Journal profile · Social Sciences-Cultural Studies
Journal of Public Interest Communications
ISSN 2573-4342 · University of Florida, College of Journalism and Communications · United States
Journal of Public Interest Communications: diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 16 weeks (community reports); 11 articles in 2025; indexed in Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Public Interest Communications is published by University of Florida, College of Journalism and Communications. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Public Relations and Crisis Communication, Rhetoric and Communication Studies and Media Studies and Communication, together about 52.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Communication. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Journal of Public Interest Communications is an open-access, interdisciplinary journal that publishes peer-reviewed research in the emerging field of public interest communications. JPIC does not require a fee for publication and is free for readers. We welcome submissions from all disciplines and utilizing a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods. Although our primary focus is expanding the empirical and theoretical underpinnings of public interest communications, we also seek submissions with a strong applied element. Public interest communications is an academic discipline that seeks to help communicators working on social, political, and environmental issues impacting society. It draws from multiple disciplines such as public relations, political science, sociology, social psychology, and marketing--among others--to conduct research that contributes to the best practices for those seeking to create positive change. It embraces all social science research methods including quantitative, qualitative, historical, critical, and legal. To this end, JPIC publishes three types of articles: Academic research: Research findings are written primarily by academic researchers working in fields relevant to public interest communications. These articles are designed to offer empirically-based suggestions for communicators and activists working on campaigns or to contribute substantially to the theoretical basis of the field. Practitioner Q&As: These interviews are conducted by editorial team members with practitioners of public interest communications and seek to illustrate strategies and tactics used in the field. Practitioner Q&As address topics related to best practices, approaches to avoid, and calls for additional analysis of a particular aspect of public interest communications. Campaign reviews: Campaign reviews are analyses of specific public interest communications campaigns, either past or in progress. These articles are designed to analyze the constituent components of campaigns and offer a critical look at what worked and what did not work within the campaign.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Social Sciences-Cultural Studies
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Public Relations and Crisis CommunicationSocial Sciences26.6%
- Rhetoric and Communication StudiesArts and Humanities15.6%
- Media Studies and CommunicationSocial Sciences9.9%
- Social Media and PoliticsSocial Sciences6.3%
- Media Influence and HealthArts and Humanities5.7%
- Journalism and Media StudiesSocial Sciences3.1%
- Corporate Social Responsibility ReportingBusiness, Management and Accounting2.6%
- Climate Change Communication and PerceptionSocial Sciences2.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CiteScore quartiles (Scopus, June 2026 release)
| Subject | Quartile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cultural Studies | Q2 | 411/1434 | — |
| Gender Studies | Q3 | 128/233 | — |
| Sociology and Political Science | Q3 | 929/1530 | — |
| Health (social science) | Q3 | 286/387 | — |
Scopus ranks journals by CiteScore within each subject: the 75th percentile and above is Q1, then a quartile every 25 points. A different system from the CAS zones.LetPub
Database indexing
ScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.13LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.6LetPub ·
- h-index
- 16OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 23OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.15OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 119 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 13 | 13 | 98 |
| 2025 | 11 | 11 | 155 |
| 2024 | 10 | 10 | 120 |
| 2023 | 10 | 10 | 149 |
| 2022 | 4 | 4 | 147 |
| 2021 | 10 | 10 | 83 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 16 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 16 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
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
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY-NC | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| Publisher website | No APC | — | — |
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Page charges
- No page charges
- Submission fee
- No submission fee
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
- ≤ 120 words
- Keywords
- 5
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
Article types accepted7, with length limits
- campaign reviewsCampaign Reviews Campaign reviews are analyses of specific public interest communications campaigns either past or in progress.Length not stated
- commentaryCommentary Commentary pieces offer a place for practitioners, researchers, activists, and others invested in public interest communications to engage in a dialo…Length not stated
- editors' essayEditors' Essay Articles published in this section are written by the issue's editors.Length not stated
- invited papersInvited Papers Papers in this section were invited by the journal's editorial board.Length not stated
- original researchexceed the following length guidelines: Original research: 6,000 – 8,000 words Practitioner Q&As: 4,000 – 6,000 words Campaign reviews: 4,main text ≤ 8,000 words
- practitioner perspectivesPractitioner Perspectives These articles are written by communications experts and practitioners of public interest communications to analyze strategies and tac…Length not stated
- reviewoner Q&As: 4,000 – 6,000 words Campaign reviews: 4,000 – 6,000 words Abstracts Each article is required to have a brief abstractmain text ≤ 6,000 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteLicense & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Self-archiving
- License & copyright Copyright Notice
CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Model summary
By submitting to the Journal of Public Interest Communications, the author(s) agree to the terms of the Author Agreement. All authors retain copyrights associated with their article contributions and agree to make such contributions available under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY NC) 4.0 upon publication. Author Agreement This agreement takes effect upon acceptance of the Submission …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access and Self-Archiving
No APC or submission charges. Model summary
JPIC follows an open-access publishing model, meaning that all articles will be publicly accessible on the Internet immediately upon publication. I understand that I may share the submitted manuscript (preprint) of the Submission on the Internet at any point before or after publication, with a citation and link to the final version of record to be added as soon as the issue is available. I may dis…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review Process
Double-blind peer review. Model summary
All scholarly submissions to the Journal of Public Interest Communications undergo an initial screening by the journal editor as to fitness for publication. Submissions that pass this initial screening are then subject to double-blind peer review by two or three reviewers. The editor of the Journal of Public Interest Communications then takes into consideration recommendations by the reviewers in …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism Statement
JPIC does not accept articles containing material plagiarized from other publications or authors. For the purposes of this policy, plagiarism is defined as copying of or reliance on work — including text, images, and data — by others or yourself without proper attribution. Please be aware that you can plagiarize yourself; you must provide proper attribution in all cases where your previously publi…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving Open Access and Self-Archiving
Preprint and final peer-reviewed version sharing permitted. Model summary
JPIC follows an open-access publishing model, meaning that all articles will be publicly accessible on the Internet immediately upon publication. I understand that I may share the submitted manuscript (preprint) of the Submission on the Internet at any point before or after publication, with a citation and link to the final version of record to be added as soon as the issue is available. I may dis…
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
- University of Florida, College of Journalism and Communications
- Country or region
- United States
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2573-4342
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 10, Issue 2 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Public Interest Communications
How long does peer review take at Journal of Public Interest Communications?
Authors report an average review time of about 16 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.
What are the manuscript requirements of Journal of Public Interest Communications?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 120 words; Keywords: 5; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: APA. 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.
Which databases index Journal of Public Interest Communications?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Public Interest Communications is indexed in Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Journal of Public Interest Communications open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Public Interest Communications is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, 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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .