Journal profile · PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis
ISSN 1387-6988 · eISSN 1572-5448 · Taylor & Francis
Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: CAS Zone 3 · Management (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.66; JCR Q1 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 206 days to acceptance (71 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 21% (journal website); 55 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis is published by Taylor & Francis 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 Social Policy and Reform Studies, Policy Transfer and Learning and Public Policy and Administration Research, together about 41% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
JCPA: THE JOURNAL AND ITS MISSION The Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice (JCPA) has pioneered comparative policy studies since 1998 and still is the only explicitly comparative journal of policy analytic studies. Affiliated with the Society for International Comparative Policy Analysis (ICPA), the JCPA mission is to stimulate the intellectual development of comparative policy studies and the growth of an international community of scholars actively involved in advancing the field. The JCPA invites manuscripts that make a significant contribution to the comparison of public policy, in terms of theories and multi-methods, as well as their relation to public affairs, governance, administration, management or political science. JCPA Aims and Scope The JCPA publishes scholarship which captures differences or similarities in policy issues, their causality, and their potential solutions. Therefore, the journal develops and applies comparative methods and contributes to establishing comparative policy analysis as a robust domain of study for policy learning, for research and practice. Criteria: submissions should reflect the Aims and Scope of the journal by explicitly addressing any of the following: comparative theory development and/or testing the development and/or application of comparative research methods comparative empirical policy research analysis lesson-drawing and extrapolation in research and practice Requirements: The JCPA is published 6 times per year, is double-blind peer reviewed, and adheres to the highest quality of scholarship. The average time to publication time is 6-10 months. Papers must relate to public policy and be explicitly comparative. Papers must not exceed 8,000 words. Read the Instructions for Authors on how to submit your article. Authors can choose to publish Gold Open Access. Interdisciplinarity: The JCPA encourages interdisciplinary contributions in all fields of public policy analysis, as long as they rely on a comparative methodology, with either a case-based or a variable-based research design. Functionally: articles may address sector policies (such as energy, health, education, etc.), policy problems (such as climate change, state capture or the impact of artificial intelligence), and state capacities and institutional change (such as public finance and budgeting, administrative reform, performance measurement)—among others. JCPA Special Sections The JCPA welcomes submissions to each of the follo
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Editorial board by country: 3 in mainland China (about 15%); most named Canada 9, Mainland China 3, Mexico 3, Italy 2, United States 1 (20 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Social Policy and Reform StudiesSocial Sciences17.5%
- Policy Transfer and LearningSocial Sciences13.4%
- Public Policy and Administration ResearchSocial Sciences10%
- Political Influence and Corporate StrategiesBusiness, Management and Accounting6.4%
- European Union Policy and GovernanceSocial Sciences5.9%
- Local Government Finance and DecentralizationSocial Sciences4.7%
- International Development and AidSocial Sciences3.5%
- Employment and Welfare StudiesHealth Professions3%
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 | Public Administration | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Management Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Public Administration | Zone 4 |
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 | Public Administration | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q1 · best quartile · 2025
- CiteScore Q1 · 2025
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePublisher website
Other: ABI/Inform, CSA - Risk Abstracts (online), International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, International Political Science Abstracts, Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS), Social Work Abstracts, CSA - Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management
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
- 3.66LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.7LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 4.7Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.7LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.7Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.18LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.18Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 69OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 481OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.3OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 10.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 24.04%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 43LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 181,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,043 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 32 | 13 | 12 |
| 2025 | 55 | 22 | 71 |
| 2024 | 40 | 24 | 209 |
| 2023 | 29 | 8 | 341 |
| 2022 | 25 | 4 | 160 |
| 2021 | 34 | 10 | 932 |
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
206 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 168 days – 291 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 35 days (71 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 243 days
- Sample
- 71 articles with submission and acceptance dates (91 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)
- 21%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 13 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 79 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 45 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Gold open access option Model summary
Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice is a hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open ac…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Timeline for submission, peer review, and publication
Double-blind peer review Model summary
(Tentative, the exact timeline will be coordinated if the special issue is accepted)
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
- Taylor & Francis
- ISSN
- 1387-6988
- Electronic ISSN
- 1572-5448
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 28, Issue 4 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis
What CAS zone is Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis is in Zone 3 of Management, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Public Administration. 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 Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.66; CiteScore 4.7, h-index 69.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis?
Based on the dates recorded on 71 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 206 days (interquartile range 168–291 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 21%. 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 JCR quartile is Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1 (best quartile). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 3 of Management.
Where are the editorial board members of Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis based?
Of the 20 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 3 (about 15%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Canada (9), Mainland China (3) and Mexico (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC charged, amount not published.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .