Journal of Southern African Studies

Journal of Southern African Studies is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 3 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are South African History and Culture, African history and culture studies and African studies and sociopolitical issues, together about 58.7% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)

Aims and scopeJournal metrics Editorial board Journal of Southern African Studies (JSAS) is an international publication for work of high academic quality on issues of interest and concern in the region of Southern Africa. It aims to generate fresh scholarly research in the fields of history, economics, sociology, demography, social anthropology, geography, development studies, administration, law, political science, political economy, international relations, literature, cultural studies, and the natural sciences in so far as they relate to the human condition. It periodically organises and supports conferences to this end, sometimes in the region. It seeks to encourage inter-disciplinary analysis, strong comparative perspectives and original research that reflects new theoretical or methodological approaches. An active international advisory board with strong Southern African representation demonstrates our close ties with scholars there and our commitment to promoting research in the region. The region covered embraces South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Angola and Mozambique; and occasionally, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and Mauritius. Journal of Southern African Studies publishes original research articles, review articles and book reviews. Peer Review Statement All research articles and review articles in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editorial screening, followed by assignment to one of six Editors with more specialised knowledge, and double anonymous review by at least two expert referees. Most papers will also be subject to final approval by the full editorial board. Book reviews are assessed by the Editors but are not externally peer reviewed. Read full aims and scope

From the journal's Aims & Scope

Research area (LetPub): AREA STUDIES

CAS Journal Ranking

Database indexing

SSCIScopusLetPub

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.

Impact

Impact factor

0.84LetPub · 2026-09-13

CiteScore 2026-06

1.4LetPub · 2026-09-13

SJR 2026-06

0.28LetPub · 2026-09-13

SNIP 2026-06

0.29LetPub · 2026-09-13

h-index

91OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

i10-index

1,137OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

2-year mean citedness

0.6OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

Self-citation rate

0%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Share of gold OA articles

16.54%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Volume

Articles per year

39LetPub · 2026-09-13

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.

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.

No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.

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.

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

0305-7070

Electronic ISSN

1465-3893

Latest issue on the website

Volume 52, Issue 1 (2026)

Official links

• Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
• Special issues ↗Publisher website