Journal profile · EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
International Journal of Serious Games
ISSN 2384-8766 · Serious Games Society · Italy
International Journal of Serious Games: CAS Zone 4 · Education (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.2 (journal website); diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 12 weeks (community reports); acceptance rate 15% (journal website); 41 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
International Journal of Serious Games is published by Serious Games Society and is in Zone 4 of Education in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Educational Games and Gamification, Digital Games and Media and Online Learning and Analytics, together about 56% of its articles. Its main subfields are Developmental and Educational Psychology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The IJSG publishes original, peer-reviewed, scientific research articles addressing theoretical, experimental and operational aspects in the areas related to design, development, engineering, deployment and assessment of Serious Games (SGs), particularly for teaching and learning. IJSG aims at being a high-level reference point for a growing academic and industrial community, providing innovative research ideas and application results, reporting on pressing challenges and leading-edge research. The journal encourages submission of manuscripts that enhance foundations of game-enhanced learning and SG design, present new technological solutions aimed to improve teaching and learning, and/or provide user studies about deployment of SGs in instructional or training settings, critically checking their effectiveness. All papers should advance the state of the art. Empirical studies are strongly encouraged. Papers may be one of several types: research paper; tutorial/survey; research note/short paper; addendum/corrections. Additional material can be added as software/algorithms; datasets. By publishing high quality scientific and technological research papers, the IJSG intends to address the need for scientific and engineering methods for building games as effective learning tools. A successful application of SGs for instruction and training demands appropriate metrics, analytics, tools, and techniques for in-game user assessment, in order to allow meeting the educational goals, provide proper user feedback and support adaptivity. Appropriate mapping should be defined in order to support translation of pedagogical goals into compelling game experiences. The IJSG does not address political/societal/ethical aspects. More generally, advances in application domains are not in the focus of this journal. The focus is on games (and instruction), not on their content. The IJSG aims at filling this gap, as the world reference scientific publication for supporting SG design and deployment. The journal is published quarterly by the Serious Games Society. Please refer to the IJSG Call for Papers for a detailed list of topics of interest to the journal.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Editor-in-chief Francesco BellottiPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 2%); most named Italy 6, Taiwan, China 4, Netherlands 4, Portugal 4, United States 2 (41 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Educational Games and GamificationPsychology42.2%
- Digital Games and MediaSocial Sciences8.5%
- Online Learning and AnalyticsComputer Science5.3%
- Teaching and Learning ProgrammingComputer Science3.8%
- Virtual Reality Applications and ImpactsComputer Science3.6%
- Flow Experience in Various FieldsPsychology3.4%
- Innovative Teaching and Learning MethodsPsychology2.9%
- Augmented Reality ApplicationsComputer Science2.9%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Education Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Education Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Education | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Education & Educational Research | 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
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceDBLPPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, J-Gate
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)
- 2.2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.5LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.11LetPub ·
- h-index
- 38OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 141OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.82OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 11.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 89.01%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 37LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 392 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 36 | 36 | 3 |
| 2025 | 41 | 41 | 57 |
| 2024 | 33 | 33 | 140 |
| 2023 | 32 | 32 | 314 |
| 2022 | 29 | 29 | 253 |
| 2021 | 29 | 29 | 476 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2024
- 15%Publisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 12 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
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY-NC-ND | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — |
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)
Article types accepted1
- research articleResearch articleLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteConflicts of interest, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review
- Conflicts of interest Conflict of interest
Authors must disclose all relationships or interests that could have influence or impart bias on the work. Disclosure of relationships and interests provides a more complete and transparent process. Examples of potential conflicts of interests include: reserch grants, project sponsorships, employment, multiple affiliations, any kind of financial supports, etc.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics
The IJSG is committed to follow the guidelines available from COPE (COPE resources, COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines). We highlight the following main aspects. Ethical responsibilities of authors Authors should refrain from misrepresenting research results. Rules of good scientific practice include: The manuscript has not been submitted to more than one journal for simultaneous co…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access Policy
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review Process
Indexed in ESCI since 2015 Model summary
IJSG implements a double blind review process. Each submitted manuscript is first assessed by the editor in chief, who checks suitability for the journal. Suitable papers are assigned by the Editor-in-Chief to a member of the editorial board (section editor), based on the matching bewteen the manuscript topics and the editor's skills. Plagiarism is checked for every submission, with the support of…
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
- Serious Games Society
- Country or region
- Italy
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2384-8766
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 13, Issue 4 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about International Journal of Serious Games
What CAS zone is International Journal of Serious Games in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, International Journal of Serious Games is in Zone 4 of Education, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Education & Educational Research. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Education. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of International Journal of Serious Games?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 2.2; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 5, h-index 38.
How long does peer review take at International Journal of Serious Games?
Authors report an average review time of about 12 weeks; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 15% (2024). 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.
Where are the editorial board members of International Journal of Serious Games based?
Of the 41 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 2%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Italy (6), Taiwan, China (4) and Netherlands (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index International Journal of Serious Games?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, International Journal of Serious Games is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science and DBLP; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is International Journal of Serious Games open access, and what is the APC?
International Journal of Serious Games is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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: .