Journal profile · Multiple
Journal of Contemporary History
ISSN 0022-0094 · eISSN 1461-7250 · SAGE
Journal of Contemporary History: CAS Zone 2 · History (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.59; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,650; review about 206 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); acceptance rate 35.7% (journal website); 84 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI, AHCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Contemporary History is published by SAGE and is in Zone 2 of History in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are European history and politics, Italian Fascism and Post-war Society and Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics, together about 33.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations, Sociology and Political Science and History. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Journal of Contemporary History (JCH) is a quarterly peer-reviewed international journal publishing articles and book reviews on twentieth-century history (post-1930), covering a broad range of historical approaches including … | View full journal description This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 11, United States 4, Germany 1, Canada 1, Switzerland 1 (20 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- European history and politicsSocial Sciences14.1%
- Italian Fascism and Post-war SocietySocial Sciences11.4%
- Historical Geopolitical and Social DynamicsSocial Sciences7.9%
- Communism, Protests, Social MovementsSocial Sciences6.7%
- Historical and Contemporary Political DynamicsArts and Humanities6.4%
- French Historical and Cultural StudiesArts and Humanities5.3%
- World Wars: History, Literature, and ImpactSocial Sciences4.6%
- Historical Studies and Socio-cultural AnalysisArts and Humanities4.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)History Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | History | Zone 2 |
| Minor | History | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)History Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | History | Zone 2 |
| Minor | History | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)History Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | History | Zone 2 |
| Minor | History | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIAHCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
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
- 0.59LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 0.7Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2023
- 0.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 0.8Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2023
- 0.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.26LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0LetPub ·
- h-index
- 63OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 872OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.18OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 14.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 50%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 60LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,084 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 47 | 27 | 0 |
| 2025 | 84 | 47 | 14 |
| 2024 | 38 | 20 | 17 |
| 2023 | 71 | 32 | 55 |
| 2022 | 88 | 17 | 49 |
| 2021 | 84 | 14 | 218 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
206 dayssubmission to acceptance
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 35.7%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 21 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 96 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 206 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 62 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 3,650 / GBP 2,676 | — | — | |
| 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
- ≤ 200 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- Chicago
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
Article types accepted8
- articleArticleLength not stated
- articlesArticles The Journal welcomes articles with subject matter covering the period 1930 to the present. Manuscripts should not exceed 8000 words, excluding footnote…Length not stated
- book reviewArticles The Journal welcomes articles with subject matter covering the period 1930 to the present. Manuscripts should not exceed 8000 words, excluding footnote…Length not stated
- book reviewsBook reviews JCH no longer reviews individual books. The journal does carry review articles covering a range of books within the compass of a single critical es…Length not stated
- editorialArticles The Journal welcomes articles with subject matter covering the period 1930 to the present. Manuscripts should not exceed 8000 words, excluding footnote…Length not stated
- reviewArticles The Journal welcomes articles with subject matter covering the period 1930 to the present. Manuscripts should not exceed 8000 words, excluding footnote…Length not stated
- review articleArticles The Journal welcomes articles with subject matter covering the period 1930 to the present. Manuscripts should not exceed 8000 words, excluding footnote…Length not stated
- review articlesReview articles The Book Review Editors encourage scholars interested in writing a review article, which provide a synthesis of recent literature in a particula…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
Please view our authorship policies, which includes information on criteria for authorship, who should be the corresponding author and more. Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages. Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to: Share your research data in a relevant public data repository Include a data ava…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Ethical considerations
Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice program, and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. Open Access agreement …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Peer review: Double anonymized Model summary
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency: Double-anonymized Reviewer interacts with: Editor or Assistant Editor Review information published: None Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscrip…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
The journal will consider submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers. Please enter the preprint DOI in the designated field when submitting your manuscript. We advise that you inform the Journal Editorial office about your posted preprint at submission. Note that you should not post an updated version of your manuscript on a preprint server while it is being peer reviewed…
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
- SAGE
- ISSN
- 0022-0094
- Electronic ISSN
- 1461-7250
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Contemporary History
What CAS zone is Journal of Contemporary History in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Contemporary History is in Zone 2 of History, and in Zone 2 of the minor category History. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of History. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Contemporary History?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 0.59; CiteScore 1.3, h-index 63.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Contemporary History?
The publisher reports about 206 days (submission to acceptance); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 35.7%. 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 Contemporary History?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 200 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: Chicago; Suggested reviewers: Required. 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 Contemporary History based?
Of the 20 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (11), United States (4) and Germany (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Contemporary History?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Contemporary History is indexed in SSCI, AHCI and Scopus.
Is Journal of Contemporary History open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Contemporary History is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,650.
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: .