Journal profile · Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Journal of Web Semantics
ISSN 1570-8268 · eISSN 1873-7749 · Elsevier · NETHERLANDS · Quarterly · Founded 2003
Journal of Web Semantics: CAS Zone 3 · Computer Science (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.08; fully open access; APC about USD 1,730; review about 347 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); community-reported acceptance: easy; 15 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Web Semantics is published by Elsevier and is in Zone 3 of Computer Science in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Semantic Web and Ontologies, Service-Oriented Architecture and Web Services and Biomedical Text Mining and Ontologies, together about 40.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are Artificial Intelligence. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Journal of Web Semantics (JWS) is an interdisciplinary forum at the intersection of the Semantic Web, Knowledge Graphs (KGs), and Artificial Intelligence (AI), with a strong emphasis on both theoretical and applied research. Building on its foundation as a venue for exploring knowledge-intensive and intelligent Web technologies, JWS recognizes the pivotal role that KGs and Semantic Web (SW) technologies play in the evolving AI landscape, particularly amid recent breakthroughs in Generative AI, neuro-symbolic systems, and autonomous agents.JWS seeks to capture the critical convergence between symbolic and statistical approaches to AI, focusing on the methods, architectures, and foundational theories that drive the integration of Semantic Web and KG technologies with machine learning, deep learning, Large Language Models (LLMs), and other AI techniques. The journal encourages contributions that not only demonstrate impactful applications but also advance the theoretical understanding of how structured, semantic knowledge can enhance intelligent systems.We welcome high-quality submissions that include, but are not limited to, the following areas:Theoretical Foundations and Methodological AdvancesFormal Models and Representations: New theoretical frameworks and formalisms for KGs, ontologies, reasoning, and semantic data management, including studies on expressivity, consistency, change management, and evolution in complex or dynamic systems.Hybrid and Neuro-Symbolic Architectures: Methodological insights into combining symbolic knowledge representation with sub-symbolic learning, including formal characterizations of neuro-symbolic systems and architectures.KG-AI Integration Methods: Novel algorithms and frameworks that tightly couple KGs with AI methods in ways that yield results unattainable by either approach alone, including Logic Augmented Generation and reasoning-enhanced learning.Evaluation and Benchmarking: Research on robust evaluation methodologies for KG-AI systems, with attention to correctness, scalability, data quality, reliability, interpretability, and accountability. Applied and Interdisciplinary ResearchCross-Disciplinary Studies: Integrative work drawing from ontology engineering, databases, NLP, machine learning, human-computer interaction, and cognitive science, among others, with clear theoretical or methodological contributions.Domain Applications: Real-world use cases showing how KGs and SW technologies enable or enhance AI in specific domains: Healthcare and Life Sciences, Education, Legal Tech, Scientific Discovery, Smart Cities, Industry, Finance, Cultural Heritage, Art and Creativity, etc.Engineering, Resources, and System IntegrationKG Engineering Automation: AI-driven approaches to the (semi-)automatic creation, population, alignment, and refinement of KGs and ontologies, especially using LLMs and foundation models.System Descriptions and Architectures: Descriptions of integrated KG-AI systems, with technical insights into issues such as hallucination mitigation, knowledge retrieval, cross-modal integration, and interaction design.Auditing, Explanation, and Governance: Research on how KGs contribute to transparency, robustness, and auditability of AI systems, including formal representation of workflows, provenance, and ethical constraints.Data and Knowledge Resources: Descriptions of high-impact ontologies, datasets, benchmarks, and tools that enable research or deployment in SW/AI integration. JWS is especially interested in papers that address current and future challenges in the field, including:Modelling expressivity for complex systemsKnowledge engineering automationIntegration of heterogeneous data and knowledge sourcesScalable, efficient reasoning with large-scale KGsAccessibility and usability of semantic systemsProvenance, privacy, and interoperability in AI-KG ecosystemsSocietal impacts, costs, risks, and sustainability of KG-based AIEvaluation of semantic methods and systems Finally,
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Editor-in-chief Valentina PresuttiPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 3 in mainland China (about 3%); most named Germany 22, Italy 19, United Kingdom 16, United States 12, France 7 (110 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Semantic Web and OntologiesComputer Science24.7%
- Service-Oriented Architecture and Web ServicesComputer Science8.9%
- Biomedical Text Mining and OntologiesBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.7%
- Advanced Database Systems and QueriesComputer Science6.5%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering5.7%
- Data Quality and ManagementDecision Sciences5.6%
- Educational Robotics and EngineeringComputer Science5.5%
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance5.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Computer Science Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Information Systems | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Software Engineering | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Computer Science Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Information Systems | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Software Engineering | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Computer Science Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Computer Science | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Information Systems | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Computer Science, Software Engineering | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- Impact factor
- 3.08LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 10.2LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 10.2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.01LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.35LetPub ·
- h-index
- 74LetPub ·
- h-index
