Journal profile · Multiple
Journal of Strategic Studies
ISSN 0140-2390 · eISSN 1743-937X · Taylor & Francis
Journal of Strategic Studies: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.41; JCR Q1 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 240 days to acceptance (74 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 12% (journal website); 55 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Strategic 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 International Relations and Foreign Policy, Military History and Strategy and Human auditory perception and evaluation, together about 31.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The field of strategic studies has never been more significant than it is today. Since the appearance of the first issue in 1978, The Journal of Strategic Studies has taken a lead in promoting fresh thinking in the field among scholars and practitioners alike. The defining feature of The Journal of Strategic Studies is its commitment to multi-disciplinary approaches to the study of war. The editors welcome articles that challenge our historical understanding of humanity’s efforts to achieve political ends through the application of military and diplomatic means; articles on contemporary security and theoretical controversies of enduring value; and of course articles that explicitly combine the historical and theoretical approaches to the study of modern warfare, defence policy and modern strategy. In addition to individual articles and a well-established review section, The Journal of Strategic Studies offers its diverse readership a wide range of review essays, special issues and special sections. Recent editions have focused on Chinese defense innovation, sea power in the Asia-Pacific region, and peacekeeping in Africa. Peer Review All submitted manuscripts are subject to initial appraisal by the editors, and, if found suitable for further consideration, research articles are then subject to peer review by two or more independent, anonymous expert referees. For special issues, articles will be reviewed by the journal editors and a single expert referee for all items in the special issue. Review or historiographical essays, as well as state-of-the field papers, are generally reviewed by the journal editors only. All peer review is double-anonymous and submission is online via the Taylor & Francis Submission Portal. The journal publishes a list of its referees in the last issue of each volume.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- International Relations and Foreign PolicySocial Sciences13.6%
- Military History and StrategySocial Sciences10.8%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering7%
- European and Russian Geopolitical Military StrategiesSocial Sciences5.4%
- Nuclear Issues and DefenseSocial Sciences5.3%
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance5%
- Educational Robotics and EngineeringComputer Science5%
- Defense, Military, and Policy StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.9%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | International Relations | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | International Relations | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 3 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | International Relations | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Political Science | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q1 · 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
Current ContentsPublisher website
Other: International Political Science Abstracts, British Humanities Index, ABC-CLIO - Historical Abstracts, ABC-CLIO - America: History and Life
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
- 2.41LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.5Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 5.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 5.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.98LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.98Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.88LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.88Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 66OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 654OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.5OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 16%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 27.5%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 48LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 449,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,158 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 33 | 16 | 15 |
| 2025 | 55 | 27 | 115 |
| 2024 | 45 | 24 | 203 |
| 2023 | 43 | 23 | 379 |
| 2022 | 43 | 24 | 406 |
| 2021 | 43 | 16 | 587 |
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
240 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 139 days – 323 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 25 days (74 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 267 days
- Sample
- 74 articles with submission and acceptance dates (97 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)
- 12%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 6 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 107 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 28 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
- research articlesresearch articles are then subject to peer review by two or more independent, anonymous expert refereesLength not stated
- review or historiographical essaysReview or historiographical essays, as well as state-of-the field papers, are generally reviewed by the journal editors only.Length not stated
- special issuesFor special issues, articles will be reviewed by the journal editors and a single expert referee for all items in the special issue.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Journal of Strategic 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 discoverabilit…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Double-anonymous peer review; submission online via Taylor & Francis Submission Portal. Model summary
All peer review is double-anonymous and submission is online via the Taylor & Francis Submission Portal.
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
- 0140-2390
- Electronic ISSN
- 1743-937X
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 49, Issue 4 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Strategic Studies
What CAS zone is Journal of Strategic Studies in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Strategic Studies is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category International Relations / Political Science. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Strategic Studies?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.41; CiteScore 5.3, h-index 66.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Strategic Studies?
Based on the dates recorded on 74 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 240 days (interquartile range 139–323 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 12%. 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 Strategic Studies in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1 (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 3 of Sociology.
Which databases index Journal of Strategic Studies?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Strategic Studies is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Strategic Studies open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Strategic 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: .