Journal profile · LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS
Journal of Language Contact
ISSN 1877-4091 · eISSN 1955-2629 · BRILL · Netherlands
Journal of Language Contact: CAS Zone 3 · Literature (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 4 (journal website); fully open access; no APC; review about 20 weeks (community reports); 21 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Language Contact is published by BRILL and is in Zone 3 of Literature in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Linguistic Variation and Morphology, Multilingual Education and Policy and Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation, together about 39.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Language and Linguistics and Linguistics and Language. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Journal of Language Contact (JLC) is a journal focused on the study of language contact, language use and language change in accordance with a view of language contact whereby both empirical data (the precise description of languages and how they are used) and the resulting theoretical elaborations (hence the statement and analysis of new problems) become the primary engines for advancing our understanding of the nature of language. This involves linguistic, anthropological, historical, and cognitive factors. Such an approach makes a major new contribution to understanding language change at a time when there is a notable increase of interest and activity in this field. The Journal of Language Contact accepts articles in English and French.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS
Editor-in-chief Henning SchreiberPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Linguistic Variation and MorphologySocial Sciences19.1%
- Multilingual Education and PolicySocial Sciences11.4%
- Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic VariationArts and Humanities8.6%
- Linguistics, Language Diversity, and IdentityArts and Humanities6.3%
- Spanish Linguistics and Language StudiesArts and Humanities6%
- Historical Linguistics and Language StudiesArts and Humanities4.9%
- Language, Discourse, Communication StrategiesArts and Humanities4.6%
- Linguistic and Sociocultural StudiesSocial Sciences4.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Literature Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Literature | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Language & Linguistics | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Literature Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Literature | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Language & Linguistics | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
ERIH PLUSPublisher website
Other: Communication Source, CSA Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts, Linguistic Bibliography
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) 2025
- 4Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 0.7LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.22LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.64LetPub ·
- h-index
- 42OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 114OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.06OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 79.71%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 21LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 467 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| 2025 | 21 | 21 | 5 |
| 2024 | 52 | 52 | 79 |
| 2023 | 13 | 13 | 29 |
| 2022 | 15 | 15 | 74 |
| 2021 | 29 | 29 | 203 |
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 PubMed · to
Too few articlesOnly 2 articles from the last 24 months carry both submission and acceptance dates, too few for a median
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)
- about 20 weeksLetPub ·
- Peer review
- Double blind peer reviewLetPub
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
Fully open accessOpenAlex
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePeer review
- Peer review
Double-anonymous peer review; each published article reviewed anonymously by at least two external reviewers, including articles in special issues. Model summary
Peer Review Policy: The Journal of Language Contact (JLC) is a double-anonymous peer-reviewed journal. Each article published has been reviewed anonymously by at least two external reviewers. This includes articles published in special issues.
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
- BRILL
- Country or region
- Netherlands
- Language
- English, French
- ISSN
- 1877-4091
- Electronic ISSN
- 1955-2629
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Language Contact
What CAS zone is Journal of Language Contact in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Language Contact is in Zone 3 of Literature, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Language & Linguistics. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Literature. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Language Contact?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 4 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 0.7, h-index 42.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Language Contact?
Authors report an average review time of about 20 weeks. 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.
Which databases index Journal of Language Contact?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Language Contact is indexed in ESCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists ERIH PLUS; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Language Contact open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Language Contact is a fully open-access journal. It charges no article processing charge.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website; 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: .