Journal of the American Planning Association

Journal of the American Planning Association is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 2 of Economics in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Urbanization and City Planning, Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies and Human auditory perception and evaluation, together about 29.2% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)

Since 1935, the quarterly Journal of the American Planning Association ( JAPA ) has published research, commentaries, and book reviews useful to practicing planners, policymakers, scholars, students, and citizens of urban, suburban, and rural areas. JAPA publishes double-anonymized peer reviewed, original research and analysis. It aspires to bring insight to planning the future, to air a variety of perspectives, to publish the highest quality work, and to engage readers. JAPA is interested in manuscripts that examine historical or contemporary planning experience, broadly defined, in domestic or global contexts, and that do at least one of the following: contribute to the theoretical and conceptual foundation of planning; improve the link between planning and successful policy implementation; advance the methods used in planning practice and planning research; explain empirical relationships important to planning; interpret noteworthy physical, economic, and social phenomena that have spatial dimensions; or analyze significant consequences of planning approaches, processes, and contexts. JAPA prefers vivid and direct writing in the active voice. We particularly seek timely papers that offer significant research news. For information concerning Taylor & Francis’ Developing World Initiatives please click here. Peer Review Policy: All Research Articles, Review Essays, and Planning Viewpoints submitted to this journal undergo a “double-anonymous” peer review by two to three referees. Book Reviews are editorially reviewed by the Book Review Editor. Commentaries are editorially reviewed by the Editor. Disclaimer

From the journal's Aims & Scope

Research area (LetPub): Multiple

Editor-in-chief Yan SongPublisher website

Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 3%); most named United States 54, Hong Kong, China 3, Mainland China 2, Canada 2, United Kingdom 1 (66 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website · 2026-09-29

CAS Journal Ranking

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: ProQuest, ABI/Inform Global, Academic Search Premier, America: History and Life, Article First, Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals, Gale Business & Company Resource Center, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, EBSCOHost, Environment Abstracts, Environmental Periodicals Bibliography, Expanded Academic ASAP, Genamics, Geobase, Geographical Abstracts, Humanities Index & Social Science Retrospective, International Development Abstracts (IDA), OmniFile, PAIS International in Print, Philanthropic Studies Index (PSI), Questia, Science Direct, Social Sciences Index/Abstracts/Full Text

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

4.18LetPub · 2026-09-13

Impact factor (publisher) 2025

4.2Publisher website · 2026-09-29

5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025

5.7Publisher website · 2026-09-29

CiteScore 2026-06

8.4LetPub · 2026-09-13

CiteScore (publisher) 2025

8.4Publisher website · 2026-09-29

SJR 2026-06

1.7LetPub · 2026-09-13

SJR (publisher) 2025

1.7Publisher website · 2026-09-29

SNIP 2026-06

2.01LetPub · 2026-09-13

SNIP (publisher) 2025

2.01Publisher website · 2026-09-29

h-index

164OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

i10-index

1,281OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

2-year mean citedness

2.93OpenAlex · 2026-10-01

Self-citation rate

4.8%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Share of gold OA articles

20.69%LetPub · 2026-09-13

Volume

Articles per year

32LetPub · 2026-09-13

Downloads per year (publisher)

487,000Publisher website · 2026-09-29

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)

17%Publisher website · 2026-09-29

Submission to first decision

6 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-29

First decision after review

47 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-29

Acceptance to publication

51 daysPublisher website · 2026-09-29

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.

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

0194-4363

Electronic ISSN

1939-0130

Society / sponsor

American Planning Association

Latest issue on the website

Volume 92, Issue 4 (2026)

Official links

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