Journal of Social Service Research

Journal of Social Service Research 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 Social Work Education and Practice, Homelessness and Social Issues and Child Abuse and Trauma, together about 28.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Clinical Psychology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)

The Journal of Social Service Research (JSSR) focuses on outcomes-based research and practices associated with the design, delivery, and evaluation of social services. An engaged social service delivery system seeks to provide accessible, affordable, and comprehensive care that promotes quality of life. The scope of social service programming is best viewed as a broad field of inquiry in terms of presenting problems, populations served, and practice settings. Implications of the research can address management and policy decisions in a wide variety of social service contexts. Yet, discourse should be centered on the impact of the work. JSSR welcomes quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Emphasis is placed on studies with methodological rigor, transparent reporting of limitations, and those using original data. All submissions must first pass a review by the editors, with discretion for a full review determined thereafter. Manuscripts that fail to adhere to current APA guidelines may be subject to a desk rejection. Manuscripts seeking publication that address systemic inequities, promote social justice, and enhance inclusive service delivery are especially encouraged. Interprofessional, interdisciplinary, and collaborative forms of scholarship are encouraged. Studies that address relevant social service issues within the United States are desired, however contributions from global (international) social service arenas are welcome. Submissions can include different types of funded and non-funded state-of-the-art research. Peer Review Policy: All research articles in this journal have undergone editorial screening and double-anonymous peer review by at least two reviewers.

From the journal's Aims & Scope

Research area (LetPub): SOCIAL WORK

Editor-in-chief Jennifer Anderson, PhD, MSW, LCSWPublisher website

Editorial board by country: 5 in mainland China (about 6%); most named United States 62, Mainland China 5, Hong Kong, China 2, Australia 2, Türkiye 2 (79 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website · 2026-10-01

CAS Journal Ranking

JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website

• CiteScore Q2 · 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

PsycINFOPublisher website

Other: ProQuest, Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities in Psychology, Child Welfare Information Gateway, CSA Social Services Abstracts, CSA Sociological Abstracts, EBSCOhost Online Research Databases, JournalSeek, Periodical Abstracts Research (PerAbs), ProQuest Research Library, Sage Criminal Justice Abstracts, SWAN (Social Work Access Network)

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.

Impact

Impact factor

1.14LetPub · 2026-09-13

Impact factor (publisher) 2025

1.2Publisher website · 2026-10-01

5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025

1.6Publisher website · 2026-10-01

CiteScore 2026-06

2.2LetPub · 2026-09-13

CiteScore (publisher) 2025

2.2Publisher website · 2026-10-01

SJR 2026-06

0.41LetPub · 2026-09-13

SJR (publisher) 2025

0.41Publisher website · 2026-10-01

SNIP 2026-06

0.64LetPub · 2026-09-13

SNIP (publisher) 2025

0.64Publisher website · 2026-10-01

h-index

66OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

i10-index

721OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

2-year mean citedness

1.91OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

Self-citation rate

8.3%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Share of gold OA articles

4.87%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Volume

Articles per year

94LetPub · 2026-09-13

Downloads per year (publisher)

145,000Publisher website · 2026-10-01

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.

Figures by source

Acceptance rate (publisher)

15%Publisher website · 2026-10-01

Submission to first decision

6 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-01

First decision after review

57 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-01

Acceptance to publication

15 daysPublisher website · 2026-10-01

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.

The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.

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.

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

ISSN

0148-8376

Electronic ISSN

1540-7314

Latest issue on the website

Volume 52, Issue 5 (2026)

Official links

• Journal homepage ↗LetPub
• Submission system ↗Publisher website
• Special issues ↗Publisher website