Editors and the editorial board welcome contributions in this broad area and intend to respond promptly to authors, with a goal of communicating decisions in no more than six weeks. Although thes
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): POLITICAL SCIENCE
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 17, Netherlands 6, Denmark 4, United Kingdom 3, Germany 2 (37 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Political Influence and Corporate StrategiesBusiness, Management and Accounting34.7%
- Nonprofit Sector and VolunteeringSocial Sciences12.6%
- Electoral Systems and Political ParticipationSocial Sciences11.4%
- Policy Transfer and LearningSocial Sciences7.2%
- Public Policy and Administration ResearchSocial Sciences6.1%
- Social Policy and Reform StudiesSocial Sciences4%
- Social Media and PoliticsSocial Sciences3.4%
- European Union Policy and GovernanceSocial Sciences3.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 3 |
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
Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSSPublisher website
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
- 1.3Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.5LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.18LetPub ·
- h-index
- 35OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 121OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.2OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 23.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 51.52%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 25LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 7,500Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 110,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 357 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 18 | 7 | 1 |
| 2025 | 30 | 19 | 20 |
| 2024 | 28 | 16 | 70 |
| 2023 | 23 | 10 | 86 |
| 2022 | 31 | 17 | 178 |
| 2021 | 37 | 16 | 199 |
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
220 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 153 days – 263 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 23 days (50 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 230 days
- Sample
- 20 articles with submission and acceptance dates (57 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
- 7 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 3,290 / EUR 2,690 / GBP 2,390 | — | — | |
| 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.
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Submission fee
- No submission fee
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
- Abstract
- 150–200 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 10,000 words
- Reference style
- Harvard
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Self-archiving
- 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
CC BY or CC BY-NC-ND licence for open access articles Model summary
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
No submission fee 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
Double-blind peer review Model summary
Given the journal’s use of the double-blind review process, authors must prepare their manuscript anonymously.
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
Green open access self-archiving permitted 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 ·
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
- 2047-7414
- Electronic ISSN
- 2047-7422
- Society / sponsor
- Political Organizations and Parties section of the American Political Science Association
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 15, Issue 3 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Interest Groups & Advocacy
What CAS zone is Interest Groups & Advocacy in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Interest Groups & Advocacy is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Political Science. 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 Interest Groups & Advocacy?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.3 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 2.3, h-index 35.
How long does peer review take at Interest Groups & Advocacy?
Based on the dates recorded on 20 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 220 days (interquartile range 153–263 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 Interest Groups & Advocacy?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–200 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 10,000 words; Reference style: Harvard. 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 Interest Groups & Advocacy based?
Of the 37 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (17), Netherlands (6) and Denmark (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Interest Groups & Advocacy?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Interest Groups & Advocacy is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Interest Groups & Advocacy open access, and what is the APC?
Interest Groups & Advocacy is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,290.
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: .