Journal profile · Mathematics
Journal of Combinatorial Designs
ISSN 1063-8539 · eISSN 1520-6610 · John Wiley and Sons Inc. · UNITED STATES · Bimonthly
Journal of Combinatorial Designs: CAS Zone 4 · Mathematics (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.84; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,350; median 224 days to acceptance (73 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: easy; 69 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Combinatorial Designs is published by John Wiley and Sons Inc. and is in Zone 4 of Mathematics in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are graph theory and CDMA systems, Coding theory and cryptography and Finite Group Theory Research, together about 66.7% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Journal of Combinatorial Designs is an international journal devoted to the timely publication of the most influential papers in the area of combinatorial design theory. All topics in design theory, and in which design theory has important applications, are covered, including: block designs, t-designs, pairwise balanced designs and group divisible designs Latin squares, quasigroups, and related algebras computational methods in design theory construction methods applications in computer science, experimental design theory, and coding theory graph decompositions, factorizations, and design-theoretic techniques in graph theory and extremal combinatorics finite geometry and its relation with design theory. algebraic aspects of design theory. Researchers and scientists can depend on the Journal of Combinatorial Designs for the most recent developments in this rapidly growing field, and to provide a forum for both theoretical research and applications. All papers appearing in the Journal of Combinatorial Designs are carefully peer refereed. A subscription to the Journal of Graph Theory includes a subscription to the Journal of Combinatorial Designs .
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Mathematics
Editor-in-chief Daniel HorsleyPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 5 in mainland China (about 12%); most named Canada 10, Australia 7, United States 6, Mainland China 5, Japan 2 (41 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- graph theory and CDMA systemsEngineering33%
- Coding theory and cryptographyComputer Science19%
- Finite Group Theory ResearchMathematics14.8%
- Limits and Structures in Graph TheoryMathematics4.4%
- Graph Labeling and Dimension ProblemsComputer Science3.8%
- Optimal Experimental Design MethodsDecision Sciences3.1%
- Product Development and CustomizationBusiness, Management and Accounting2.7%
- Advanced Graph Theory ResearchComputer Science2.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Mathematics Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Mathematics | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Mathematics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Mathematics Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Mathematics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Mathematics | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Mathematics Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Mathematics | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Mathematics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceINSPECMathSciNetzbMATHPublisher website
Other: ProQuest
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
- 0.84LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 0.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 1.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.56LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.16LetPub ·
- h-index
- 29LetPub ·
- h-index
- 44OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 386OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.43OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 12.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 25%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 45LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 45Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 19,025Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,803 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 45 | 20 | 0 |
| 2025 | 69 | 46 | 27 |
| 2024 | 58 | 32 | 47 |
| 2023 | 57 | 32 | 64 |
| 2022 | 61 | 23 | 85 |
| 2021 | 64 | 29 | 145 |
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
224 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 142 days – 262 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 15 days (73 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 237 days
- Sample
- 73 articles with submission and acceptance dates (102 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)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 38%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 14 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 244 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 16 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single-anonymous peer reviewPublisher website · model-extracted
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 3,350 / EUR 2,770 / GBP 2,220 | — | — | |
| 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.
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 prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- 4–7
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints, Self-archiving
- Authorship Authorship
Please refer to the journal’s authorship policy the Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations section for details on author listing eligibility.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of Interest Statement
Authors will be asked to provide a conflict of interest statement during the submission process. For details on what to include in this section, see the section ‘Conflict of Interest’ in the Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations section below. Submitting authors should ensure they liaise with all co-authors to confirm agreement with the final statement.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Sharing and Data Accessibility
The journal encourages authors to share the data and other artifacts supporting the results in the paper by archiving it in an appropriate public repository. Authors should include a data accessibility statement, including a link to the repository they have used, in order that this statement can be published alongside their paper.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics
Member of COPE Model summary
This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Note this journal uses iThenticate’s CrossCheck software to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. Read Wiley'sTop 10 Publishing Ethics Tips for Authors here. Wiley’s Publication Ethics Guidelines can be found here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Reproduction of Copyright Material
If excerpts from copyrighted works owned by third parties are included, credit must be shown in the contribution. It is the author’s responsibility to also obtain written permission for reproduction from the copyright owners. For more information visit Wiley’s Copyright Terms & Conditions FAQ at http://exchanges.wiley.com/authors/faqs---copyright-terms--conditions_301.html.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access Fees
Authors who choose to publish using Open Access will be charged a fee. A list of Article Publication Charges for Wiley journals is available here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review and Acceptance
The acceptance criteria for all papers are the quality and originality of the research and its significance to journal readership. Papers will only be sent to review if the Editor-in-Chief determines that the paper meets the appropriate quality and relevance requirements.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints PREPRINT POLICY
Preprint policy Model summary
Wiley believes that journals publishing for communities with established pre-print servers should allow authors to submit manuscripts which have already been made available on a non-commercial preprint server. Allowing submission does not, of course, guarantee that an article will be sent out for review. It simply reflects our belief that journals should not rule out reviewing a paper simply becau…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving Self-Archiving Definitions and Policies
Note that the journal’s standard copyright agreement allows for self-archiving of different versions of the article under specific conditions. Please click here for more detailed information about self-archiving definitions and policies.
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
- John Wiley and Sons Inc.
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- ISSN
- 1063-8539
- Electronic ISSN
- 1520-6610
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Combinatorial Designs
What CAS zone is Journal of Combinatorial Designs in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Combinatorial Designs is in Zone 4 of Mathematics, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Mathematics. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Mathematics. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Combinatorial Designs?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 0.84; CiteScore 1.3, h-index 44.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Combinatorial Designs?
Based on the dates recorded on 73 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 224 days (interquartile range 142–262 days); authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 38% (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 Journal of Combinatorial Designs?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: 4–7; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; 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 Journal of Combinatorial Designs based?
Of the 41 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 5 (about 12%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Canada (10), Australia (7) and United States (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Combinatorial Designs?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Combinatorial Designs is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, INSPEC, MathSciNet and zbMATH; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Combinatorial Designs open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Combinatorial Designs is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,350.
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 2026-08-24). Last updated: .