Journal profile · MANAGEMENT
Managing Sport and Leisure
ISSN 2375-0472 · eISSN 2375-0480 · Taylor & Francis
Managing Sport and Leisure: CAS Zone 4 · Management (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.7 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 208 days to acceptance (100 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 28% (journal website); 95 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Managing Sport and Leisure is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 4 of Management in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Sport and Mega-Event Impacts, Sports, Gender, and Society and Sports Analytics and Performance, together about 56.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Social Psychology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Managing Sport and Leisure is a refereed journal that publishes high quality research articles to inform and stimulate discussions relevant to sport and leisure management globally. The journal is committed to publishing research that advances understanding of the practice of sport and leisure management in the public, voluntary and commercial sectors, internationally. It will appeal to anyone with a serious interest in contemporary sport and leisure management issues, including academics, managers, consultants, politicians and students. One of the key objectives of the journal is to provide a high level forum for communication between academics and practitioners of sport and leisure. Therefore Managing Sport and Leisure aims to be contemporary, integrated and, most importantly, relevant to practitioner training. Contributions are welcome and expected from both academics and practitioners throughout the international sport and leisure management community. In addition, the journal welcomes submissions from those investigating new and innovative areas of research and practice in sport and leisure management. In order to foster debate and extend the scope of discussion, MSL publishes shorter carefully argued position statements on specific topics and / or research methods through the Commentary option for publication. The intention of this feature is to provide a space that gives scholars, researchers and practitioners the latitude to investigate a contemporary issue in some depth with a view to stimulate debate, interest and research into the issue under investigation. Commentary submissions should be 1,000 words all-in. We also seek to provide opportunities for contributors to make primary research findings or shorter research studies available through the Short Communication option. Short Communication submissions should be 3,000 words all-in. Both of these submission options are to provide opportunities for comment and analysis of a contemporary issue that the authors believe is of value and ready for public consumption. Peer Review Statement: Peer review is ‘double anonymized’. Two reviews are sought, with reviewers providing commentary / feedback to the author(s); together with information confidential to the Editor and Editorial Administrator (and where required the Associate Editor), consisting of an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the submission. Reviewers will offer a recommendation in terms of the decision for publication, revision a
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): MANAGEMENT
Editor-in-chief Rob WilsonPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 3, Singapore 1 (4 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Sport and Mega-Event ImpactsSocial Sciences25.7%
- Sports, Gender, and SocietySocial Sciences20.4%
- Sports Analytics and PerformanceEconomics, Econometrics and Finance10.3%
- Recreation, Leisure, Wilderness ManagementPsychology6.1%
- Sport Psychology and PerformancePsychology5.7%
- Nonprofit Sector and VolunteeringSocial Sciences4.9%
- Motivation and Self-Concept in SportsPsychology3.6%
- Youth Development and Social SupportSocial Sciences2.2%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Management Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Management | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Management Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Management | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
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
ESCIScopusLetPub
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 (publisher) 2025
- 1.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.74LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.74Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.42LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.42Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 35OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 233OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.96OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 11.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 23.29%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 90LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 264,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 675 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 71 | 39 | 23 |
| 2025 | 95 | 45 | 202 |
| 2024 | 79 | 40 | 255 |
| 2023 | 60 | 37 | 369 |
| 2022 | 72 | 30 | 655 |
| 2021 | 51 | 30 | 778 |
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
208 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 151 days – 314 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 12 days (100 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 224 days
- Sample
- 100 articles with submission and acceptance dates (183 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)
- 28%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 59 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 74 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 10 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 accepted4, with length limits
- commentaryrch into the issue under investigation. Commentary submissions should be 1,000 words all-in. We also seek to provide opportunities for contributmain text ≤ 1,000 words
- rapid communicationRapid Communication | Published online: 12 Sep 2026Length not stated
- research articleResearch Article | Published online: 10 Sep 2026Length not stated
- short communicationthrough the Short Communication option. Short Communication submissions should be 3,000 words all-in. Both of these submission options are to provide oppmain text ≤ 3,000 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access
- Open access Open access
Managing Sport and Leisure 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 discoverability …
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
- 2375-0472
- Electronic ISSN
- 2375-0480
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 31, Issue 5 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Managing Sport and Leisure
What CAS zone is Managing Sport and Leisure in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Managing Sport and Leisure is in Zone 4 of Management, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Management. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Management. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Managing Sport and Leisure?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.7 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 6, h-index 35.
How long does peer review take at Managing Sport and Leisure?
Based on the dates recorded on 100 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 208 days (interquartile range 151–314 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 28%. 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Managing Sport and Leisure based?
Of the 4 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (3) and Singapore (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Managing Sport and Leisure?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Managing Sport and Leisure is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Managing Sport and Leisure open access, and what is the APC?
Managing Sport and Leisure 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: .