Journal profile · FAMILY STUDIES
Journal of Family Studies
ISSN 1322-9400 · eISSN 1839-3543 · Taylor & Francis
Journal of Family Studies: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2; JCR Q2 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 252 days to acceptance (97 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 7% (journal website); 73 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Family Studies is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 4 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Family Dynamics and Relationships, Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving and Work-Family Balance Challenges, together about 34.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Journal of Family Studies is a peer-reviewed international journal dedicated to advancing knowledge and understanding of families, households, and personal relationships, with a particular focus on contributions from the sociology of families and social policy. The journal promotes research that examines family life within its broader social, economic, political, and cultural contexts, and explores how social policies shape family experiences, practices, and inequalities. The journal takes an inclusive and critical view of families across diverse forms and living arrangements, paying close attention to issues of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, nationality, class, age, health, and disability. It welcomes scholarship that investigates family change, family diversity, caregiving, intergenerational relations, work-family dynamics, social reproduction, and social inequalities. The Journal of Family Studies primarily publishes original empirical research articles, alongside occasional review articles. The journal publishes qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research. While interdisciplinary in scope, the journal particularly encourages submissions grounded in family sociology and social policy. The Journal of Family Studies will be of particular interest to sociologists, social policy scholars, demographers, researchers, policy makers, practitioners, educators, and others concerned with family life and social change. Research articles are typically between 6,000 and 10,000 words, should follow APA 7th edition style, and must be prepared in accordance with the journal's Author Guidelines. Peer Review Policy All articles published in this journal have undergone rigorous double-anonymised peer review, based on initial editorial board screening and refereeing by at least two anonymous external referees.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): FAMILY STUDIES
Editor-in-chief Gayle KaufmanPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Family Dynamics and RelationshipsSocial Sciences14.3%
- Intergenerational Family Dynamics and CaregivingSocial Sciences12.8%
- Work-Family Balance ChallengesSocial Sciences7.1%
- Family Support in IllnessSocial Sciences6.4%
- Attachment and Relationship DynamicsPsychology5.7%
- Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentPsychology5.3%
- Gender, Labor, and Family DynamicsSocial Sciences4.2%
- Family and Disability Support ResearchPsychology3.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Family Studies | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Family Studies | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Family Studies | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q2 · 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
SCIEWeb of SciencePubMedPsycINFOPublisher website
Other: ProQuest, EBSCOhost, Gale
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
- 2LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 5.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.84LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.84Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.3LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.3Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 49OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 441OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.02OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 9.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 30.3%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 74LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 191,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,450 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 45 | 19 | 12 |
| 2025 | 73 | 39 | 116 |
| 2024 | 46 | 18 | 203 |
| 2023 | 53 | 27 | 419 |
| 2022 | 61 | 17 | 509 |
| 2021 | 54 | 23 | 696 |
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
252 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 196 days – 390 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 12 days (97 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 269 days
- Sample
- 97 articles with submission and acceptance dates (134 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)
- 7%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 6 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 69 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 13 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)
Article types accepted3, with length limits
- research articlened with family life and social change. Research articles are typically between 6,000 and 10,000 words, should follow APA 7th edition style, and must be prepare…main text ≤ 10,000 words
- research articlesResearch articles are typically between 6,000 and 10,000 words, should follow APA 7th edition style, and must be prepared in accordance with the journal's Autho…Length not stated
- review articlesThe Journal of Family Studies primarily publishes original empirical research articles, alongside occasional review articles.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Journal of Family Studies 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 access? Increase the discoverability a…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Double-anonymised peer review with at least two anonymous external referees and initial editorial board screening. Model summary
All articles published in this journal have undergone rigorous double-anonymised peer review, based on initial editorial board screening and refereeing by at least two anonymous external referees.
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
- 1322-9400
- Electronic ISSN
- 1839-3543
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 32, Issue 4 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Family Studies
What CAS zone is Journal of Family Studies in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Family Studies is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Family Studies. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Family Studies?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2; CiteScore 5.2, h-index 49.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Family Studies?
Based on the dates recorded on 97 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 252 days (interquartile range 196–390 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 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 JCR quartile is Journal of Family Studies in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q2 (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 4 of Sociology.
Which databases index Journal of Family Studies?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Family Studies is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE, Web of Science, PubMed and PsycINFO; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Family Studies open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Family Studies 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: .