- 103OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 478OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 8.76OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 78.33%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 20LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 770 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 12 | 12 | 7 |
| 2025 | 15 | 15 | 86 |
| 2024 | 31 | 31 | 415 |
| 2023 | 21 | 10 | 186 |
| 2022 | 31 | 16 | 440 |
| 2021 | 31 | 14 | 415 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
347 dayssubmission to acceptance · community reports over 12 weeks
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Average review time (community reports)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 68 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 255 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 347 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 11 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 21 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single 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
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | USD 1,730 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,700 / EUR 1,590 / GBP 1,360 / JPY 210,850 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 1,730 | — | — |
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
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- 1–7
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- Highlights
- Optional
Article types accepted7
- benchmark papersBenchmark papers: The purpose of benchmark papers is to present novel benchmarks including datasets that deal with problems of interest to the community as well…Length not stated
- ontology papersOntology papers are recommended to have 6 - 8 pages in double column format.Length not stated
- regular paperRegular papers are recommended to have 15 - 25 pages in double column format Survey papers: We welcome survey papers that integrate the existing literature in (…Length not stated
- regular papersRegular papers are recommended to have 15 - 25 pages in double column formatLength not stated
- surveyRegular papers are recommended to have 15 - 25 pages in double column format Survey papers: We welcome survey papers that integrate the existing literature in (…Length not stated
- survey papersSurvey papers: We welcome survey papers that integrate the existing literature in (some area of) semantic web research and put its results in context. Survey pa…Length not stated
- systems papersSystems papers are recommended to have 6 - 8 pages in double column formatLength not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI use
Authors must declare the use of generative AI tools in the manuscript preparation process upon submission of the paper.Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI tools”) have been rapidly adopted in research and scholarly publishing, offering significant benefits while requiring clear standards for responsible and transparent use.Authors preparing a manuscript for this journal may use AI tool…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Group authorship
Group authorship refers to the attribution of an article to a defined and named group of authors whose members have contributed to the work. Examples include research consortia, clinical trial groups, collaborative networks, task forces or working groups, expert panels or consensus groups, and participatory research groups. Group authorship must be declared on the title page at submission. When av…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interests
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential competing interests include:EmploymentConsultanciesStock ownershipHonorariaPaid expert testimonyPatent applications or registrationsGrants or any other fundingAffiliation with the journal as an Editor or Advisory Board …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright License options
Authors will be offered open access user license options which will determine how you, and third parties, can reuse your open access article. We advise that you review these options and any funding body license requirements before selecting a license option.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
We refer you to our open access information page to learn about open access options for this journal.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Single anonymized review process Model summary
This journal follows a single anonymized review process. Your submission will initially be assessed by our editors. If your submission is deemed suitable, it will typically be sent to be reviewed by a minimum of two reviewers for an independent expert assessment of the scientific quality. The decision as to whether your article is accepted or rejected for publication will be made by our editors.Re…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprint sharing allowed Model summary
Preprint sharingAuthors may share preprints in line with Elsevier's article sharing policy. Sharing preprints, such as on a preprint server, will not count as prior publication.We advise you to read our policy on multiple, redundant or concurrent publication.
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
- Elsevier
- Country or region
- NETHERLANDS
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 2003
- ISSN
- 1570-8268
- Electronic ISSN
- 1873-7749
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Web Semantics
What CAS zone is Journal of Web Semantics in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Web Semantics is in Zone 3 of Computer Science, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence / Computer Science, Information Systems / Computer Science, Software Engineering. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Computer Science. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Web Semantics?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.08; CiteScore 10.2, h-index 103.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Web Semantics?
The publisher reports about 347 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”. 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 Web Semantics?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: 1–7; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; Highlights: Optional. 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Journal of Web Semantics based?
Of the 110 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 3 (about 3%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Germany (22), Italy (19) and United Kingdom (16). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Web Semantics?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Web Semantics is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Journal of Web Semantics open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Web Semantics is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,730.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .